Charissa de Bekker, William C. Beckerson, Carolyn Elya
Science Journal for Kids, 2023
Abstract: Did you know some fungi can turn insects into zombies, like in the movies? These fungi control what the insects do! They make them do strange things, like walking a lot, climbing tall plants, and hanging high up. They do this so that they can infect more insects. There are many types of these fungi, but they all change the insects' behavior in similar ways. But how do they do that? And why do they all seem to change the same behaviors? We looked into many studies about zombie-making fungi. We found out that each fungus has its own tricks to control the insects! We think the fungi change the same behaviors because these are the behaviors that help the fungi infect as many insects as possible.
Keywords: Evolve, Fungus, Hack, Host, Spores, Strategy
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