Not entirely the case. I think this is a bit exaggerated.
The research is implying that towards the final stages the fungus exerts control over the muscles to make them contract and lock the ant in its new position; not that it's smart enough to operate the leg muscles like a puppeteer and make it walk up a stem.
And it doesn't need to infiltrate the brain directly; just supply the right chemical signals to make the ant change its behaviour, and it can do that from anywhere in the body. Ants are particularly prone to responding to each other's or a queen's chemical signals already, however suicidal that behaviour might be. They will happily follow their own trails round and round in circles until they drop dead from exhaustion.
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joefish It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks, Thu 16 Nov 2017, 18:35,
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