Zombies are among us! Okay, not the undead like in the popular television show, "The Walking Dead", but there are unique instances of parasitic organisms causing zombie like symptoms in their hosts. For example, a number of fungal spores can cause insects to behave in a bizarre fashion. Carpenter Ants infected with Ophiocordyceps camponoti-rufipedis fungal spores are "mind controlled" into not only dropping new spores near the colony but when they die to climb to leaves in the forest canopy so that spores can rain down on the floor below infecting new victims (Prigg, 2014). Watch the video below for a more detailed look at the process.
Other infections from parasitic worms in snails cause them to pulsate in their eye stalks and climb vegetation to be consumed by birds for the worms to complete their life cycles. After birds defecate the cycle resumes with snails ingesting the eggs found in the bird droppings (Simon, 2014) Yum!
Works Cited: Prigg, M. (2014, August 21). Watch out for the zombie ants! Scientists find insects infected by mind controlling fungus always go back to their nest so their killer can find fresh victims. Retrieved August 18, 2015. Simon, M. (2014, September 14). Absurd Creature of the Week: The Parasitic Worm That Turns Snails Into Disco Zombies. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
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