In recent years, the horror genre has been taking a turn for the strange – and the creepy. From brain-eating zombies to vampires, the possibilities of supernatural creatures are endless. But what if the villains in our favorite horror stories were actually based on real-life creatures? That’s the case with “Fungus Zombies” – a type of fungus that can take over the minds of ants and other insects.

This bizarre phenomenon occurs when an ant is infected with a parasitic fungus called Ophiocordyceps unilateralis. The fungus takes over the ant’s central nervous system, influencing its behavior in a very strange way. The ant will climb to the top of a plant, clamp down on a leaf or twig, and die. The fungus then sprouts from the ant’s head, releasing spores that spread to other ants and begin the cycle anew. Talk about a horror movie plot!

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source: Phys.org