Here, the fruiting bodies of the parasitic fungus Cordyceps sprout from the bodies of two unfortunate weevils. Nicknamed the ‘zombie fungus’, Cordyceps hijacks the nervous systems of the insects it infects and alters their behaviour, before ultimately killing them. This photo, taken by biologist Damien Esquerré, was the winner in the behavioural and physiological ecology category at the journal BMC Ecology’s annual image contest.
See more of the month’s sharpest science shots, selected by Nature’s photo team. (Damien Esquerré)
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