Parasitism is rampant in the natural world- nearly half of all animal species are parasites, for example. caloceroides, takes up residence in spiders, such as this tarantula photographed in Ecuador. While some members of the parasitic fungus genus Ophiocordyceps seek out insect hosts, this species, O. If you think that’s ghastly, wait until you hear about the wasp that takes over the mind of a cockroach, then saddles up and rides it all the way home as the ultimate packed lunch for its offspring. The parasite then produces fruiting bodies that erupt through the host’s exoskeleton and release what parasitologist Gabor Racz calls “spore bombs.” These spores then rain down from their high position, infecting as many nearby insects as possible.
These fungi infect flies, ants, and other insects, feasting from the inside out and also controlling their hosts’ movement, forcing them to relocate to higher areas. García-Roa had just come across an example of a parasitic “zombie” fungus from the genus Ophiocordyceps, a notorious gang of real-world body snatchers. A half-dozen stalk-like formations sprouted from its body like tiny, ominous mushroom clouds. He set off along the narrow trails that crisscross its dense vegetation in hopes of documenting some of its rarer residents, such as jaguars.īut he found something else, what he calls “an unrivaled situation for lovers of the hidden universe.” Perched atop a leaf, its head resembling a raisin, were the remains of a fly.
García-Roa, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Valencia in Spain, was exploring Tambopata National Reserve, a slice of tropical rain forest in Peru’s southeast corner that’s famous for its biodiversity. When Roberto García-Roa set off into the Peruvian jungle one morning, he was not expecting to come face to shriveled face with a zombie.
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