Mushdoom

A BRAIN-mashing fungus is turning UK spiders into zombies, as the Daily Star revealed yesterday.

- MEG JORSH

The terrifying parasite, named after Sir David Attenborough, forces the creatures out of their hiding places to die.

But the Gibellula attenboroughii is just one of the sinister fungi wielding dark powers around the world. Here nightmares with some evil mushroom facts...

GHOST IN THE MACHINE

Found in Tibet and the Himalayas, the Ophiocordyceps sinensis is every caterpillar's nemesis. It infects ghost moth larvae, taking over their bodies until they are more mould than creepy crawly.

At the point of death, the fruiting body of the fungus shoots out of the stricken animal's forehead. These killer mushrooms are prized in Chinese medicine and sell for £16,000 a kilo.

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