Just when you thought it was safe to go back out in the yard your worst nightmare has arrived. Picnics will never be the same.

Yes folks it is the time of the zombie ant.

Okay, all kidding aside this is just freaky but scientists have discovered that there really is an ant that for all intents and purposes becomes a zombie when infected with a specific type of fungus, or rather four new kinds of the Cordyceps fungus.

Now this isn’t really going to happen in your backyard unless of course your backyard happens to be in Brazil which is where this type of fungus is found.

Apparently once the fungi has infected the ant the insect stops acting like an ant and leave the colony whereupon they climb into trees which is where they die. Interestingly these ‘zombie’ ants are always attracted to the areas of a tree which is best suited to the fungi in order that it can reproduce.

As part of their armory in their quest to reproduce the fungi have some interesting, albeit a little unnerving, methods to infect other ants.

Of the four new species, two grow long, arrow-like spores which eject like missiles from the fungus, seeking to land on a passing ant. The other fungi propel shorter spores, which change shape in mid-air to become like boomerangs and land nearby. If these fail to land on an ant, the spores sprout stalks that can snag ants walking over them. Upon infecting the new ant, the cycle starts again.

via Wired

If that isn’t enough to have you running for an ax or some type of insect killer check out this video courtesy of Geekosystem

[Damn Cool Dept.] Zombie Ants. They have arrived. is a post from: The Inquisitr

Conspiracy nuts have something new to fear: Islamic forces all around us, at our feet. To be precise, Islamic ants, well at least maybe when you watch this video titled “Ants Mimic Mecca Pilgrimage.”

Ants Mimic Mecca Pilgrimage is a post from: The Inquisitr

Take one dead gecko. Mix with ants. Follow with video footage at high speed and you get a video of ants devouring a gecko. Perhaps not the most exciting thing we’ve posted, but it’s still fairly amazing.

Amazing: ants devour a gecko is a post from: The Inquisitr

One of the largest ant colonies ever discovered to date stretches over 4,000 miles across Europe and is estimated to number in the billions of ants. The colony shown in the video below; and the picture above, is approximately 500 square feet in size and goes 25 feet into the ground.

In order to be able to see exactly how a colony structure is made up the scientists filled the colony with concrete – 10 tons of it. It took almost a month before they could actually start excavating the site in order to see how it was constructed.

[hat tip to WebEcoist]

Holy Crap! Billions of ants in one colony is a post from: The Inquisitr

The ants seem to have arrived in a cargo ship, according to reports by the Associated Press. Now, they’re everywhere — getting into homes and businesses and messing all sorts of stuff up.

The ants are known as “paratrenicha species near pubens” — uh, yeah — and are related to the breed known more simply as “crazy ants.” Scientists don’t know why they’re attracted to electronic equipment, but the little fellas do seem to enjoy lunching on a good cable or two.

What a mess.

Image: Houston Chronicle

Ants Overtake Texas Electronics is a post from: The Inquisitr