In the dense forests of South America and Southeast Asia, a parasite operates with chilling precision. Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, often called the zombie-ant fungus, infects ants, invades their ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. This microscopic, parasitic fungus evolved to hijack ants’ ...

A colony of leafcutter ants is home to more than just one species. Each year, studies reveal new layers of complexity in ...

The mutualistic relationship between leaf-cutting ants and their fungal cultivars, primarily Leucoagaricus gongylophorus, constitutes one of nature’s most intricate examples of symbiosis. This ...

The exploding ant, known scientifically as Colobopsis explodens, has one of the most extreme defense mechanisms in the animal kingdom. When threatened, certain worker ants rupture their own bodies, ...