We were used to knowing all kinds of zombies in films but fortunately in real life there was still no trace. Instead, the animal world is made where they have recently been discovered in a study, a particular type of spiders called “Ragni Zombie”.
The study
Published in the magazine Fungal Systematics and Evolutionthese spiders were discovered randomly while a TV series was shot in Ireland on a particular type of mushroom, the Gibellula Attenborughiiwhich then discovered themselves capable of infecting these creatures by manipulating their behavior and transforming them, in fact, into zombie.
This particular mushroom has a whitish and soft aspect and takes its name from Sir David Attenborough, Pioneer of the BBC natural history programs. This species, as mentioned, was discovered during the filming of a BBC TV series from the name of Winterwatchshot in Northern Ireland in 2021.
The “discovery”
The first specimen of infected spider was found on the ceiling of an abandoned ammunition warehouse. After a more careful look, the crew noted that others of these infected spiders were on the roof of the deposit and, subsequently, the researchers of the Cab International They also found them on the walls of the caves in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland.
Infected spiders belong to the species Metelline merianae. These are small arachnids, usually lonely, who live mainly in Europe in a dark and humid context like that of caves, therefore the abandoned warehouse was for them a perfect place to proliferate, also for the presence of this mushroom which, reads in the Study, he would take control of his guest’s movements, forcing him to abandon the den or the cobweb and exposing it to air currents that would help the dispersion of the spores.
Similar to ants
This behavior had already been noticed in a particular type of ants of the genre Ophiocordycepsfind in the Brazilian rainforest. In this case, however, the mushroom in question would produce metabolites similar to dopamy that would change in this case only the behavior of the insect.
How the mushroom works in the body
According to the new study instead, Gibellula Attenborughii Use chemical signals to take control of spiders, making them come out of the lairs. Once killed, it would use i their corpses to release the spores. Entering more specifically, as explained by the author of the research Harry Evans in Livecienza, the spin would penetrate the spider infecting his hemocele.
So the spider that leaves the den and is actually killed by the spores is mummified to preserve it. Finally, always the mushroom, absorbs all the nutrients and with the right environmental temperatures (the wet and dark places) grows long structures around the animal with which to disperse the spores.
The studies are still to be deepened as the authors explained: “iTheir role in the dynamics of Ragni’s populations deserves further studies, as well as the metabolites they produce and that allow them to exploit such a highly specific ecological niche“, underlining how these could be fundamental in the study or enhancement of some drugs.