Fungus named for David Attenborough turns spiders into zombies

By Dean Murray

A new fungal species named in honor of Sir David Attenborough is making 'The Last of Us '-style zombies of cave spiders, researchers say.

A study investigated the identity of the fungus found on a spider during the filming of the BBC Winterwatch series in Northern Ireland.

It was found to display the creepy properties seen in zombie-ant fungi, insect-pathogenic fungi that infect and manipulate the behavior of ants.

The idea inspired popular culture such as in the computer game and TV hit series The Last of Us.

Dr. Harry Evans, Emeritus Fellow at CAB International, led scientists – including from the Natural History Museum of Denmark and Royal Botanical Gardens Kew – in a study to confirm whether the find was a new type of the fungus.

It was confirmed as a novel species and was named after Sir Attenborough, as a pioneer of BBC natural history programs.

The type specimen spider host was identified as the orb-weaving cave spider, Metellina merianae (Tetragnathidae: Araneae), and – through the help of a local speleologist – further specimens of the new species, Gibellula attenboroughii, were found in cave systems in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as well as on a related spider, Meta menardi, occupying different ecological niches within the caves.

Like the type specimen, originally located on the ceiling of a gunpowder store, all the infected spiders were positioned on the roof or walls of the caves.

These normally reclusive spiders had left their lairs or webs and migrated to die in exposed situations: essentially, mirroring the behaviour of ants infected by fungi of the genus Ophiocordyceps previously reported from the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil.

Such manipulation of the host in order to favor dispersal of the fungal spores engendered the description of ‘zombie-ant fungi’ and led to the publication of a number of zombie-fungus-themed books and inspired the likes of The Last of Us.

Researchers say behavioural-changing 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 scientists also used historical herbarium records and literature searches to uncover a hidden diversity within the genus Gibellula in the British Isles, along with evidence of widespread disease epidemics on spiders in Norfolk and Wales. It was concluded that: “their role in spider-population dynamics warrants further study, as does the metabolites they produce which enable them to exploit such a highly specific ecological niche”.