stage: Healthy · t = 0.0 s
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A close-up 3D study of a single carpenter ant infected by Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, the real parasitic fungus behind "zombie-ant" behavior. Scrub the stage slider — or hit play — to move a procedurally animated ant model through the real infection timeline: healthy walking, visible mycelium growth across the exoskeleton with erratic movement, climbing into vegetation ("summit disease"), the mandible death-grip lock onto a leaf vein, a fungal stroma erupting from the back of the head, and finally periodic spore release from the stalk tip. Orbit freely at any stage to inspect the model from any angle; the mycelium-density slider controls how much visible fungal thread coverage renders at the infected stages.