The Last of Us (HBO series - spoilers within)

please file this under how the hell did I miss it. I can't imagine its a spoiler since I watched the whole series without knowing but last night I finally started "The Making of" How many knew the fungus was real? The only thing they made up was that it can affect humans. It takes over ants and makes them walking spore incubators. It even makes them kill their colony. This has to be what keeps ants up at night

The fungus from The Last of Us is based on a real fungus that exists in nature today and is called Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, or cordyceps. Cordyceps is often referred to as the “zombie-ant fungus” because it primarily infects ants and other insects such as spiders.

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