Flies control zombie ants - actual news!

[blargney the second]

It's official - we have miniature vargouilles on earth:
PHOTOS: "Zombie" Ants Controlled, Decapitated by Flies
-blarg

 

[NewJeffCT]

It's official - we have miniature vargouilles on earth:
PHOTOS: "Zombie" Ants Controlled, Decapitated by Flies
-blarg

cool story - thanks for posting it.

 

[Ulrick]

That's not the only thing to do that to ants. Check out this fungus.

WARNING: If you don't like watching things grow out of insects, do not watch this. There is a definite creep factor here.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCOQ0VU24xw]YouTube - Cordyceps Fungus[/ame]

 

[genshou]

I smell adventure hooks in both of these. Of course, this is D&D, so we have to up the scale a bit with monstrous vermin and giant fungi.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

And, as I recall, there is at least one kind of caterpillar that fools ants into thinking its one of them, so they let it in...and then starts eating them in the nest.

Nature- especially in the insect world- is red in tooth & claw.

We may be using chemical weapons, but bugs have about a 100M year head start in that field.