Hannah Thomasy in The Scientist:
To the casual observer, the motivations that drive insect behaviors may appear quite simple: An insect might leave the nest to find food, wander around to seek out potential mates, or move into the sun or shade to maintain an optimal body temperature.
But sometimes the drivers of these behaviours are far more complex—and more sinister—than they first appear. In a surprisingly large number of cases, insects are not acting of their own free will in a way that benefits themselves or even their species. Instead, they have become “zombies,” controlled by barely visible fungal puppet masters that direct the insects’ behaviors, steering them into optimal conditions for dispersing infectious spores. While these fungi were described in the scientific literature as early as the mid-1800s, the extent and precision of the behavioral control that they exert on their unfortunate insect hosts—and the mechanisms they use to do so—are only just starting to be appreciated.1
As they begin to explore the complex molecular dialogue between these fungi and their insect hosts, scientists aren’t sure exactly what they will find. So far, the fungal kingdom as a whole has proven to be a rich source of bioactive metabolites; fungal-derived drugs are currently used as antibiotics, immunosuppressants, cholesterol-lowering agents, and migraine therapeutics, so there may be much to discover in these insect-manipulating species.2 “This is a group of fungi that haven’t quite been mined yet, for all the things that they might produce. I’m quite certain that we’ll bump into some interesting stuff,” said Charissa de Bekker, a molecular biologist who studies insect-fungi interactions at Utrecht University. This fascination has spread beyond the scientific community into pop culture, as evidenced by video games and movies like The Last of Us and The Girl with All the Gifts. So, although these fungi cannot literally infect humans, they have certainly extended their mycelia into the hearts of scientists and non-scientists alike.
More here.
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