This is a real life zombie, a tropical ant species infected by a cordycep fungus. The fungus infects the ant, who then walks around like a zombie until it finds the perfect perch to die on. The ant usually bites the base of a leaf and dies, the fungus then sprouting out a storma, eventually casting a spray of spores in that area to infect the next line of victims. Photographed by RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser in Costa Rica while on assignment for the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History.
