A team of scientists from Ireland and international partners has made a groundbreaking discovery of a parasitic fungus, Gibellula attenboroughii, which takes control of spiders before killing them. This fungus, named after naturalist Sir David Attenborough, was first spotted in 2021 during the filming of the BBC’s Winterwatch series.
Researchers from CABI, Natural History Museum of Denmark, and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, studied the fungus’ DNA and morphology to verify the discovery. They found that Gibellula attenboroughii infects orb-weaving cave spiders and other species across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
When infected, these normally reclusive arachnids leave their lairs or webs and move to more exposed locations to die. This behavior is similar to that of “zombie ants” in the Amazon, which are controlled by fungi before dying in ideal spore-spreading locations.
The scientists believe that Gibellula attenboroughii plays a crucial role in spider-population dynamics and warrants further study, particularly regarding the metabolites produced by the fungus that enable it to exploit its specific ecological niche.
Source: https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/insects-invertebrates/gibellula-attenboroughii-ireland