Here is a story that seems more like science fiction than natural science – another case in which a parasite takes over some poor creature’s brain and manipulates the host’s behavior in a way that benefits the parasite. We’ve seen in the past that Toxoplasma gondii, which only reproduces in cat’s guts, can infect the brains of rats and mice and make them less afraid of cats, and therefore more likely to be eaten by them, thus ensuring toxo reproduction. (There is also the suggestion that “cat ladies” may have a Toxoplasm infection in the brain that makes them love having lots of cat–and some of these women have actually died and been chewed on by the cats).
Now there is a study showing that a fungus can infect the brains of ants in the Thai rainforest and turn them into zombies that help the fungus reproduce. Once infected, the ants stumble down from the forest canopy to sapling leaves that are 25 centimeters off the ground, where conditions for growth of the fungus are optimal. The fungus then prompts the ants to bite into a sapling leaf and lock their jaws so that they can’t let go. The ant is stuck there until it dies, whereupon the fungus finds itself sitting on a nice new food supply.
It reminds me of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers.