Article content

There is a very real threat facing insects: mind-controlling parasites.

It’s not just sci-fi fare. There are actually several kinds of entrepreneurial parasites that can turn their insect hosts into “zombies” and make them do everything from commit suicide to guard the parasite’s offspring — all in the name of reproduction.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Zombie insects: Four ways parasites 'hijack' the brains of their unsuspecting hosts Back to video

The techniques of these parasites were outlined in a new research paper published in Frontiers in Psychology by scientists from Ben-Gurion University in Israel. Here are four of the most interesting — and gruesome — ways the parasites outwit their hosts.

They can make their hosts commit suicide

Photo by Bernard Dupont / Wikimedia Commons

This is perhaps the most unfortunate way parasites influence their hosts. Ants have to contend with a fungus (a member of the cordyceps genus) that infects and feeds on their organs, but saves the vital ones for last. Once it’s had its fill, the parasite forces the ant to climb to the top of a blade of grass. Before it produces spores, the parasite eats the ant’s brain. Once the spores are ready, they emerge from the ant’s body and spread through the air in search of more unwitting victims.