Cordyceps: The Zombie-Ant Fungus

This simulation models the real epidemiology of Ophiocordyceps unilateralis spreading through a carpenter-ant colony: a top-down forest floor with wandering, foraging ants and climbable vegetation. Airborne spores infect ants on contact; each infected ant runs through a real disease progression — a symptomless incubation period, a manipulated phase where the fungus drives it to climb and move erratically, and a final death-grip lock onto a leaf, after which a fruiting body grows from its head and periodically bursts new spores over the colony below. Adjust colony size, spore density and incubation time to see how the infection spreads, or click an ant directly to seed a new outbreak.