points of departure

European Spider of the Year 2008

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This first little fungus, a mold called Nomuraea atypicola, is not dangerous to you or I, but as you can see, it is a mortal enemy of spiders. It’s not just growing on the spider, like a bad case of athlete’s foot. No, it has consumed it from the inside, and it is now making a kajillion pinkish spores on the cadaver. Kind of like that old movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. This spider is thoroughly dead.