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Freaky New Spider Disguises Itself as Zombie Fungus to Hunt Prey

Deep in the Amazon rainforest, researchers have identified a spider species that survives by playing dead.

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Deep in the Amazon rainforest, researchers have identified a spider species that survives by playing dead. It might also be infected by the kind of fungus that turns insects into something resembling zombies, aka the same kind of mushrooms that zombies from The Last of Us video game series and HBO show.

The species, named Taczanowskia waska, was first noticed by conservationist Alexander Bentley during a nighttime tour in Ecuador. At first, the spider looked like a corpse overtaken by parasitic fungi, like the real-world fungi organisms that inspired The Last of Us. Then it started moving.

It wasn’t a mushroom, it was camouflage. Instead of spinning webs, this particular spider hunts by staying still, mimicking fungus growing on a dead body, and then striking at a passing prey midair with its front legs.

This New Spider Disguises Itself as Zombie Fungus to Hunt Prey

With even more research conducted by biologist David Ricardo Díaz-Guevara and his collaborators, who published their findings in the journal Zootaxa, the team confirmed that the spider likely imitates fungi in the genus Gibellula, which commonly grow on dead spiders, usually tucked under leaves for protection.

The resemblance is close enough that it could theoretically serve two purposes: luring prey and avoiding predators that would otherwise pass over something that looks long dead.

The species belongs to a small and relatively obscure genus, with only a handful of known relatives among tens of thousands of spider species worldwide. Like its cousins, it doesn’t so much rely on webs as it does patience, timing, and the element of surprise.

Just when you think Mother Nature has run out of survival strategies, in comes a spider that does away with old-school webs and instead camouflages itself as the fungal rot that coats dead things so it can be overlooked by both predators and prey. Clever. And gross.

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