Zombie Ants

Ants tend to be very orderly, industrious insects—until they are attacked by parasitic fungi that turn them into zombies. The infected ant will stumble about, leaving the rigid order of its nest and--directed by the fungi—walk in a trance-like state to the underside of a leaf. At precisely solar noon--still controlled by the fungi--the ant bites into the main vein of the leaf and dies. No sooner has the ant perished than a stalk sprouts out of the back of its head. The stalk releases spores into the air that rain down on the ants below, turning them into zombies. It’s a real-life cross between Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Alien.

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