A rare fungus that inspired the hit TV series The Last Of Us has been discovered in a rainforest in Scotland.
The Gibellula fungus infects spiders through fungal spores and grows from within the body, eventually digesting the insect whole.
They can also make spiders act “like zombies” before death by making them stick onto the underside of leaves, allowing spores to spread more easily.
The fungus has only been recorded ten times in Scotland over the past 70 years, according to The Times.
In The Last Of Us, society has been overrun with a malevolent fungus called cordyceps that infects and takes over the mind of its hosts.
The Cordyceps fungus named in the programme is real, but it can only infect insects.
The discovery of the Gibellula fungus was made by amateur naturalist Ben Mitchell as part of the West Cowal Habitat Restoration Project on the west coast of Scotland.
Mr Mitchell told the newspaper: “It’s part of a group of fungi that are known for turning their victims into ‘zombies’, compelling them to act in a certain way before killing them.
“Gibellula seems to make spiders move to the underside of leaves, before sticking them there. It’s maybe so that when they fruit, the spores are protected from the rain and can drop on to other unsuspecting spiders more easily.
“It’s a bit grim, but it’s all part of the remarkable natural world.”
The Last of Us is based on a successful video game developed in 2013 by the company Naughty Dog.
