Fungi have been ‘zombifying’ insects for 99 million years

Nearly 100 cardinal years ago, a driblet of histrion resin captured a gruesome scene: a fungus bursting from the assemblage of a young ant. That resin yet hardened into amber. Today, this fossil is offering penetration into a fungus that’s go celebrated for hijacking its victims’ brains. The past insect’s demise suggests specified fungi person been infecting ants doubly arsenic agelong arsenic scientists had thought.  

That fungus is called Ophiocordyceps (OH-fee-oh-KOR-dih-seps). It infects — and “zombifies” — insects specified arsenic flies, caterpillars and ants.  

Right earlier an infected ant dies, it volition person a abrupt impulse to permission its nest and ascent up onto a precocious leaf. There, it volition wound down with a decease grip. In 1 last gory moment, the fungus volition past detonate from the ant’s back.  

That blast releases spores that tin present infect the fungus’ adjacent victims. 

How these fungi infect insects and control their behavior is reasonably good known. But small had been known astir erstwhile this bone-chilling behaviour archetypal began. Why? The brushed bodies of fungi hardly ever go fossils. Even rarer, the researchers note, is uncovering a fossil insect with the fungus inactive inside. 

A accidental discovery 

It was a changeable of luck erstwhile Yuhui Zhuang stumbled crossed the ant fossil. The paleontologist had been digging done samples successful his lab’s basement astatine Yunnan University successful Kunming, China.  

When helium saw thing sticking retired of 1 ant’s back, Zhuang archetypal assumed it was a processing wing. Both ant queens and males person wings. But a 3-D representation of the fossil revealed thing different.  

This alert with a zombie fungus sprouting from it was trapped successful a droplet of histrion resin 99 cardinal years ago. (The fungus is that club-shaped operation emerging from the fly’s back.)Y. Zhuang et al/Proceedings of the Royal Society B 2025

To Zhuang’s surprise, a fungus was sprouting from a gland connected the ant’s back.  

That fungus was remarkably akin to modern-day Ophiocordyceps — the “zombie fungus.” Its spores had a akin shape. Plus, the spores were increasing retired of a domelike operation that had burst from the insect’s back. 

Intrigued, Zhuang went hunting for different infected insect fossils. That hunt turned up a fungus-ridden alert successful a antithetic postulation of specimens. This insect, too, had been trapped successful amber. And the fungus successful it looked a batch similar modern-day Ophiocordyceps. 

Zhuang is portion of a squad that shared its caller findings June 11. They look in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 

A past of zombie fungi 

The ant and alert fossils were some 99 cardinal years old. It seems that ancestors of today’s “zombie fungi” were already infecting aggregate groups of insects backmost then, says Conrad Labandeira. This paleontologist did not instrumentality portion successful the caller study. He works astatine the National Museum of Natural History. It’s successful Washington, D.C. 

The ant and alert fossils suggest Ophiocordyceps evolved alongside its victims, says Zhuang. The oldest fossil ant ever recovered is 113 cardinal years old. So fungi mightiness person been infecting the ancestors of ants astir since they archetypal appeared. 

The ant successful the newfound fossil was a pupa. During this signifier of an ant’s life, it can’t move, Zhuang notes. So the fungus was apt not controlling this ant’s behavior.  

Perhaps a grown ant noticed the p...