"Zombie" Ants Controlled, Decapitated by Flies | National Geographic
May 14, 2009--In South America female phorid flies have developed a bizarre reproductive strategy: They hover over fire ants (pictured a file photo), then inject their eggs into the ants with a needle-like appendage.
The egg grows and the resulting larva generally migrates to the ant's head. The larva lives there for weeks--slurping up the brain and turning the ant into a "zombie," in some cases compelling the ant to march 55 yards (50 meters) away from its colony to avoid attack by other fire ants.
The phorid flies have been periodically released by scientists across the U.S. to control the fire ant population that often ravages valuable crops, causing billions of dollars in agricultural losses each year, and also threaten other wildlife like lizards and birds. Because this breed of African flies - pseudacteon obtusus - selected by the scientists, only prefer the tasty fire ant brains (these ants were themselves imported and not indigenous to the U.S.), other native U.S. ant species are practically untouched. Or this case, uneaten.
I'm just waiting for the video game version of this, natch. I want to play as an ant named Zoey or something.
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