How a Parasitic Fungus Takes Control of Zombie Ants

Discover how the parasitic fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis hijacks carpenter ants to control their behavior and navigation. Learn about the forty-eight-million-year-old fossil history of the death grip, ant colony defenses, and the surprising medical compounds discovered in this organism. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:34 The Forest Floor Ambush 2:08 The Hijacked Climb 3:30 The Architecture of the Death Grip 4:53 Graveyards and Colony Defenses 6:17 Molecules and Medicine 7:54 Thanks for watching Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophioco... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campono... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entomop... Credits: Narration voice is AI-generated. Some illustrations are AI-generated. Historical images: public domain, from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wikimedia Commons. Photos and videos from Pixabay. Images used under Creative Commons licenses: • "Myrmicinospiridium durum" by Dhobern, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • "(Gunnera petaloidea in Kohala, United States) - DPLA - 60e22bb4ecbc00ca199c0c1af8e5837b" by Carlquist, Sherwin John, 1930-2021, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • "Ophiocordyceps unilateralis A" by David P. Hughes, Maj-Britt Pontoppidan, CC BY 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • "Lake Pilchicocha near Sacha Lodge, eastern Ecuadorian Amazon (October 12th 2010)" by Geoff Gallice from Gainesville, FL, USA, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • "Nephridiophaga maderae (10.3897-mycokeys.25.12446) Figures 1–9" by Radek R, Wurzbacher C, Gisder S, Nilsson RH, Owerfeldt A, Genersch E, Kirk PM, Voigt K (2017) Morphologic and molecular , CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • "Camponotus species worker Ant (44989335204)" by gailhampshire from Cradley, Malvern, U.K, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • "Carpenter Ant Genus Campanotus on Hydrangea paniculata 1874" by ImagePerson, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • "Starr-120522-6052-Artocarpus sp-leaf-Iao Tropical Gardens of Maui-Maui (25143080515)" by Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 us (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • "Grube Messel, Weltnaturerbe - panoramio (1)" by josef knecht, CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • "Polydesmus angustus (10.3897-zookeys.930.48438) Figure 3" by Moritz L, Koch M (2020) No Tömösváry organ in flat backed millipedes (Diplopoda, Polydesmida). In: Korsós Z, Dányi L (Ed, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... • "Deeeeeep down below (11967983014)" by shankar s. from Dubai, united arab emirates, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Sound effects: Pixabay. Music: YouTube Audio Library. #biology #nature #science #insects #facts