6M views · Apr 30, 2019 · 4:10 · 0 HN recommenders · 3 mentions · discussed 2020–2023
National Geographic footage showing the cordyceps fungus infecting ants and other insects and steering their behavior so it can reproduce.
Why Hacker News points people here: Cited as a vivid example of parasites controlling host behavior whenever zombie-fungus comparisons come up.
“There's a parasitic fungus that does this with insects.”
Shows fungus controlling insect behavior.
There's a parasitic fungus that does this with insects. It takes over, compelling the host to move to a location where the fungus can reproduce. this video
“A parasitic fungus which takes over ants, causing them to climb up high and then bite”
Example of fungus making ants climb and bite plants.
The mind-controlling--probably a better phrase for them is "behavior altering"--class of parasites are fascinating from an academic sense... and nightmare fuel from a day-to-day sense. Two additional cases which I remember studying in school are: (1) A parasitic worm which causes snails to climb to clearly visible positions so that birds can eat them. These snails are usually avoidant of those positions, and so this is clear behavior alteration. ( link ) (2) A parasitic fungus which takes over ants, causing them to climb up high and then bite (!!! this means it can affect specific muscle movements) into a plant, before bursting from the body and spreading spores ( this video , apologies for the mildly dramatic nat-geo video) And for a good piece of sci-fi on the first-person experience of seeing others rapidly/inexplicably change behavior, check out [The Screwfly Solution]( link ). (It's a good read intended as commentary on patriarchy, and it also uses a behavior altering piece of biology as a key plot device.) There is a part of me that wonders if there are things (viruses/bacteria/funguses) which effect human behavior. And if in 100/1000s of years into the future we'll look back and realize that some subset of maladaptive personality traits and/or mood disorders aren't something that simply "happen" to someone, but are instead explained by biology/chemistry we didn't have a good understanding of. The same way we now look at ancient Rome and say "yeah, their use of lead pi
“There is also Ophiocordyceps unilateralis for example”
Shows Ophiocordyceps unilateralis infecting insects.
Entomophthora muscae is not the last of them with all the gifts. There is also Ophiocordyceps unilateralis for example: this video Cordyceps sinensis on the other hand, another entomopathogenic fungus parasitizing larvae of ghost moths, is one of the most famous traditional Chinese medicines and medicinal mushrooms.
