Study
Three-dimensional visualization and a deep-learning model reveal complex fungal parasite networks in behaviorally manipulated ants
Fredericksen, M. A.; Zhang, Y.; Hazen, M. L.; Loreto, R. G.; Mangold, C. A.; Chen, D. Z.; Hughes, D. P.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2017
Ants infected with the manipulating fungus Ophiocordyceps were serially sectioned and imaged, and a machine-learning model was used to identify fungal cells throughout the body so the whole network could be reconstructed in three dimensions.
- Studied in
- Camponotus castaneus, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis
- Sample size
- infected ants sectioned and reconstructed in three dimensions
Fungal cells filled the ant’s body and formed an interconnected network surrounding and penetrating muscle fibres, including in the mandibles. The brain was conspicuously free of fungal cells.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
The fungus manipulates host behaviour by acting on muscle and by chemical means, rather than by invading the brain directly.
How NatureHQ reads it
The detail that makes the zombie-ant story stranger than its popular version. The fungus does not take over the brain; it leaves the brain alone and takes over the muscles, so an ant whose nervous system is intact is carried somewhere by a body it no longer commands. NatureHQ keeps this one carefully scoped: it is a specialised relationship between particular fungi and particular insects, and it establishes nothing whatever about fungi manipulating anything larger.
- One host–parasite pair; other manipulating fungi work differently.
- Describes where the fungus is, not the chemistry by which it acts.
- Laboratory infections, which may differ in detail from those in the field.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesPublished in PNAS.
doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1711673114
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref and OpenAlex on 2026-08-30.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-30.