The show The Last of Us got me wondering: Is fungi intelligent? How can a non-intelligent life form take control of an intelligent one, even if its intelligence is low?

How the Zombie Ant Fungus Works

The Ophiocordyceps fungus doesn’t give precise step-by-step movement commands like a remote control. Instead, it hijacks the ant’s nervous and muscular systems, subtly manipulating behavior while allowing the ant to appear mostly normal—until the final “climb-and-bite” stage.

How It Moves Without Being Detected:

• Preserved Locomotion – The fungus doesn’t fully disrupt motor functions; the ant continues walking in a mostly natural way, reducing suspicion from nestmates.

• Stealth Mode – Infected ants avoid erratic movements, making it less likely that others will detect and remove them before the fungus matures.

• Neural Hijacking, Not Brain Control – The fungus primarily affects muscles, not higher brain functions, allowing the ant to navigate obstacles as if making its own choices.

• Environmental Triggers – The fungus synchronizes its control based on temperature, humidity, and light, guiding the ant to an optimal location for fungal growth and spore dispersal.

Rather than issuing direct commands, the fungus subtly exploits the ant’s instincts while using biochemical control.

Infection Timeline (From Spore to Death)

1. Spore Attachment (0–2 Days) – Fungal spores land on an ant, penetrate its exoskeleton, and begin spreading inside.

2. Growth & Manipulation (4–10 Days) – The fungus spreads through the ant’s body, hijacking muscles and subtly altering behavior.

3. The Death March (10–14 Days) – The ant leaves its colony, climbs vegetation, and locks its jaws in place (the "death grip").

4. Death & Fungal Emergence (15–25 Days) – The fungus kills the ant, then a stalk grows out of its head, releasing spores to infect others.

Can Ants Resist the Infection?

Yes, but resistance depends on several factors:

• Social Hygiene – Healthy ants recognize infected nestmates and remove or kill them before the fungus spreads.

• Self-Removal – Some infected ants instinctively leave the colony earlier, possibly as a defense mechanism.

• Colony Relocation – Some ant colonies have been observed moving away from high-infection zones.

• Immune Response – If an ant’s immune system is strong enough, it might fight off the fungus before it takes hold.

Despite these defenses, Ophiocordyceps is incredibly effective, and infected ants rarely survive once spores take root inside them.

Intelligence or Evolutionary Mastery?

Fungi don’t possess intelligence in the way animals do, but they exhibit highly evolved problem-solving capabilities. For example, fungal mycelial networks can navigate mazes for food sources, demonstrating an almost algorithmic efficiency.

In the case of Ophiocordyceps, its ability to time behavioral manipulation for optimal spore dispersal is an evolutionary adaptation rather than real-time intelligence. The fungus doesn’t “think”—it has simply evolved chemical strategies to exploit ant behavior in ways that appear calculated.

Fiction vs. Reality

In The Last of Us, the concept of Cordyceps infecting humans is an exaggerated, fictional take on real fungal behavior. In reality:

• Ophiocordyceps is highly specialized for ants and wouldn’t survive in human bodies due to temperature differences and stronger immune systems.

• Human fungal infections exist (e.g., Candida, Aspergillus), but they don’t exhibit behavior-controlling abilities like Cordyceps.

The show’s premise is an engaging horror twist on real science, but actual fungi rely on biochemical mastery rather than intelligence to manipulate their hosts.