Saturday, May 16, 2009

from the "brains" dept.

Braiiiinnnssss....

Zombie ants? According to the AP, they're real and they're spectacular:
The flies "dive-bomb" the fire ants and lay eggs, and then the maggot that hatches inside the ant eats away at the brain. Later, the ant gets up and starts wandering for about two weeks, said Rob Plowes, a research associate at the University of Texas at Austin.

Although the ant exhibits zombie-like behavior, Plowes said he "wouldn't use the word 'control' to describe what is happening. There is no brain left in the ant, and the ant just starts wandering aimlessly." [MORE]

Cheers!

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