🕷️ A new spider species discovered in the Ecuadorian Amazon disguises itself as a zombie fungus — the first known case of a spider mimicking a deadly parasite.
When herpetologist Alexander Bentley poked what looked like a Gibellula fungus-covered spider corpse in the rainforest, the "corpse" moved. It turned out to be Taczanowskia waska, a spider that deliberately grows tendril-like tubercles from its abdomen to look like it has already been killed by the fungus. It even sits motionless on leaf undersides, exactly where infected spiders are found.
The disguise likely serves two purposes: predators avoid what seems like a fungus-ridden corpse, and prey do not recognize the spider as a threat. Taczanowskia spiders are webless — they use enlarged claws to ambush victims, hiding in plain sight behind a fungal costume.
The discovery was published in Zootaxa in February 2026 and started with a cell phone photo uploaded to iNaturalist.
patxi
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