Spiders infected with previously unknown fungus, massively attacked houses: what is happening to them

To spread: researchers have found that a mysterious mushroom turns spiders into real "zombies" by eating organs and capturing control over animals' behavior. After that, the fungus literally devours the body of spiders from the inside. Americans find massively white, covered with a crust of a corpse of spiders in attics and in basements. In addition, spiders were noticed in the gardens and caves of the United Kingdom, as well as in the cellars of the Czech Republic.

For the first time, the fungus was discovered in 2021, and then reports of zombie spider became more and more, writes Daily Mail. In focus. Technology has appeared its Telegram channel. Subscribe not to miss the latest and most intrusive news from the world of science! Researchers have found that the spiders on the zombie turn a mysterious fungus known as Gibellula atenboroghiii - it attaches to the spider, penetrates into his body and devours it from the inside.

Further, the fungus affects the biochemistry of the spider brain, changing the level of dopamine to make the animal get out of the web to the open space, where it will eventually die. After that, the mushroom sprouts with the corpse with fruit bodies that produce spores that infect new spiders and continue their deadly cycle. At the same time, scientists say it is difficult to determine how long the Zombie spiders live, but some data indicate that they can live up to three weeks.

For the first time, the fungus was found on the ceiling of an abandoned powder warehouse in Northern Ireland. Then Dr. Harry Evans decided to find out the origin of the mushroom and found that his owner was a cave spider-carrier of Metelina Merianae. Evans and his team were discovered by a mushroom that lives in the cave systems of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as well as in a Meta Menardi -related spider, which occupies various ecological niches in the caves.

Scientists have discovered that these spiders were usually leaving their den and webs to die outdoors, simulating the behavior of ants infected with mushrooms in the Atlantic Tropical Forests of Brazil. Physical and genetic analyzes of mushrooms confirmed that scientists have discovered a whole new species G. AttenboRughii, named after TV presenter David Attenboro. According to the Micologog from the Danish Museum of Natural History of Joau Arauzh, G.

Attenborovughii does not pose a threat to the transformation of people into zombies. Researchers believe that it would probably take many millions of years of genetic modifications to infection people. According to Dr. Evans, the fungus enters the body of the spider and affects its hemocel - a cavity containing the blood -shaped fluid of invertebrate.

When the owner is exposed from the den, the fungus secretes the toxin that kills it and then produces antibiotics to preserve the body while it is mummified. It is known that the mushroom deprives the spider of nutrients, and under appropriate conditions, such as high humidity of the cave, releases long stems from the corpse, then releases spores and spreads the infection. The study published this year revealed a hidden variety of parasitic fungi in the British islands.