Ants tropical carpenter (Camponotus Leonardi) live at the top of the cups of trees.
When infected by a parasitic fungus (Ophiocordyceps unilateralis) the behavior of these ants change drastically.
They behave erratically and act like zombies, and are manipulated by the fungus to death in order to obtain optimal conditions for the reproduction of fungi. The new research, published in the journal BMC Ecology, examines the patterns of altered behavior in ants and shows how the fungus manipulates the behavior of ants.
An international team of researchers studied in the jungles of Thailand carpenter ants infected by the fungus O. unilateralis. As it develops, the fungus spreads through the body of the ant and the head causing muscles to atrophy. The fungus also affects the central nervous system of the ant, while the normal ants rarely leave tracks for those who work carrying food to the nest, the zombies walk in a random fashion, unable to find their way home. Ants also have seizures that are falling from the trees. Once on the ground were unable to find their way back to the cup and kept in an area of \u200b\u200bundergrowth it was more fresh for the fungus may develop.
At solar noon (when the sun is at its strongest place) synchronizing the fungus infected ants behavior, forcing them to bite the main vein on the underside of a leaf. The proliferation of fungal cells in the heads of ants makes the fibers within the muscles that open and close their jaws fall off. This results in a 'lock jaw', which means that an ant is unable to rid infected leaf after death. A few days later, the fungus produces a fruiting body (stroma) of ant's head that releases spores to be collected by another ant wandering.
Dr. David Hughes of Penn State University, said: "The fungus attacks the ants on two fronts. Firstly using ants as a food source, and second place by muscles and central nervous system, resulting in zombies that end in the wet undergrowth. The infected ant behavior is essentially an extended phenotype of fungi (fungi behavior through the body of the ant ).
Europapress
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