In the Amazon rainforest near Manaus, Brazil, scientists have discovered that the infamous "zombie-ant" fungus lives a secret double life. Researchers at the National Institute for Amazonian Research found that Ophiocordyceps, the fungus that hijacks ants' minds and forces them to bite plants before dying, also hides inside mosses growing all around the forest. The discovery, published in the journal IMA Fungus, is rewriting what scientists thought they knew about these eerie fungi. The fungus was found in mosses located more than 10 meters (33 feet) away from any infected ant, suggesting it lives comfortably inside plants without needing an insect host at all. The research team, led by biologist Tales Alves Jr., collected moss samples from the Adolpho Ducke Forest Reserve and used DNA analysis to detect fungal genetic material. They found that even highly specialized fungal lineages, such as O. camponoti-nidulantis (which infects only one ant species) and O. kniphofioides (which targets a different ant), were sheltering inside nearby bryophytes. Scientists have long noticed that infected ants often bite mosses for their "death grip" before dying, but researchers did not realize the mosses were already hosting the same fungus. This suggests the behavioral manipulation may not be a simple two-way conversation between fungus and ant. Instead, the plant itself might influence which spot the dying ant chooses. The fungus has more than 350 known species worldwide, all known for manipulating insect behavior in ways that seem pulled from a science fiction novel. Previously, researchers in China discovered in 2020 that a related species called "Himalayan gold" lived inside plants, but this is the first time scientists have shown the same dual lifestyle in fungi that actively manipulate their insect hosts in the Amazon. Understanding this hidden plant stage could help explain how these fungi survive when insects are scarce and why certain fungi stick to specific moss types year after year. "The well-known behavioral manipulation caused by Ophiocordyceps may not result solely from the interaction between fungus and ant, but from a complex relationship that includes plants," Alves Jr. said. The discovery opens a new window into the hidden ecology of the rainforest, where organisms may be connected in ways scientists are only beginning to imagine.