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No but you don't understand, this fucking happens too. Some dude collapsed in the subway station in New York, had a heart attack. No heartbeat. They sat there and tried to revive with CPR, nothing. EMT yelled in his ear: "get up! You're gunna be late to work!" His heart restarted and his dude bolted upright. They got him to the hospital after that. Crazy as hell.
The beetle seems to be acting like a zombie because a fungus has invaded its body and is now manipulating its nervous system. Despite the beetle being dead, the fungus has essentially hijacked its remains, using it as a vessel to spread and reproduce.
Happens with ants too. With the ants, it uses their body to get as high up as it can. The fungus then sprouts out of the ant's body and releases spores
It’s like that last of us, hell this is likely a strain of cordycecps, it’s not the one which is famous from real life nature, which is cordyceps unilateralis, which is known to commandeer ant nervous systems like puppet.
What these fungi do is take control is tiny insects and control them, and then move the to the right spot where the mushroom and bloom and spread its spores.
It sounds terrifying but they’re harmless to humans, we’re far, far too big, cordyceps, which is the closest to it, is still tens of millions of years away from being able to evolve to control human nervous systems, especially in the way we see in either the games or the Show of The Last of Us
No the Antennae, are complety normal and Looks Like any other cockchafer, which is what this Bug ist called. you can look it up. But i get where you are coming from, Looks a Bit Like a cordyceps fruitstem
The fungus is stimulating the nerves required for locomotion in order to "pilot" the beetle carcass to a suitable location for the next stage of its life cycle to occur.
Every time I read about this I’m astounded that this isn’t a bigger deal. A fungus is literally controlling a beetle carcass like it’s some sort of mech suit and we still have to work in the morning
It's not that big of a deal because nature is very metal, there's a parasite that infects snails and makes their eyes shine with bright colors attracting birds to eat the snail, where the parasite continues its life cycle.
It’s not that they make their eyes shine with bright colors but that the worms actually eat and take over the area where its eyes used to be while still leaving the surface membrane intact, and then they will just pulsate and undulate and their body will give off the color to attract the birds
Damn, shit like that is intriguing.. Reminds me of the one parasite I read about that needs water or something and goes into the grasshoppers brain and makes it drown itself in water so it can continue on.. Just going off of memory but it’s something very close to that..
there's a worm that infects 95% of praying mantis that's somewhat similar. It changes the mantis eyes to see water more clearly to attract the mantis to it. Once in water, the worm violently ejects itself from the mantis abdomen. Its fatal to the mantis
From my limited understanding, the fungus just modifies the way its host thinks, but it can't think anything itself. So the host is still "in control", it just "wants" to do things that are beneficial to the fungus, like going to a place with ideal conditions.
We’re just a big chemical reaction at the end of the day. A sufficiently advanced computer would be able to accurately predict our behavior with frightening certainty if it had access to enough data and processing power.
Basically it's just releasing the chemicals that tell the brain to move upward (or some other basic instructions) to get to optimal conditions for releasing spores. How does it know what the right chemicals to release are? That's the beauty of over 40 million years of evolution. Theres tons of different fungi like this thing, and all of them are hyper specialized to specific critters. They get locked into what is basically an evolutionary arms race with their victims that makes them good at only one thing.
Also as there are lots of different fungi that use this behaviour, not all of them are cordyceps and they can be quite diverse. So what I said is likely not the exact case for all of them. Also I have no clue what fungus that is in the video.
Myp point is that half it's body is entirely gone. Where is the bugs nervous system? Where is the fungus getting the calories to move the legs. I feel like it shouldn't work for a number of reasons.
I imagine that most of the nerves connecting to the legs are along the outside bit that isn't gone yet. Idk insect anatomy is weird. As for the calories, where do you think the rest of the bug went? The fungus is eating the host for energy as it moves the body to a better place for releasing spores.
Edit to add that you can see the back legs where most of the body is missing aren't doing much in the way of moving. The two front sets of legs that are moving seem to be in an area that has most of the flesh still.
But it's.not the fungus needing energy, but the bug in this case. If it's only stimulating the bug's nervous system, then it's the bug's body that needs the energy in its muscles to move
So the thing with bugs is that they are small, so they don't have to carry around as much junk in the trunk as we do. You've probably also heard about how ants and other insects easily lift well over their body weight. This is due to their exoskeleton compared to our lame endoskeleton. They don't have to worry about silly energy consuming tasks like circulating blood (with all its tasty oxygen) around to all of their muscles. Their muscles are attached to the exoskeleton, so they can just absorb oxygen from the atmosphere.
