This unfortunate arachnid is infected with Cordyceps, a parasitic fungus that replaces its host’s tissue with its own.
Cordyceps fungi invades its hosts (mainly arthropods), and eventually replaces the host’s tissue with its own parasitic tissue. Once the arthropod is dead, cylindrical or branching growths emerge from the creature’s dead body. These “fruiting bodies” that sprout out of the dead arthropod then spew out more spores to infect a new host. Some species also have mind-control capabilities, convincing the host to travel to a place where the fungus will find optimal growth conditions before the host dies. If you haven’t seen it yet, this video from Planet Earth shows a Cordyceps fungus in action:
How terrifying is that?
[Via io9]
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HA HA HA!! That’s amazing!! I knew there were Parasites that was able to control other insects and whatnot, but I’ve never seen this! Thanks! I really love this article! Wow.
I find this stuff very creepy and fascinating at the same time.
When one watches stuff like John Carpenters ‘The Thing’ and realises that there is some truth in it. Its a sobering experience.
Nature never fails to utterly, utterly horrify.
There’s a really amazing video game based on a human variation of the cordyceps fungi. It’s called “The Last of Us.” There’s a human outbreak which basically turns everyone to zombies. The spores travel from the air or it can also be spread through bites. There are three stages, the first stage seems like a regular zombie. Then in the second stage they start growing stuff and go blind, to compensate for blindness they hear really well and are a lot stronger. The third is when they are covered with the fungus and spare spreading spores in the air. It’s probably the best game on ps3! The storyline, graphics and gameplay are all amazing.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/but-not-simpler/2013/06/25/the-fungus-that-reduced-humanity-to-the-last-of-us/
Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the pictures on this blog loading?
I’m trying to figure out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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