Comments on: Tarantula with strange, antler-like fungal appendages

By: Jessica N.

Jessica N. — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 05:05:00 +0000

Is that tarantula still alive???

By: Alexander Haislip

Alexander Haislip — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 00:46:00 +0000

I think I hear “A Voice in the Night.”

By: OtherMichael

OtherMichael — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 19:33:00 +0000

And fucking unicorns would erase this from your mind?

Have you never seen the post-coital female unicorn paralyze her mate and implant the fertilized egg-sac ?

Much less witness those creepy-pointies eating their way free….

By: OtherMichael

OtherMichael — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 19:28:00 +0000

To get in a Vandermeer anthology, don’t you basically have to write about squid or fungi, anyway?

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Nor homicidal goat-brained clown-clones brewed in the black-lab of a secret-city, either.

By: Matthew Petty

Matthew Petty — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 17:17:00 +0000

Good call. Every species has its cord.

By: Rob T Firefly

Rob T Firefly — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 16:42:00 +0000

> Something is crawling up my leg. I think it’s a Taranshula

By: benher

benher — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 06:35:00 +0000

Aw Jeez Antinous..

By: benher

benher — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 06:35:00 +0000

Kaoriiiiiiii!

By: fuzzyfuzzyfungus

fuzzyfuzzyfungus — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 04:48:00 +0000

Only the fundies who aren’t actively drawn to the fact that their god is the most powerful sadist in the universe really have to wonder…

By: Trent Baker

Trent Baker — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 03:03:00 +0000

There is a pretty creepy Puesdopod story where the fungi develops a mutation that can infect humans 252: The Cord.

By: tamgoddess

tamgoddess — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 01:33:00 +0000

I just looked at my face in the mirror because I knew I had never had this expression on it before. Then I was re-traumatized.

No seriously. Where is the fucking unicorn chaser?

By: fuzzyfuzzyfungus

fuzzyfuzzyfungus — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 00:54:00 +0000

They don’t tell you that ‘nature red in tooth and claw’ is for the lucky ones who get to die relatively quickly…

By: blueelm

blueelm — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 00:25:00 +0000

Actually, people do get fungal infections that are similarly serious. Mucormycosis is a good place to start. Also, we often can treat fungal infections these days so we don’t see them progress to their extremes much. Left alone if the person is unfortunate, they can get really really ugly.

By: Peter Yard

Peter Yard — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 00:05:00 +0000

Sorry but this reminds me so much of John Carpenter’s, “The Thing”. Creepy. I must save this link and image for when someone tells me how kind mother nature is.

By: GatoRanch

GatoRanch — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 21:33:00 +0000

I’m quite familiar with cordyceps but this is quite a spectacular photo because of the formation and because I don’t think I’ve seen a tarantula with this growth. Here’s a moth I found years back with a similar fantastic growth:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gato-ranch/3945074717/

Also, there’s an entire related group on Flickr is anyone cares to see more:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/entomopathic/pool/with/3945074717/

By: PatriciaB

PatriciaB — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 20:54:00 +0000

Cordyceps is used in Chinese and herbal medicine, and advertised on the web as a mushroom super food. The horn grows where?

By: northierthanthou

northierthanthou — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 18:49:00 +0000

Poor little guy.

By: James Penrose

James Penrose — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 18:08:00 +0000

You *really* have to wonder about a god that would spend time designing such lovely little things to let loose on his creation, eh fundies?

By: Touch Sensitive

Touch Sensitive — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 18:00:00 +0000

[looks at ad above] Here.. have a Polio plush.

By: Rich Keller

Rich Keller — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 17:46:00 +0000

This is actually a photo of the Sonoran mimic octopus pretending to be a tarantula infected with cordyceps.

By: Clifton

Clifton — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 16:59:00 +0000

Holy god, please add this to the list of things I never want to know anything further about. Amen.

What I’m trying to say is, “AAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

By: hassan-i-sabbah

hassan-i-sabbah — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 16:57:00 +0000

Arachnoid Jackelope.

By: Rich Keller

Rich Keller — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 16:08:00 +0000

Obligatory “I used to be a tarantula like you until cordyceps grew antlers in the knee” comment.

By: jennybean42

jennybean42 — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 15:44:00 +0000

I feel like I should be harvesting this for a potion in skyrim….

By: DewiMorgan

DewiMorgan — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 15:35:00 +0000

With just a slight change in circumstance, this could make excellent symbiotic camouflage.

By: Jim Huinink

Jim Huinink — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 15:06:00 +0000

Unlike all the rest of the tarantulas in the world, that is f#ckin scary.

By: cleek

cleek — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 15:02:00 +0000

Mieville?
VanderMeer!

By: Bucket

Bucket — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 14:46:00 +0000

Tetsuoooooooooo!

By: vrplumber

vrplumber — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 14:08:00 +0000

I for one welcome our clingy fungal overlords.

By: itshugh

itshugh — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 13:43:00 +0000

There’s also a very good Marc Laidlaw story about the thing in the Vandermeer’s weird fiction anthology; http://weirdfictionreview.com/2012/05/leng/