A СAPP student has discovered a СAPPzombie fungusСAPP thatСAPPs been off scientistsСAPP radar for almost a century, reports this week.
Stephen Saltamachia, a senior majoring in microbiology at UL Lafayette, discovered the rare, furry fungus while working at Acadiana Park Nature Station in Lafayette. He spotted a carpenter ant queen wandering outside, which caught his attention since a queen rarely leaves her nest.
СAPPA born naturalist, Saltamachia suspected that the ant might be parasitized by a brain-manipulating pathogen often called 'zombie fungus,' which causes infected insects to behave abnormally,СAPP an article posted on NewsweekСAPPs website late Monday states.
Saltmachia studied the errant ant after sterilizing it and placing it in a petri dish.
СAPPThe dead insect gave rise to a vigorous, furry fungus that sprouted from its dead body like moldering cotton candy,СAPP Douglas Main writes in the .
The magazine cites David Hughes, a researcher at Pennsylvania State СAPP who specializes in zombie ant fungi. He said the fungi had been СAPP СAPPmissed by mycologists and entomologistsСAPP СAPP for almost 100 years. The last time it was mentioned as a major citation in studies was in the 1920s, according to Newsweek.
Why is it called a СAPPzombie fungusСAPP?
СAPPFungi in this group infects ants and other insects and often control their behavior to maximize their potential to spreadСAPPbefore ultimately killing the animal. For example, one such fungus infects ants and forces them to climb high up vegetation before perishing and giving rise to horn-like fungal growths, thus allowing the speciesСAPPs spores to spread farther than they would if released closer to the ground,СAPP Main explains.
Photo: A zombie fungus grows on a carpenter antСAPPs corpse. (Courtesy of David Hughes, Pennsylvania State СAPP)