A field researcher working in the Peruvian Amazon came across a dead tarantula infected with a “zombie fungus” and captured the terrifying event on video.
The zombie fungus, formally known as Cordyceps, takes control of its host’s mind and motor skills, then eats away at its host’s body and germinates from within.
“It took over his nervous system and forced him to come to this location,” said wildlife researcher Chris Ketola, who posted the video to his Instagram.
‘And when he died, the fungus was excreted from his body, allowing the spores to spread to another, unsuspecting tarantula.’
If this sounds familiar, it’s because Cordyceps was the inspiration for the hit video game and TV drama The Last of Us, in which humans try to survive after an infectious fungus turns them into zombies.
A field researcher working in the Peruvian Amazon came across a dead tarantula infected with Cordyceps, also known as “zombie fungus,” and captured it on video.
Each species of Cordyceps infects a different type of invertebrate. The type that attacks tarantulas is rare – this was only the third Cordyceps-infected tarantula Ketola had ever seen.
“This is truly horrific, but also unbelievable what our team found tonight,” Ketola said.
When a host insect becomes infected with Codryceps, the fungus begins to strip its body of nutrients. The insect feeds from within.
It then fills the host’s body with spores, allowing the fungus to reproduce. It then hacks into the insect’s mind.
The Cordyceps spores force the insect to move to a higher location, where more sunlight and warmth create the perfect conditions for the fungus to reproduce.
When the host eventually dies, the fungus leaves its body and releases more spores that can infect even more insects.
Scientists do not know exactly how Cordyceps takes over the brain and motor functions of its host.
Cordyceps, also known as the zombie fungus, was the inspiration for the hit video game and drama series The Last of Us. But don’t worry: this fungus can’t actually infect humans.
But recent studies have detected chemical signals from the fungi in infected insects. Some of these signals, likely secreted proteins, may be targeted to the host’s behavioral systems.
In The Last of Us, a fictional, mutated form of Cordyceps infects people’s minds and takes over them, turning them into violent zombies.
But in real life, Cordyceps cannot infect humans.
Each of these fungal species is highly specialized, meaning that they have evolved to infect only a few select hosts.
Some fungal pathogens can pass from animals to humans, but Cordyceps is not one of them, experts say.