Zombie fungus is discovered in Scottish forest

It was the inspiration behind the terrifying monsters in the hit horror series The Last of Us.

Now a ‘zombie’ fungus that infects its prey and makes it move against its will has been found in a Scots forest.

The video-game-turned-TV-series starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey shows a post-apocalyptic world taken over by a parasitic fungus turning people into zombies intent on feasting on human flesh.

This fatal disease was inspired by the Cordyceps fungus which infects its prey and hijacks its movements.

Often found in tropical climates like Brazil and Thailand, this fungus was recorded only two hours away from Glasgow.

Ben Mitchell, an amateur naturalist, found the parasitic fungus twice in Scotland’s own mini rainforest.

This oasis of rare wildlife found across the temperate peninsulas of Kilfinan and Colintraive is made up of ancient woodlands that gets high levels of rainfall and stays relatively mild all year.

It was here he found the Gibellula fungus - related to the Cordyceps - eating a spider from the inside out.

The fungus left the exoskeleton whole and grew a spiny mushroom out of the shell, bursting with spores to claim its next unwitting victim.

Whilst parasitic fungi are not uncommon in the insect world, what’s different about the Cordyceps is that it makes its prey move against its will before it dies.

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The Gibellula forced its spider victim to move to the underside of a leaf.

Mr Mitchell said they may do this ‘so that when they fruit, the spores are protected from the rain, and can drop onto other unsuspecting spiders more easily’.

Fortunately, the fungus has only been recorded to infect invertebrates like spiders, caterpillars and ants and the fungus has only been spotted eight other times in the last 70 years.

Discovering the rare and ‘creepy’ fungus came as ‘quite a surprise’ to Mr Mitchell.

He said: ‘On the way back to the car, a chance gust of wind exposed the underside of some foxglove’s leaves.

‘I could see there was something on the bottom, so I took it with me.

‘I had seen various photos of the Cordyceps and saw when I was up close that it was one of those.’

He added: ‘You really never know what you’re going to find next.’

Mr Mitchell belonged to a group of volunteers from the West Cowal Habitat Restoration Project that wanted to survey the rainforest’s ecosystem.

Ian Dow, the Woodland Coordinator for Argyll Countryside Trust, said: ‘The terrain in this part of the world can be challenging, and the area to be covered is huge, so there haven’t been any proper surveys done here since the 1980s.

‘Back then, the woods were badly affected by acid rain, which had a negative impact on the really rare and special species we find in Scotland’s rainforest.

‘Now acid rain has been reduced, so it’s a perfect time to look again, and I think it’s fair to say that we’ve all been blown away by what we’re finding.’

The volunteers found other wildlife that’s unique to warmer rainforest climates like rare lichens, mosses and liverworts as well as 650 other more common species including glow-worms, moths, and even jellyfish.