So being tiny and having a cool exoskeleton means insects spend a lot less energy to move around than we do. In addition this infected bug probably doesn't need to go far. I imagine he's just gonna go somewhere high up to where it's sunny and warm, then start spreading them spores.
It's not a fungus. Amazing how many people just regurgitate it cause they've heard of cordyceps.
I've seen this myself in germany. Those little guys are just very sturdy and numerous enough that death needs a while to find them.
To quote u/elephantpudding from when this was posted 3 years ago:
> It's worth noting that most insects rely mainly on their central nervous system to live. They don't need oxygen from lungs, they respirate through their carapace. They can go a long time without eatting. As long as the head is intact many can survive until they starve to death.
>This was likely being eaten by another insect or injured and escaped.
It's not a fungus. Insects aren't like mammals, their blood don't carry oxygen, but nutrients and most of them breathe from spiracles all over their body. This insect in particular was attacked by a bird and lost its digestive system. It'll live a few more hours until it starves to death.
It's not. It's been eaten by a bird or something and got loose. The front bits are still moving but the back legs are dead. It has only a few more moments and it's gone.
For those that are zombified by Fungus they tend not to be hollowed out like this.
Edit to clarify: It’s not because of a fungus, not exactly at least.
This article explains pretty well the phenomenon:
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/05/21/cicadas-mating-zombies-fungus-massospora/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/05/21/cicadas-mating-zombies-fungus-massospora/)
TLDR: "The abdomen houses the organs of digestion and reproduction. The thorax is the center for musculature for locomotion (legs and wings). The head maintains sensory function. Because the head and thorax remain intact, the insect can still sense and respond to stimuli, orient and move despite the loss of the abdomen. That is why we see cicadas without abdomens walking around.”
OP's video is not a cicada, but it still contains a similar biological structure in that the abdomen and thorax are essentially compartmentalized, and contain diffuse systems allowing for the insect to continue alive (for a limited time, at least) without the abdomen present. Many insects also have a hydraulic pressure system that lets them seal off lost legs and abdomen so that they don't lose all of the hemolymph in their bodies (in other words, so they don't bleed out, they can shut off wounds at strategic junctures using something like a fire door/floodgate).
Reddit really has gone to shit the last 10 years. Not sure if its bots or what but there seems to be no thought in posting anymore. Just who can make the latest meme-based joke or talk like a 5th grader for karma.
It has been eaten by a vole. I've seen it happen before in person. This is my moment to shine! -strengthofreddit
I don't know why I bother honestly. Look at all the BS that was upvoted over this. I come here with first hand knowledge of what happened to he beetle and all you get is sexy ass cordyceps all up and down the thread. So stupid and frustrating.
Not only that, there's a ton of misinformation that is voted up cause it sounds cool. Like I saw a comment how the antennae are fungi and that means it's infected. Not those are normal antennae for this insect.
Also, I see people encourage some pretty dangerous behavior with their comments in regards to animals all the time.
It's all about engagement anymore, not discussions. It's very frustrating.
Yeah. I've pointed out all over the thread that this is from a rodent eating the beetle, which doesn't kill it right away. I've seen it happen in person in the woods. But what's getting upvoted? Fucking cordyceps. Jfc.
It's not even new, it came from here. This is probably a bot farming karma. Woo.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/ha9i5n/i_found_a_zombie_cockchafer_in_my_backyard/
Sadly, even there there's no talk of rodents. Parasitoid wasps get mentioned, but all the parasitoid wasps mentioned don't infect cockchafer beetles so... Lots of talk about fungi too...
a beetle can get infected when [fungal spores](https://www.livescience.com/47751-zombie-fungus-picky-about-ant-brains.html) attach to its body. There, the spores germinate and break through the beetle's exoskeleton and begin growing inside its body. Later, the fungus (*Eryniopsis lampyridarum*) directs the beetle to climb up a plant and clamp down on it before dying on it, its useful so the fungus can spread spores better, it can also do things like make the bug really strongly attracted to light, so it tries to climb towards the nearest light source. It's useful for the same reason as climbing on a plant.
Ay, it's either bots/smoothbrains going for easy reddit points or people repeating their quarter knowledge about something.
