Post #14937

Cordyceps: A predatory mushroom that creates zombies from insects. The whole cycle of the terrible parasite Well, of course, predatory mushrooms! We, damn it, did not have enough carnivorous plants, predatory bacteria and parasites, of which there are so many that they are forced to fight with each other for a place in the organs. Oh my, how I fucking adore nature for its peacefulness and safety! Okay, it's time to stop panicking and start figuring out what kind of interesting mushrooms are these? I won't pretend that cordyceps is a secret hidden behind seven scientific journals. Cordyceps is more or less well known, grants are allocated for their study, and today we already know 250 species of these mushrooms. And they all love arthropods. For the most part, they love to eat them. The infection story is the same regardless of whether the fungus targets an ant, a spider or a beetle. First, the spore, covered with a mucous membrane, sticks to some joint of the insect. The chitinous exoskeleton there is noticeably thinner, so the fungus has a chance to destroy it with the help of dissolving enzymes - protease and chitinase - and penetrate inside. If the parasite can get to the hemolymph of the poor animal, she is finished, no options. Not right away, of course. The fungus will germinate for several days or even weeks, but the arthropod’s immunity will definitely not cope with such an invader. Over time, the fungus will begin to produce biologically active substances that will change the animal's behavior. Ants, for example, will become hyperactive and asocial, beetles and spiders will leave their hiding places, and male cicadas will endlessly mate, infecting more and more females. Then the fungus will gradually begin to take control of the arthropod’s muscles. Its hyphae (mycelium) will begin to grow directly through the muscles, affecting it as well. The insect will begin to experience spasms, which will gradually become stronger until they lead to paralysis, in which the insect will spend the last hours of its life. By this point, the poor creature will be about 40% mushroom. Do you know what's the creepiest thing? The arthropod remains conscious until the very last second, because the fungus does not infect its brain. Yes, it influences the behavior of the victim with the help of hormone-like substances and by seizing control over the muscles, but it does not dare to touch the brain - it is too complex an organ. If you grow into the wrong layer of nerve cells, you destroy the wrong neural connection, and the insect will die before the parasite has time to grow. But he doesn't need it. The death of an insect is just the beginning for the fungus. Now that it no longer needs to keep its prey alive, it can devour it whole and use the resulting resources to grow fruiting bodies that will disperse the spores over a wide area. Fortunately, before dying, the animal climbed as high as possible, and billions of spores would scatter hu