The Cordyceps fungus is the creepiest, scariest fungus on the planet. Just watching this video creeps me out.
Basically this fungus attacks all manner of insects and after driving them crazy it kills them, eats them, and grows out of them like some kind of re-run from the movie Alien.
Seriously, this freakish spectacle from the insect kingdom is not for the faint of heart.
That is really cool John. Pretty disgusting though. Thank you for showing this!
Rob,
Thanks for the tip about the video being gone. I found another version of it and have replaced it in this post, so now you can see it in all it’s disgusting glory! :-)
John
dude the video isnt there. ive heard of this fungus but never seen it before in action. sounds interesting and disturbing at the same time
Yeah it is from the Planet Earth series
Hmmm, maybe I should sell that fungus to people who have ant problems. I bought a type of snail that eats other snails and now I occasionally see my snails and don’t see the regular ones for years. Why not a fungus to take care of the ants?
That is just beyond freaky. I completely have the heebie jeebies now. Oh boy, am I glad this post was brought to the surface! ;)
Thanks for the heads up. I’ve updated the link and the video is working again!
John
Amazing build up, but the video is no longer there. I was looking forward to watching that.
“What is really scary is if it could be genetically modified to affect humans and weaponized.”
Shhhh! John’s an ex-marine, some of his old generals might be reading the blog, don’t give them any ideas!
I saw that video on Animal Planet or Discovery. It is amazing but I didn’t get he sense that the fungus controlled the mind of the ant but instead its growth affecting its ability to control its motor functions. It also mentioned that the fungus doesn’t affect every insect but there are several varieties that can affect many different species of insects. What is really scary is if it could be genetically modified to affect humans and weaponized.
My pleasure. :-)
I’m just glad there isn’t a version of this fungus that attacks humans. That would be not only creepy, but disgusting.
John
Man, this fungus is just incredible. Thanks for finding it, John!
Hmm. I’m not really certain where the video originated. I just came across it on YouTube…
Is that from the Planet Earth DVD set? I just bought that for my Dad for Father’s Day. Those videos are completely amazing. This fungus though, is absolutely horrific. Could you imagine something like that that could attack a human being.