Latest news with #TimFogg
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Researcher confirms tarantulas and 'zombie spiders' are in UK
"Zombie spiders" have now joined tarantulas in the UK, according to researchers. Sightings have been made of newly discovered fungus crazy creatures in the country. The white-foamed spiders are infected by a parasitic, entomopathogenic fungus which takes control of both their brains and bodies. This then puts them into a zombie-like state but the fungus slowly consumes the spider and kills it. READ MORE: Jeremy Clarkson sparks concern with new shocking injury A zombie spider infected by the fungus. (Image: Tim Fogg) These spiders were first found by Sir David Attenborough in caves in Northern Ireland. Now, according to the Espress, someone working on a garden in Wanstead, East London has found 15 of these the infected spiders. Gareth Jenkins, landscaper at Greenman Landscaping, told the publication: "They had almost see-through legs and were about half an inch big. "I've been a landscaper for 20 years and never in my life have I seen something like this." The 46-year-old revealed that the British Mycological Society confirmed that these spiders were infected with the zombie parasite. READ MORE: Update after woman found dead at Oxfordshire home Missed a copy of the Oxford Mail you wanted? Here's what to do — Oxford Mail (@TheOxfordMail) May 13, 2024 Mr Jenkins added: "They assured me it can't spread to humans but if I saw one of them run towards me, I know I will died of a heart attack. "The house is just in the middle of suburbia, you would never expect to find these spiders here." It has been confirmed that the zombie parasite does not spread to humans. The Uk is already home to many species of spider including a type of tarantula. As BBC Countryfile's wildlife researcher Adele Brand confirmed, the purseweb spider is Britain's only tarantula. READ MORE: Police issue public warning after prisoner escapes The purseweb spider. (Image: Susquehanna University) It is a member of the family that contains these 'tropical giants' but is a stay-at-home spider. It spends most of its life inside that silken tube, which has been compared to an old purse and a dirty sock, hence its name. The whole structure can be up to 25cm long but only a small part protrudes above the soil surface. Despite all of this this, residents in Oxfordshire have been advised not to worry about the higher volume of spiders entering homes in spring. A spokesperson for Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) said: ''Spiders live alongside us all year round and this is something to celebrate, not fear. READ MORE: Inspector Morse actor well-known to Oxford audiences receives OBE Unlock unlimited local news. Subscribe today and save 40 per cent off an annual subscription 🚨 Enjoy access to our ad-free mobile and tablet app, as well as the digital edition of the paper. Don't miss out – subscribe now! 👇 — Oxford Mail (@TheOxfordMail) April 9, 2025 'These amazing animals are a vital part of our ecosystems, feeding on an astounding number of insects. 'Many of the insects they eat are considered pests of food crops, garden plants and even people, so having spiders around is a great natural alternative to pesticides. 'Some spiders have found their perfect home in our houses, hunting the other invertebrates that find their way inside, from house flies to wasps and mosquitoes. 'They tend to keep themselves to themselves, preferring dark corners where they can live in peace.'
CBC
10-02-2025
- Science
- CBC
Behold the fungus that turns spiders into zombies and marches them to their deaths
Tim Fogg walked past the zombie spider fungus many times over the years before he learned what it actually was. As someone who explores caves for a living, Fogg would often see little globs of fuzzy white fungus on the walls of Ireland's subterranean networks, sometimes with spider legs sticking out of them. Now, he's a co-author of a study that identifies those globs as a newly discovered species of fungus that takes control of spiders, essentially turning them into zombies, and marches them to their deaths. Zombified spiders infected by deadly fungi in dark caves may be the stuff of nightmares for some people. But, for Fogg, it's a dream. "I find it fascinating and extraordinary and really intriguing," he told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. Though, he admits, it's "sad for the spiders." The findings are published in the journal Fungal Systematics and Evolution. Discovered during a BBC shoot It all started in 2021 in an abandoned gunpowder storage shed near Belfast. A film crew was shooting footage for the BBC nature program Winterwatch, when they stumbled across several dead spiders on the roof, enmeshed in a prickly looking white substance. They sent samples to Harry Evans of U.K. office of the Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International, who theorized the crew had found a fungus not yet known to science. Fogg saw the documentary, and immediately recognized the stuff from caves around Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. So he reached out to Evans, who promptly put him to work. "Over the last two and a half years, we've been watching them and getting samples and culturing the samples and doing DNA sampling on them," Fogg said. "The results are a new species, and this interesting behaviour." The fungus — called Gibellula attenboroughii after famed nature documentary host David Attenborough — appears to affect two cave-dwelling species of spiders, Metellina merianae and Meta menardi. Both spiders prefer to spend their time in dark, dank places. But the fungus forces them to abandon the holes and crevices they call home, and march to open, high-up spaces, like cave walls or cellar roofs, to die. "When they're dead, they have a lot of long filaments coming out of them, with the spores on them," Fogg said. Those spores are then carried on the breeze, raining down upon other, unwitting spiders. If this sounds familiar, it's because Gibellula attenboroughii is one of many species of parasitic fungi around the world that take over and kill their hosts, which are usually insects. Andy MacKinnon, a forest ecologist in British Columbia who studies fungi, calls these "zombie fungi," and says they even exist in Canada. "It's not an uncommon thing, but it's uncommonly interesting," MacKinnon, who was not involved in the study, told CBC. Perhaps the best known example is Ophiocordyceps, a parasitic genus of fungi that infects ants and other insects from the inside out, forcing them to climb up high and explode, thereby showering spores upon their brethren. It's the fungus that inspired The Last of Us, a popular video game and television series about a fungi-fuelled zombie apocalypse. Gibellula attenboroughii is part of a totally different fungi family than its ant-exploding counterpart, says João Araújo, a mycologist at Denmark's Museum of Natural History, and another co-author of the study. But the behaviour it induces — making its host defy its natural instincts by climbing up high to die — is very similar. Some research suggests the zombie ant fungus works by flooding its host with the feel-good hormone dopamine in order to make it do its bidding. Other research suggests the fungus acts on the ant's muscles, rather than its mind. "If you were the ant, your brain may be able to contemplate that your legs were moving all on their own and taking you to places you wouldn't normally go," MacKinnon said. "You might be able to ponder that as an ant." Whether this new fungus bestows that particular horror on Ireland's cave spiders, or simply blisses them out with happy hormones, is not yet clear. "We don't know the mechanisms behind it," Araújo said. "This species was just discovered, there is a lot to investigate about it yet." The pros of zombie fungi While zombie fungi are no friend to the ants of Brazil or the cave-dwelling spiders of Ireland, MacKinnon says they have an important role in the natural world, keeping their hosts species' populations in check. "They're a predator of sorts," he said. "They don't prowl around on four legs and chase the insects, but they are performing the same function in the ecosystem." They pose no danger to humans, and may even be beneficial. Some kinds of zombie fungi have long been used in traditional medicine, for all kinds of things, including improving energy and libido. And some preliminary research suggests they could boost immune responses and help slow the growth of cancer cells. That gives hope to Fogg, who spent years collecting dead spiders from dark caves. "Hopefully, there's something in these amazing fungi that will help humans in the future medically," he said.
