Zombie Research Society
For yet another disturbing display of zombie-like behavior in the animal kingdom, we need look no further than the parasitic hairworm. The worm develops to maturity inside an unsuspecting cricket on land, but must live its adult life in water.
To make this transition, the hairworm takes control of the cricket’s brain and forces it to commit suicide by leaping into any available pool or pond. Once in the water the cricket quickly drowns, allowing the hairworm to emerge and swim away in search of a mate.
If this doesn’t prove that truth is stranger than fiction, we don’t know what does.
Probably dermestid beetles