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Why these zombie caterpillars can’t stop eating 

Real-life “The Last of Us” Cordyceps fungus messes with the “blood sugar” of its insect victims

Towering yellow fungus spikes grow out of a black pellet that once was a living silkworm in its cocoon.

Spikes of the spore-spreading form of real-life Cordyceps fungus, stick out of the cocoon of a now-dead caterpillar that had been turned into a food-gathering puppet.

Chengshu Wang

By Susan Milius

Here’s a new detail of how a real-life Cordyceps fungus zombifies still-living animals: Crashing their “blood sugar.”