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'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite

phys.org

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Re: 'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite

#51

Post by macdust »

46886532558 wrote: post #45
ComodoHacker wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems logical. To control such a complex system as an ant's brain, the fungus itself must be no less complex. So controlling ant's muscles directly is the shortest (in evolutionary sense) path to its goal.

I don't think partial control of a complex system requires a system of equal complexity. Even human behavior can be influenced in the brain by something simple as a drug or virus.

Specific directives (to find a suitable place to anchor itself) require awareness of the terrain and object-recognition. Either a) the fungus has stumbled upon the signals to accomplish this singular feat or b) the fungus can read the ant's perceptions and can navigate. Finding the signal seems more likely because it is much less complex an achievement.

Re: 'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite

#52

Post by goatlover »

corndoge wrote: post #3
zaarn wrote: post #2

>"Normally in animals, behavior is controlled by the brain sending signals to the muscles, but our results suggest that the parasite is controlling host behavior peripherally," Hughes said. "Almost like a puppeteer pulls the strings to make a marionette move, the fungus controls the ant's muscles to manipulate the host's legs and mandibles." Probably the most "And I Must Scream" moment in mother nature. Imagine a hum…

The Last Of Us explored this concept using a fictional version of this same fungus that infected humans instead

There's also the Girl with All the Gifts. Was made into a movie last year.

Re: 'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite

#54

Post by vwcx »

Anand Varma has a really powerful/terrifying photo series on host-parasite relationships in nature: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/11/mindsuckers/varma-...

The accompanying article in National Geographic: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/11/mindsuckers/zimmer...

Re: 'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite

#55

Post by warent »

gabaix wrote: post #23
Grangar wrote: post #5

Look at this picture of the final stage, after the 'stalk' sprouts from the ants head. Pretty haunting. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Ophiocor...

There is a 3-minute video from BBC Planet Earth showing an infected ant and its demise. https://youtu.be/XuKjBIBBAL8 It is like watching the Alien scene, except this is real.

It never occurred to me before... from the perspective of an insect (with a bit of anthropomorphism), fungus is an invisible, undefeatable faceless enemy that quickly turns the world into a nightmarish hellscape. It's almost like the borg. I'm fucking scared.

Imagining A Bug's Life or Antz could have been far less family-friendly if a couple of these spores made an appearance.

Re: 'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite

#56

Post by gumby »

pavement wrote: post #40
openasocket wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had another thought which might be even more terrifying. I couldn't find anything suggesting the fungus cuts off or disrupts the ant's actual nerve endings, and from video you can see towards the end that the ant moves in an unnatural, jerky way, not like a normal ant. This could be just because a fungus is bad at acting like an ant, but what if it's also because the ant is actively trying to fight it ?! I don't th…

One conceptual reality to consider is that the ants on the surface of any hill are not quite as sentient as the queen. The survival of a queen that produces viable progeny is paramount to the survival of the species and, at a more granular level, the bloodline of the individual colony. The queen is dependent on the drones being as obedient as your fingers and tongue might be to your brain, with your brain being the q…

> One conceptual reality to consider is that the ants on the surface of any hill are not quite as sentient as the queen...

The term "queen" is a misnomer. She is the ovulation organ of the hive, nothing more. Yes, she has many solicitous "attendants" but then again I too am more attentive to my own generative organs than I am to my other ones.

In fact she has less will than any of the mobile ants and bees. Like the Chinese emperor (until Pu Yi) she is completely manipulated by her attendants.

Re: 'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite

#57

Post by warent »

vwcx wrote: post #54

Anand Varma has a really powerful/terrifying photo series on host-parasite relationships in nature: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/11/mindsuckers/varma-... The accompanying article in National Geographic: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/11/mindsuckers/zimmer...

I had no idea so many different wasps were parasitic like this. This made my eyes water and my stomach churn. Especially the horsehair worm and house cricket.

Re: 'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite

#58

Post by pavement »

gumby wrote: post #56
pavement wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One conceptual reality to consider is that the ants on the surface of any hill are not quite as sentient as the queen. The survival of a queen that produces viable progeny is paramount to the survival of the species and, at a more granular level, the bloodline of the individual colony. The queen is dependent on the drones being as obedient as your fingers and tongue might be to your brain, with your brain being the q…

> One conceptual reality to consider is that the ants on the surface of any hill are not quite as sentient as the queen... The term "queen" is a misnomer. She is the ovulation organ of the hive, nothing more. Yes, she has many solicitous "attendants" but then again I too am more attentive to my own generative organs than I am to my other ones. In fact she has less will than any of the mobile ants and bees. Like the C…

One, then, is left to wonder where the seat of organizational sentience really resides, if it resides in any of the independent organisms at all.

Ants surely seem sentient, even if still lower-order animals. Is it just an emergent detail of aggregate reflexive behavior across all members? How (and why) would soldiers know to build a bridge with their bodies, to cross a water barrier, seemingly from birth?

Maybe the level of recognition and internal modelling, on a per-organism basis is a clue to self awareness and emotional involvement in individual perception and experience. With all ants, maybe this quality is low, and mostly instinctual, embedded in gene expression.

Re: 'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite

#60

Post by mikeash »

pavement wrote: post #58
gumby wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One conceptual reality to consider is that the ants on the surface of any hill are not quite as sentient as the queen... The term "queen" is a misnomer. She is the ovulation organ of the hive, nothing more. Yes, she has many solicitous "attendants" but then again I too am more attentive to my own generative organs than I am to my other ones. In fact she has less will than any of the mobile ants and bees. Like the C…

One, then, is left to wonder where the seat of organizational sentience really resides, if it resides in any of the independent organisms at all. Ants surely seem sentient, even if still lower-order animals. Is it just an emergent detail of aggregate reflexive behavior across all members? How (and why) would soldiers know to build a bridge with their bodies, to cross a water barrier, seemingly from birth? Maybe the l…

Which cell of your brain is the seat of sentience? I know little about ants and maybe that analogy sucks, but it seems like it could easily not be anything more specific than the colony as a whole.
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