'Zombie ants' controlled by parasitic fungus for 48m years - Polidicks

[QUOTE=IceCKryss;24192304]Reminds me of this: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCYz97gZ9XQ[/media] A fungus controlling anything parasitically is extremely freaky.[/QUOTE] Is it weird that this was the first thing I thought of when I saw the title.

[img]http://www.freewebs.com/flood_master/Infection%20Form.JPG[/img] You rang? Jokes aside, that's badass, in a scary way.

Oh, That's why I have mushrooms on my head :O I ate ants when I was in Brazil.

[QUOTE=Fosty99;24191668]Holy shit O_O[/QUOTE] There's also a caterpillar that releases chemicals which make ants, and I shit you not here, make the ants build the caterpillar a house, and stockpile food for it. :monocle: FUCKIN NEUROTOXINS HOW DO THEY WORK? :byodood:

[QUOTE=tomatmann;24197717]Oh, That's why I have mushrooms on my head :O I ate ants when I was in Brazil.[/QUOTE] i know somewhere in Calif, they sell candy/chocolate covered insects search: Hotlix candy shop

[QUOTE=NotSo1337;24196596]Emu's stick their heads into the ground. And have suicide tendancies.[/QUOTE] And can also disembowel you with one swift kick. Scary shit in the animal kingdom Scarier shit in the Archaea kingdom :ohdear:

Scary

[QUOTE=bravehat;24197918]And can also disembowel you with one swift kick. Scary shit in the animal kingdom Scarier shit in the Archaea kingdom :ohdear:[/QUOTE] reminds me of this: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSBURkKin_8[/media]

[QUOTE=bravehat;24197822]There's also a caterpillar that releases chemicals which make ants, and I shit you not here, make the ants build the caterpillar a house, and stockpile food for it. :monocle: FUCKIN NEUROTOXINS HOW DO THEY WORK? :byodood:[/QUOTE] Neurotoxins? I believe you mean Pheromones.

[QUOTE]Ants will get lost if a stick falls in between their line. They were never a mighty race.[/QUOTE] While im not trying to argue that ants were once a mighty race i just think the same could be said of humans. When a trees fall on a road it calls mass confusion and some people freak out. but in just an hour or two its all back to normal. im just trying to say, were all animals.

[QUOTE=joost1120;24198162]Neurotoxins? I believe you mean Pheromones.[/QUOTE] Yeah all that jazz :v: Also Emerald Jewel Wasps, god damn this fucker is so badass. [img]http://cdn-www.cracked.com/articleimages/dan/parasites/wasp.jpg[/img]

[QUOTE=bravehat;24198403]Yeah all that jazz :v: Also Emerald Jewel Wasps, god damn this fucker is so badass. [img]http://cdn-www.cracked.com/articleimages/dan/parasites/wasp.jpg[/img][/QUOTE] any interesting aspects to this? like creepy/scary in a way?

On topic: I wonder how the neurotoxins modify the behavior of the victims, let alone have them perform such complex behaviors. [QUOTE=revrend_slapaho;24198450]any interesting aspects to this? like creepy/scary in a way?[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Wikipedia] Commonly known as [B]cuckoo wasps[/B], the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymenoptera"]Hymenopteran[/URL] family [B]Chrysididae[/B] is a very large cosmopolitan group (over 3000 described species) of [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasitoid"]parasitoid[/URL] or [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleptoparasite"]cleptoparasitic[/URL] wasps, often highly sculptured, with brilliantly [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_coloration"]colored[/URL] metallic-like bodies (thus the common names [B]jewel wasp[/B], [B]gold wasp[/B], or [B]emerald wasp[/B] are sometimes used). They are most diverse in desert regions of the world, as they are typically associated with solitary [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee"]bee[/URL] and [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasp"]wasp[/URL] species, which are also most diverse in such areas. Members of the largest subfamily, [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysidinae"]Chrysidinae[/URL], are the most familiar; they are generally [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleptoparasite"]cleptoparasites[/URL], laying their eggs in host nests, where their larvae consume the host egg or larva while it is still young, then consuming the provisions. Other subfamilies are [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasitoid"]parasitoids[/URL], of either [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawflies"]sawflies[/URL] or [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phasmatodea"]walking sticks[/URL]. [/QUOTE] [URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuckoo_wasp[/URL] [URL="http://www.chrysis.net/index_en.php"]More information about Chrysididae.[/URL]

[QUOTE=revrend_slapaho;24198450]any interesting aspects to this? like creepy/scary in a way?[/QUOTE] It can only kill american cockroaches, it stabs the brain injecting a small dose of paralysing poison, this stops the roach moving it's front legs, then the wasp takes a better shot straight into the roaches ganglia killing the escape reflex. The raoch is pulled around into the wasps burrow and for a week or so will just sit there doing nothing, as the wasp lays an egg on it, in the next week the egg hatches and the larva eats into the roach in a specific order to keep the cockroach alive for as long as possible. Then the cycle repeats when the larva bursts free as a fully grown adult ready to continue this.

[QUOTE=bravehat;24198719]It can only kill american cockroaches, it stabs the brain injecting a small dose of paralysing poison, this stops the roach moving it's front legs, then the wasp takes a better shot straight into the roaches ganglia killing the escape reflex. The raoch is pulled around into the wasps burrow and for a week or so will just sit there doing nothing, as the wasp lays an egg on it, in the next week the egg hatches and the larva eats into the roach in a specific order to keep the cockroach alive for as long as possible. Then the cycle repeats when the larva bursts free as a fully grown adult ready to continue this.[/QUOTE] That picture isn't an Emerald Cockroach wasp, this is one: [IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Ampulex_compressa.jpg/400px-Ampulex_compressa.jpg[/IMG]

creepy shit. Damn nature, you scary