{"id":2880,"date":"2026-08-23T03:24:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T02:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/study-reveals-the-secret-double-life-of-the-amazonian-zombie-fungus\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T03:24:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T02:24:42","slug":"study-reveals-the-secret-double-life-of-the-amazonian-zombie-fungus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/study-reveals-the-secret-double-life-of-the-amazonian-zombie-fungus\/","title":{"rendered":"Study Reveals the Secret Double Life of the Amazonian Zombie Fungus"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

While it was once thought to infect only ants, new research conducted in Brazil reveals that the Amazonian zombie fungus has a very different host: mosses.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Endophyte Phase<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Through its spores, the Ophiocordyceps<\/strong> fungus infiltrates the bodies of ants and gradually alters their behavior, pushing them to climb onto vegetation that towers above the colony and to grip it tightly. When the insects die, the parasite continues to develop. Stems eventually protrude from the corpse of its host and release spores that will contaminate its nestmates, thereby marking the start of a new cycle of \u201czombification<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read also<\/span> In the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, a strange ghost fish filmed for the first time<\/span><\/section>\n

Recently, genetic sequencing of mosses collected in the Adolpho Ducke Forest Reserve, near Manaus, yielded surprises for researchers. In particular, the systematic presence of the fungus in mosses sourced from areas far from the \u201cinfected ant cemeteries<\/em>,\u201d and thus without direct contact with the ants, has been observed.<\/p>\n

Such a discovery points to a phase known as the \u201cendophyte<\/em>\u201d phase of the fungus, during which Ophiocordyceps<\/em> lives inside the plant without causing visible symptoms.<\/p>\n

This unanticipated facet of the zombie fungus\u2019s life cycle would reflect a broader trend, according to Jo\u00e3o Paulo Machado de Ara\u00fajo, co-author of the new study, published in the journal IMA Fungus<\/em>. \u201cWe are finding more and more distinct lineages of entomopathogenic fungi associated with plants, but this is the first time such a dual life has been documented in Amazonia<\/strong> and more broadly in the tropics<\/em>,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n

Descriptive similarities<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In a further twist, in 2018, Machado de Ara\u00fajo and colleagues described several new species of this genus of parasitic fungi also emerging from the Manaus region. Named O. monacidis<\/em>, one of these species developed a structure very similar to the sporophyte of the moss Octoblepharum<\/em>, to which the \u201czombie ants\u201d attach and where Ophiocordyceps<\/em> has also been found.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis suggests that behavioral manipulation could depend not only on the fungal fruiting stage (EPF) and the host insect, but also on other factors related to the plant on which it attaches, as well as its microbiome<\/em>,\u201d says Machado de Ara\u00fajo.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is possible that plants hosting the endophytic form of the fungus attract the corresponding EPF form in the insect. Demonstrating this could have potential implications for biological control of crop pests<\/em>,\u201d he concludes.<\/p>\n

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In case you didn\u2019t know, there exists a parasite that makes snails dance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1254,2194,2087,200,229,270,228,2086],"class_list":["post-2880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-amazonian","tag-double","tag-fungus","tag-life","tag-reveals","tag-secret","tag-study","tag-zombie","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2880"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2882,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2880\/revisions\/2882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}