Required Software

To open these system models, you will need to download VensimPle, which is modeling software. To download this program for free, click here.

To run the model, click on the Simulate button. To adjust parameters such as the ant birth, click SyntheSim, which allows you to adjust variables in the program.

Model 1: Ants & Fungi

In this model, there are only ants and fungi. Ants are born and have to become 'zombie' ants in order to die. When the zombie ants die, they become spores, which simulates the spores sprouting out of the ants. By this logic, only one spore grows out of a zombie ant. The spores take about three weeks to become fungi, explaining the erratic shape of the graph. Only fully grown fungi can infect ants.

This model starts with 200 ants and five fungi. This is a very small and controlled scale, as in real life, there would be many more ants and fungi. If there were only 200 ants in a section of jungle, they would all become infected very quickly. Other organisms, such as predators to the ants and to the fungus, do not yet exist in this model.

Download model file

Model 2: Ants, Fungi, & Hyperparasitic Fungi

In this model, a new type of fungus is introduced into the model. This is a hyperparasitic fungus, which is a fungus that preys on other fungi. This fungus causes the zombie fungus to become sterile.

This model is on a much larger scale, with 2000 ants and fifty fungi. This is more realistic and accurate than our previous model. Download model file