A zombie fungus controls ant brains before exploding their heads. The fungus forces ants to climb exactly 25 centimeters high. It then explodes the ant's head like a grenade. Spores rain down on other ants below.
FACT
@fact5
Creepy DiscoveriesFeb 04, 2026
Scientists found a species of fungus that zombifies carpenter ants by taking control of their brains and forcing them to climb plants before exploding their heads to spread spores.
KEEP SCROLLING
More strange facts ✦
FACT
@fact5
Creepy Discoveries
Scientists discovered a zombie fungus that takes control of carpenter ants' brains and forces them to climb plants before killing them
FACT
@fact5
Creepy Discoveries
Scientists found a fungus in Oregon that covers 2,400 acres underground and is potentially 8,650 years old
FACT
@fact5
Creepy Discoveries
Archaeologists found a 2,000-year-old Roman tomb containing 20 decapitated skeletons buried with their heads between their legs
FACT
@fact5
Creepy Discoveries
Archaeologists discovered a 2,000-year-old Roman fast food restaurant in Pompeii with intact food still in the pots when Mount Vesuvius erupted.
FACT
@fact5
Technology
The Coffee Cam Revolution
FACT
@fact5
Dark History
The Bone Wars of the 1870s saw rival paleontologists dynamiting fossil sites to prevent competitors from finding dinosaurs
FACT
@fact5
Space
The Densest Matter
FACT
@fact5
Animal Oddities
Tardigrades can survive in space for 10 days without protection and come back to life after being completely dehydrated for decades
FACT
@fact5
Geography
The Moving Continent
FACT
@fact5
Space
The Mountain of Mars
FACT
@fact5
Science Gone Wrong
The Chernobyl nuclear disaster created a forest where trees can't decompose, so 30 years of dead wood just piles up without rotting.
FACT
@fact5
Dark History
In 1932, Australia declared war on emus and lost after the birds destroyed crops and evaded machine gun fire for weeks.