Nature|A new species of fungus has been found in Northern Ireland that infects the brain of spiders living in caves.
Scientists have found a new species of sponge that turns its host into a “zombie”, tells the bbc. So far, the species has been found in spiders living in caves in Ireland.
The fungus changes the spider’s behavior: it causes the spider to leave his hiding place or an open location on the ceiling of the cave or to the wall where it dies.
The fungus affects the behavior of the spider by releasing dopamine, the happiness chemical of the brain. Dopamine makes the spider favored the spread of sponge spores rather than staying alive.
According to the BBC, the fungus has been found in two different spider species that thrive in dark and humid places.
Sir David Attenboroughin Named Gibellula Attenboroughii sponge was first found in the Down County in Northern Ireland in the BBC’s Winterwatch program in 2021.
Researchers According to Gibellula Attenboroughii, the behavior of the mushroom resembles ants.
Ants are mushrooms that infect their host species brain and change the use of ants, HS told me In 2014.
According to the article, the ants infected by the sponge, for example, walk into a high tree, bite their jaws into the leafy food and die.
Zombie ants are inspiration for the soaring popular The Last of Us -In video game and its Based on the TV series created double cloth. The Last of Usin Events begin as the unhealthy fungal infection begins to spread around the world, which makes infected zombie monsters.