Scientists have identified a new fungus, Gibellula attenboroughii , that infects cave spiders in Ireland. The fungus controls the spiders’ behavior, like a “zombie ant fungus.”
Dr Harry Evans, Honorary Scientist at CAB International, led a team of scientists, including experts from the Natural History Museum of Denmark and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in a study to identify a fungus discovered on a spider during the filming of the BBC series Winterwatch in Northern Ireland.
Through morphological and molecular analysis, the scientists confirmed that the fungus was a previously unknown species and: “named after broadcaster and natural historian Sir David Attenborough, a pioneer of BBC nature programmes who – in his role as the controller of BBC 2 – helped develop the Natural History Unit; indirectly leading to the current nature series in which this new species was first discovered.”
Spider host identification and other findings
The spider’s host was subsequently identified as the cave spider, Metellina merianae ( Tetragnathidae : Araneae ) and—thanks to the help of a local cave explorer—further specimens of the new species were found in a cave in the Northern Ireland occupation area, and that found in the Northern Ireland occupation area .
Like the original specimen found on the ceiling of the gunpowder warehouse, all infected spiders were found on the roof or walls of the cave. These normally solitary spiders abandoned their burrows or webs and migrated to die in exposed situations: essentially mirroring the behavior of ants infected with Ophiocordyceps fungi previously reported from the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil.
Similarities with ‘Zombie Ant Mushroom’
Such manipulation of the host to promote the spread of fungal spores gave rise to the description of “zombie ant fungus” and led to the publication of several books on the subject of the zombie ant fungus, as well as the popular video game and television series The Last of Us. Behavior-altering metabolites, such as dopamine , have since been identified in cultures of zombie ant fungi of the genus Ophiocordyceps .
Published in the journal Fungal Systematics and Evolution , the researchers also used historical records and literature searches to uncover hidden diversity within the genus Gibellula in the British Isles, along with evidence of widespread disease outbreaks among spiders in Norfolk and Wales. They concluded that: “their roles in spider population dynamics deserve further study, as do the metabolites they produce that help them exploit such an extremely specific ecological niche”.
