Cave-dwelling, orb-weaving spiders of the subfamily Metainae infected by Gibellula attenboroughii exhibit behavioral changes similar to those reported for zombie ants.
Gibellula attenboroughii, habitat and paratype, on Meta menardi. Scale bars – 0.5 mm in (C) and 0.25 mm in (D). Image credit: Evans et al., doi: 10.3114/fuse.2025.15.07.
Gibellula is a genus of fungi specific to and pathogenic on spiders comprising over 30 recognized species.
The greater majority of these species have a subtropical to tropical distribution.
There are few records of the genus from the British Isles with only a single species, Gibellula aranearum.
During the BBC Winterwatch television series in 2021, filmed on location in Northern Ireland, a fungal-infected spider was discovered on the ceiling of an abandoned gunpowder store and provisionally identified as Gibellula pulchra.
Images, sent by the BBC to CAB International researcher Harry Evans suggested that this was a novel species of the Gibellula genus.
“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,” said Dr. Evans, co-corresponding author of the study.
“Subsequently, the spider host was identified as the orb-weaving cave spider, Metellina merianae, 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 behavior 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.’
In their research, Dr. Evans and colleagues 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.
“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,” they said.
The discovery is reported in a paper in the journal Fungal Systematics and Evolution.
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H.C. Evans et al. 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, published online January 24, 2025; doi: 10.3114/fuse.2025.15.07
Source : Breaking Science News