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A new fungus that infects cave spiders and turns them into "zombies" was discovered in a Victorian gunpowder store at Castle Espie in Northern Ireland during filming for a TV show. The zombie-spider fungus (Gibellula attenboroughii) infects spiders while they're still alive. (Image credit: Tim Fogg) Scientists have discovered a never-before-seen mind-controlling fungus that creates spider "zombies" after it was stumbled upon in a Victorian gunpowder store on the grounds of a destroyed Irish castle. The fluffy white fungus, similar to the zombie-ant fungus that inspired the "The Last of Us" video game and TV series, likely uses chemical signals...

Meet the man who lives with over 1,000 tarantulas — and travels up and down England helping people overcome their fears of creepy crawlies. Aaron Phoenix, 37, began accumulating them in the summer of 2021 to help with his mental health and believes he was “born to save spiders.” He keeps the spiders across two locations — his “tarantula cave” in his house and a separate premises used for breeding — and says the biggest is the size of a dinner plate.

From curious hedgehogs to beautiful butterflies, gardens across the UK are regularly frequented by animals. But scientists have issued an urgent warning to gardeners, amid an influx of secret stowaways. Researchers from the University of Cambridge say that invasive species including snakes and lizards are slipping unnoticed into Britain in shipments of cut flowers and potted plants. Continental European snakes, geckos and Italian wall lizards are among the animals making their way over in potted olive trees destined for gardens and green spaces, according to the study. Worryingly, these creatures can cause extensive damage to food crops and the native...

Fear of spiders becomes a phobia when it consumes your thoughts, interferes with your daily activities and keeps you from socializing with your family and friends. Symptoms of arachnophobia include sweating or shaking and tightness in your chest or rapid heartbeat. Behavior therapies along with relaxation and breathing exercises are the main treatment options

Spiders, as venomous creatures, rely on their chemical arsenal to capture prey or defend themselves. Their venom primarily contains small neurotoxins that attack the central nervous system of their targets. The venom cocktail of spiders – here the wolf spider Lycosa praegrandis – also contains enzymes that could be of interest for bioeconomic applications. Credit: Louis Roth Researchers at the LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (TBG) have discovered a significant diversity of enzymes in spider venom, previously overshadowed by the focus on neurotoxins. These enzymes, found across 140 different families, could revolutionize industries by offering sustainable solutions in waste...

First came the spotted lanternflies, then the cicadas — and now, the spiders? The Northeast U.S. is bracing for an invasion of giant venomous spiders with 4-inch-long legs that can parachute through the air.

Edible Spiders: Can you eat tarantula? Why, yes you can. In this article I’ll be eating spiders in Cambodia (Deep fried tarantulas) – In the capital city, Phnom Penh. Surprisingly, this once hugely common dish has all but disappeared from major cities. We had to do some serious internet research to discover where to chew some tarantulas, without having to go out to rural areas. We finally tracked down a restaurant that keeps many a live edible tarantula on the premises so that edible spiders are a permanent menu option

Not quite a spider, not a scorpion either – where does Douglassarachne acanthopoda fit in? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Douglassarachne acanthopoda was a more experimental version of a modern harvestman, with distinctive armored legs. Image credit: Paul Selden ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This leggy, spiny fella is Douglassarachne acanthopoda, whom we’ll call Doug for short (only kidding). You might look at this fossilized specimen and confidently declare, “That there’s a spider.” But wait! While D. acanthopoda certainly shares many of the characteristics of modern arachnids, it has enough unique features to give palaentologists a headache when it comes to classifying it. Spiders and their ancestors have...

EVER EATEN A spider? The golden orb-weaving spider (Nephila edulis) has a plump abdomen that, after baking, tastes remarkably like pâté. Many years ago I fed one to a journalist on A Current Affair. She was very reluctant to chew it but agreed about the taste. The scientific name of this spider celebrates its culinary merits. French naturalist Jacques Labillardiere bestowed the name in 1799 after seeing the spiders roasted and eaten in New Caledonia. Other species of Nephila are eaten in Thailand, served raw as well as cooked, as well as in New Guinea, where they’re fire-roasted. About...

Two German tourists became lost in their four-wheel-drive vehicle in a remote part of Cape York after trusting Google Maps. They ended up having to camp for about a week before walking out to safety. What's next?: The pair are safe, but local rangers say it could have been so much worse and are warning people to take care. Two young men are lucky to be alive after walking for several days in the Cape York wilderness when their car became bogged after they followed Google Maps directions. German tourists Philipp Maier and Marcel Schoene left Cairns on February 4...

