#gibellula

(my Ko-Fi where I can draw things for you)

Extra versions below the cut, one without shading and one cool glowy one I got when I was turning layers on and off

here are a few shots showing the progression of a Gibellula fungus on a spider. the host is probably some kind of jumper judging by the shape, but i didn't recognize it at first and it was the dusty yellow look that gave the fungus away. one thing that surprised me about this one is how resilient it turned out to be - it's still intact (if you want to call it that) as i'm writing this post, months later, looking no different from the third photo. i wonder if there are still any spores in there and whether i could bring more spiders to it like some sort of sacrificial altar

Spiders ravaged by Parasitic Fungi

Though I’m not sure if all these fungi are the same species, fungi in the Gibellula genus seem to attack arachnids in particular.

Unidentified, genus Gibellula

Some friends from the local rainforest restoration project wanted to use my recent Gibellula finds as a hook to do a national news article on Scottish temperate rainforest. The press release made it into several newspapers and news websites with treatments ranging from "ZoMBie SPidURS R COmIN tO EaT UR BraINs" to "Here's an unusual fugus from Scotland's temperate rainforests"

Oliver Dickinson, a video journalist from Scottish Television News came out to Glenan woods do interviews and shoot some footage - I think he did a fantastic job.

Not sure I should be embedding the youtube video above as it is unlisted(?) please follow this link to see his full write-up on STV News.

Also here's a link to the iNaturalist project.