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Doesn't fit under any other thread image dump

Started by Tank, February 03, 2014, 08:45:37 AM

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Icarus


Recusant

Quote from: Icarus on January 24, 2025, 06:00:27 AMAnother clever ploy.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/k_QN8h3V92U

I've heard about this fungus. Definitely on the bizarre and macabre side of life. Thanks for the reminder, Icarus:lol:

I'm dubious of the images used in that video short, comparing to the images on the Wikipedia page for Ophiocordyceps. The description there of the life cycle of Ophiocordyceps unilateralis is edifying.  :zombie:
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth."
— H. L. Mencken


Icarus

Except that ants fulfill some of natures needs, I would encourage the disease to kill all those little demons.

My two most favored bugs are Mantis and Dragonflies, both of which do good work.

Recusant

Agreed, both are splendid and neither bother much with people unlike the wasps who also prey on pests but can be pests themselves.

On the brain-rot fungus front, a recently discovered species which infects spiders.

"Newly discovered fungal species makes zombies of cave spiders on island of Ireland" | Phys.org

Quote

The new fungus Gibellula attenboroughii on the orb-weaving cave spider. Credit: CABI



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 investigate the identity of a fungus found on a spider during filming of the BBC Winterwatch series in Northern Ireland. The work is published in the journal Fungal Systematics and Evolution.

Based on both morphological and molecular evidence, the fungus was confirmed as a novel species and "named after the broadcaster and natural historian Sir David Attenborough, a pioneer of BBC natural history programs, who—in his role as controller of BBC 2—helped to develop the Natural History Unit; leading, indirectly, to the present nature series during which the new species was first discovered."

Subsequently, the 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 left their lairs or webs and migrated to die in exposed situations, essentially, mirroring the behavior of ants infected by fungi of the genus Ophiocordyceps previously reported from the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil.

[Continues . . .]

The paper is open access:

"The araneopathogenic genus Gibellula (Cordycipitaceae: Hypocreales) in the British Isles, including a new zombie species on orb-weaving cave spiders (Metainae: Tetragnathidae)" | Fungal Systematics and Evolution

QuoteAbstract:

The genus Gibellula (Cordycipitaceae: Hypocreales) comprises species pathogenic on and specific to spider hosts. Here, we report on the occurrence of a novel species infecting cave-dwelling, orb-weaving spiders of the sub-family Metainae (Tetragnathidae) in the British Isles.

The new species, Gibellula attenboroughii is described and illustrated and its ecology is discussed; leading to the conclusion that infected spiders exhibit behavioural changes similar to those reported for zombie ants.

The hidden diversity of the genus Gibellula in the British Isles is further highlighted based on fungarium records and literature searches. Two spider pathogens, previously assigned to the genus Torrubiella, are now transferred to the genus Gibellula, based on their Granulomanus synasexual morphs, in accordance with the one fungus-one name initiative: Gibellula albolanata comb. nov. and G. aranicida comb. nov.
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth."
— H. L. Mencken


Icarus


billy rubin



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billy rubin



elon musk's net worth is $486,000,000,000. if elon spent a million dollars a day, every day of the year, it would take him 1342 years to spend all his money.