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The zombie-ant fungus is easily identifiable when its reproductive structure becomes apparent on its dead host, usually a carpenter ant. At the end of its life cycle, O. unilateralis typically generates a single, wiry yet pliant, darkly pigmented stroma which arises from the dorsal pronotum region of the ant once it is dead. [ 8 ]
Cordyceps, a fungus, turned people into zombies on The Last of Us, but in real life, it might have potential health benefits.
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The cordyceps "zombie fungus" in 'The Last of Us' is indeed inspired by a real fungi found in ants. But here's what that means for those of us not living in a video-game story.
The ant clamps it jaws around the plant in a "death grip" and following, mycelia grow from the ant's feet and stitch them to the surface of the plant. [9] The spores released from the ant carcass fall to the ground and infect other ants that come in contact with the spores so that this cycle continues. [ 10 ]
In this case, an infected person becomes a "hungry", a zombie thirsting for blood. In the fiction, Dr. Caldwell explains that the human-infecting fungus is a mutated form of Ophiocordyceps unilateralis (a group of species now split off from Cordyceps) which alters the behaviour of infected insects. The children of infected mothers, however ...
The ant fungus, the cordyceps that affect ants, coerces them to climb to a high perch. ... because of a massive outbreak of this fungus. Basically, people were delirious and hallucinating that ...
A prominent example of an entomopathogenic fungus is Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, nicknamed the “zombie-ant” fungus. The fungus infects ants and alters their natural behavioral patterns causing the ant to leave their usual environment in the trees in favor of the forest floor – a more suitable environment for fungal growth.