Ireland. Cave spiders killed by fungus.

[m0lsx]

A new fungus that infects cave spiders and turns them into "zombies" was discovered in a Victorian gunpowder store at Castle Espie in Northern Ireland during filming for a TV show.

Scientists have discovered a never-before-seen mind-controlling fungus that creates spider "zombies" after it was stumbled upon in a Victorian gunpowder store on the grounds of a destroyed Irish castle.

The fluffy white fungus, similar to the zombie-ant fungus that inspired the "The Last of Us" video game and TV series, likely uses chemical signals to direct cave spiders out of their lairs and into the open. The fungus then kills the spiders and uses their corpses to release its spores, according to a new study.


Members of BBC's nature documentary TV series Winterwatch first discovered the fungus in a gunpowder storeroom at Castle Espie wetland reserve in Northern Ireland in 2021. Scientists analysed the fungus and found it is new to science. They describe the species, named Gibellula attenboroughii to honor Sir David Attenborough, in a study published Friday (Jan. 24) in the journal Fungal Systematics and Evolution.

The G. attenboroughii found in the gunpowder store was on a dead orb-weaving cave spider (Metellina merianae). As their name suggests, these spiders usually live in caves but will also inhabit dark human-made areas such as cellars and old storerooms.

Following the chance discovery in 2021, study co-author Tim Fogg, a caving specialist, found more examples of the fungus in cave systems in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, including on another cave spider species, Meta menardi, according to the study.

Cave spiders are usually concealed in lairs or webs, yet all of the infected individuals were exposed on the roofs and walls of the caves in which they were found — the gunpowder spider was on the storeroom's ceiling. The researchers proposed that the fungus altered the spiders' behavior, sending them out into the open and exposing them to air currents that dispersed G. attenboroughii spores.

 

[Ratmosphere]

Wild!

"The Last Of Us".

 

[Tarantula Trooper]

Dang!!! Don't take your Ts out on a field trip to the pretty caverns...lol! Seriously, that's dreadful such thing exists!

 

[AndrewClayton]

Wild!

"The Last Of Us".

Seen this a few weeks ago and thought exactly this lol