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There are many ways to enter this humble world of ours. Some are more dramatic than others, but not many can surpass the entrance of a young phorid fly for sheer triumphant drama.

In this sequence of photos (via National Geographic) you'll see a female phorid fly hovering over a fire ant, who gets pierced by her needle-sharp ovipositor. The egg now planted inside the ant will soon hatch, and the larva will migrate to the ant's head, where, over the course of a few weeks, it will suck up the ant's brain. What is left of the ant after all this? A zombie ant, of course.

The phorid fly larva then commandeers the ant, and can even force it to wander away from the ant hive to protect the ant from the other ants who might begin to get suspicious of the zombie ant. Once in seclusion, the larva pops off the ant's head and proceeds to emerge. How's that for drama? The insect world provides us with horror stories better than most human minds can conceive.
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