What on Earth is a Zombie Ant or entomopathogenic fungi? The story is an intriguing one that involves a complicated relationship between a group of fungi and many species of invertebrates, not just ants. Entomopathogenic fungi (EF) are life forms that infect and kill their hosts in the process of completing their life cycle. Hosts include a wide variety of invertebrates from spiders and ants to moths and grasshoppers. A given fungal species tends to be host specific, infecting a single species or a related group of species. In the past, some have labeled these life forms parasitic fungi; however, parasitic implies that the host survives, which is not the case with these fungi. In this context, parasitoid fungi might be a better term because the host's fate is death. EF are not uncommon in the upper Amazon Basin; at least two genera (Cordyceps and Ophiocordyceps) are reasonably common within these forests. One example of EF can be observed in a group of species that infect ants. Here | |
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