Some spiders will die when cold weather hits, but scientists warn an invasive species from Asia may survive and continue to invade the US. Scientists at the University of Georgia froze more than two dozen of the eight-inch-long Jorō spiders spotted on the East Coast to see if the black and yellow creatures could survive the harsh winters. The experiment showed nearly 75 percent of the spiders were unaffected, with the rest showing some injuries. The Jorō spider's golden web took over yards all over northern Georgia in 2021, unnerving some residents, and was soon spotted in South Carolina and...

A venomous eight-inch-long spider native to Asia, whose palm-sized females cannibalize their male mates, is flying up America's east coast and spreading out west. Experts say the Jorō spider can fly 50 to 100 miles at a stretch, using their webbing as a parasail to glide in the wind, and it's now also hitching rides up east coast highways - but the creatures aren't known to pose a threat to humans or pets. However, the jury is still out on the impact that this giant spider, which is believed to have first arrived in the US a decade ago via...

Fans of the 1990 horror comedy “Arachnophobia” may find their promised land in the rural Great Plains town of La Junta, Colorado. That’s because La Junta is ground zero for the annual mating ritual of tens of thousands aphonopelma, or Oklahoma brown tarantula. For a few months each year, this tiny community in southeast Colorado is prime viewing for fans of the brown-and-black arachnids, especially from August to October when the males emerge, looking for love. Rather than be repulsed when overrun by the large, hairy spiders, La Junta decided last year to embrace the annual ritual as a tourism...

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Things are already getting spooky this October. The word is going around that spiders are invading the Tucson area. Many of you have shared on social media that you’ve recently started seeing more spiders. Just around Matt Dunkel’s home he’s found five spiders. Around his Oro Valley neighborhood, he’s found three. “It’s been crazy! It’s been awesome! There’s been spiders all over the place,” he said. He's been seeing them pop up over the past few weeks. “Now we’ve just been seeing them everywhere so it’s been really kind of neat to see all the little...

The Kidney Garden Spider bears some resemblance to Pringles’ mustachioed mascot, but it also already has a name.Like many modern brands, Pringles isn't afraid to try a bizarre promotion: Pringles Christmas candles, NFTs, and Thanksgiving-flavored chips boxed like a TV dinner. But this time, they may have gone too far by... trying to rename a spider? Now, in Pringles defense, the spider — currently named the Kidney Garden Spider — does look a lot like the brand's mustachioed mascot, Mr. P. The spider has a round white body with distinctive markings that look like two tiny eyes above a massive...

Rare spiders and scorpions are being put at risk by a growing global trade driven by the demand for exotic pets, including species so rare that scientists were previously unaware of them, a team of international researchers has warned. They said that at least 70 per cent of spiders and scorpions being sold as pets, for medicine or food have been sourced from the wild. The researchers detected more than 1,200 species available for sale in a generally legal trade. The team said they are growing in popularity as "cool" pets that take up little space but warned that harvesting...

A traumatized man is being bitten to shreds in his own home by Britain’s most venomous spiders — but no one will help him. Russell Davies is in so much agony from hundreds of bites all over his body he is sleeping in a tent outside his Southborough flat. The false widow is said to have a bite as painful as a wasp’s sting and Russell’s body is covered in them. The 55-year-old tenant’s skin is so sore he has been forced to stop working as a chef.

Geneva (AFP) – There are now 50,000 known different species of spider crawling the Earth, the World Spider Catalog announced Wednesday -- and there might be another 50,000 out there. The WSC, based at the Natural History Museum of Bern in the Swiss capital, said the 50,000th spider registered is the Guriurius minuano, which belongs to the Salticidae family of jumping spiders and hunts its prey on shrubs and trees in southern Brazil, Uruguay, and around Buenos Aires. It was described by the arachnologist Kimberly S. Marta and her colleagues from Brazil and is named after the now-extinct Minuane people...

An invasive species of spider the size of a child's hand is expected to “colonize” the entire East Coast this spring by parachuting down from the sky, researchers at the University of Georgia announced last week. Why it matters: Large Joro spiders — millions of them — are expected to begin “ballooning” up and down the East Coast as early as May. Researchers have determined that the spiders can tolerate cold weather, but are harmless to humans as their fangs are too small to break human skin. The Joro spider is native to Japan but began infiltrating the U.S. in...

Image credit: Science Photo Library / Alamy Stock Photo Look at this lanky orange hellspawn. I’m going to go ahead and say that we are not buying whatever it’s selling. We’ve got enough problems without having to contemplate the motivations of this faceless alien baby. Meet the giant Antarctic sea spider (Decolopoda australis), seen here absolutely dwarfing a European sea spider. An example of gigantism, wherein an animal grows unusually large due to a lack of predators and other factors that would limit their size, the Antarctic sea spider can grow to more than 30cm in diameter (about the length...