A fungus turns beetles into zombies and makes them die on flowers to infect the next generation

A fungus infecting goldenrod soldier beetles can alter their behaviour before death and cause changes to their bodies afterwards. Researchers investigating Eryniopsis lampyridarum found infected Chauliognathus pensylvanicus beetles clamped their mandibles tightly onto flower heads shortly before dying. Between 15 and 22 hours after death, the fungus caused the beetles to raise their hardened forewings and expand their hind wings, with these changes occurring mainly between midnight and 7 am. The researchers recorded infected beetles on frost aster, common boneset and Canada goldenrod during investigations in Arkansas. In one 1996 collection of 446 beetles, 90 were infected, producing an overall prevalence of 20.2%. The study found that infected beetles developed either conidia or resting spores, but not both. The researchers said the positioning of infected beetles on flowers may increase opportunities for fungal spores to reach other hosts, although the mechanism behind the pre-death gripping behaviour remains unknown.How does the fungus turn beetles into zombiesAccording to the study published ScienceDirect titled ‘Zombie soldier beetles: Epizootics in the goldenrod soldier beetl...