6 Spinochordodes tellinii is a hairworm and a parasite that lives in a grasshopper and cricket’s body in its early stages. When it becomes adult, it influences its hosts to drown in water where it spends the rest of its life and breeds.

The parasitic organism is a type of nematomorph hairworm. The worm lives in the grasshopper’s and cricket’s body until it becomes an adult worm, which can be three to four times longer than its host. The parasite directly hacks the host’s central nervous system to provoke the host to find a nearby water body and commit suicide.

Scientists say that the parasite produces a certain kind of protein inside the host’s brain that is linked to neurotransmitter activities. However, the exact and full mechanism or the process is unknown to the researchers as well. Once the host dives into the water, the worm abandons the body to drown and die.

 

One of the interesting observations is that the parasite never forces the host to seek water over long distances; it only does it when the host is already near water. (1, 2)

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7 There is a parasitic worm, Diplostomom pseudo spathaceum, that lives inside fish’s eyeballs and influences the fish’s behavior. At first, it helps the fish to stay away from predators, but by the time it matures, it will do everything it can to get that fish eaten by a bird where it will reproduce.

The life cycle of this parasite involves three hosts. Starting from its reproduction in the bird’s gut, it releases its eggs via feces of the bird which hatch into larvae in freshwater. The larvae look for snails to infect. Going from the former process of living in the digestive system and leaving along with the feces, the worms then enter into the fish’s body by penetrating themselves inside usually through gills.

Once it enters the fish, the parasite quickly travels into the fish’s eyeball to hide where there are no blood vessels, which means no blood supply, which also means no presence of the immune system. After some time, it influences the fish to get eaten by a bird where it reproduces again and the life cycle thus continues. 

It is true that the parasite manipulates the behavior of the fish, but the thing that determines how the parasite affects the behavior completely depends on the age of the parasite, which is quite fascinating.

Scientists have described that the young parasites are too innocent and immature to infect in such a way that attracts their next host, whereas the grown-ups are ready, and there is a necessity for them to find the next host to carry out reproduction. (1, 2)

8 Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, also known as the “zombie-ant fungus,” takes over ants’ bodies to control their mind. The fungus first infects a single ant, which it compels to climb a plant stem nearly 25 centimeters above the ant’s nest, creates fruiting bodies in the infected ant’s head, and kills it to burst the spores on the entire colony of ants, zombifying them all. 

When enters the fungus enters a single ant, it’s just a single-celled organism floating inside the ant’s bloodstream and starts multiplying rapidly. It completely drains the insect’s body, controls its mind, and forces the ant to leave its safety zone far from its crew.

It makes the ant stop exactly at the precise place where it is suitable for the fungus to grow considering the right temperature and humidity. It creates a bulge full of fungal spores and makes the ant stick to the leaf or the stem firmly. Then it kills the ant to burst the fruiting bulge which rains down the spores all over the other ant’s colony, infecting most of them. 

However, the fungus is susceptible to the fungal infection itself, and if that happens, it won’t create a huge impact on the ant colony, whereas if it doesn’t, the colony is simply doomed. 

The organism can be found easily in the tropical rainforests of Australia, Thailand, and Brazil, and also in the temperate forests of South Carolina, Japan, and Florida. The species is important from the medical perspective as it produces specialized toxins that are important in the pharmaceutical world. (1, 2, 3)

9 A fungus, Chorioactis geaster, or the “Devil’s Cigar,” is commonly known for its rare and strange presence in the selective areas of Japan and Texas that are separated by 11,000 kilometers and have been for at least 19 million years. The mushroom looks like a cigar, produces a hissing sound, and releases clouds that look like smoke before it unfolds and opens up into a flower shape. 

The Devil’s Cigar resembles a dark brown or black cigar before and looks like a flower after maturing and blossoming. The mushroom had been discovered in only three places until now. They are Japan, Texas, and Oklahoma. The scientists still could not figure out the reason behind its strange distribution across the globe. 

In Texas and the US, it is known by the name “Texas Star.” Here, it grows usually in flooded areas on dead cedar elm in the bottom part of the tree or the roots. Its counterpart in Japan is known as “kirinomitake.” Here it has also survived under an artificial and controlled environment and it generally grows on dead oak trees. 

The Devil’s Cigar was first found in Texas and surprisingly enough, it was eventually found in Japan on the same latitude. (1, 2)

10 Xylaria polymorpha is a type of saprobic fungi that look like creepy fingers popping out from the ground, and thus it is known by the name “Dead Man’s Fingers.” It actually grows on the base of the trees, usually the stumps, roots, or on the decaying wood.

Dead Man’s Fingers can be most commonly found in the woodland areas, and it resembles a club-shaped fruiting body, much like burnt wood. The fingers can be found in various colors like black, brown, and shades of green and blue with black dots all over its body. 

The fingers usually grow individually out of the base, but at times they can be clogged together. Some of these mushrooms feed on plants, some use animals as their hosts, many derive nutrients from dead organic matter, and some are edible, too. (source)