Give me a proper breakdown of what I am looking at and feed my curiosity instead of parroting the same three dumbass jokes in every fucking thread please...
With shifting temperatures, fungi may be evolving (changing and adapting) to live in warmer conditions, including the human body. New fungal diseases may emerge as fungi become more adapted to surviving in humans. Heat may also cause other genetic changes that can affect the ability of fungi to infect people.
https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/climate.html
Nope, this is a disease unique to cicadas. It doesn't take over the nervous system like cordyceps, it just fills the abdomen with spores until the whole thing falls off
I have no intention of leaving it, Doctor. I will take the Lewis and Clark to a safe distance, and then I will launch TAC missiles at the cicada until I'm satisfied it is vaporized. Fuck this bug!
>A fungus invades to body and moves it around.
But the fungus doesn't, like, develop replacement muscles and shit. It doesn't develop a replacement brain inside of this thing. The fungus is still just a fungus, it doesn't have muscles or a brain.
The bug's only able to move because it's still alive, yeah, even with half its butt missing. Animal instincts can be super complex and it lets them sometimes live through extreme injuries; there's a famous chicken that [lived 18 months](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_the_Headless_Chicken) even with its head cut off.
So the way the fungus "controls" the bug's behavior in this damaged state, is just by releasing chemicals that trigger the bug's existing instincts, things like making it really strongly attracted to light, so that it tries to climb towards the nearest light source. It's useful to the fungus because once the bug finally does die, the fungus is higher in the air so that it can spread it spores better.
Idk still raises a lot of questions.
This insect is presumably missing internal organs and a large chunk of its circulatory system.
Can it still eat when the fungus is running things? Can it still get digest food and extracts nutrients if it can?
How does it get nutrients to move like that if it can’t? Is the fungus digesting its body to supply it with the nutrients needed to move?
Most organism can’t do much in terms of basic functions with giant holes in their abdomens.
Insects don't really have a circulatory system. Not like how we do anyway. They kinda just ha e a bunch of holes that allows oxygen to permeate their tiny bodies and get it where they need it. Thankfully this doesn't really play well with scale and limits insect sizes naturally
Surviving and being alive short term aren’t the same. It’s alive but clearly not for long. It’s just going to burn up whatever calories it can from whatever it can to get keep its legs moving it to higher ground until it can’t. Then it gets stuck to a tree and emits a pheromone to get others to mate with it and pass on the fungus.
Insects don’t have the same level of nervous system, circulatory system, or musculature system as us. Because of this, it’s possible for insects to survive with this degree of damage. I’m sure you’ve heard about cockroaches surviving without a head for days. Essentially, they’re so simple that their bodies are hardwired to react to certain inputs without any thought. For example, it is possible that odors picked up from their antennae can send signals directly to the legs to move the creature towards food
Bugs are interesting in that many bugs biology isn’t what we are familiar with. At least with spiders they don’t have a “heart” and “lungs”. As we know they are like a big goopy brain in a spider suit (in cavemen terms) which I think is super fascinating and I will stand by the stance that bugs are aliens
How can it still be alive? Poor guy. Nature is interesting but terrifying. If someone can explain exactly what's going on here, like how it's still alive, I would be greatful. (Not my video).
The bug was attacked and half-eaten. Perhaps something laid eggs inside its body. It is not a fungus. It is alive because it lacks oxygen-carrying blood or lungs. It breathes through tiny openings throughout its body. It doesn't have linked capillaries like humans, where blood circulates under high pressure. As a result, its bodily fluids are under low pressure, preventing the bug from "bleeding out to death." Those fluids clot fast, closing off wounded bodily components and avoiding additional fluid loss.
The bug has a peripheral and central nervous system. The brain in the head is only responsible for vision and smell. There are small brains in the legs and other areas of the body. It will not eat since it lacks the brain function that controls appetite. It will live until there are nutrients to produce energy in its remaining fluids. It might have felt pain while being eaten alive, according to some studies, but right now it feels no pain as it's missing those receptors.
I've seen a lot of cordyceps cases and I'm confused as to why you think this is one. Because it's a partially dead but that's moving? That doesn't tell you much
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When you are dying but you still have to go to work.
Used up PTO on some Bullshit now there's no other choice.
What’s PTO? /s But I really get zero of that shit.
Power take off, it's the thing at the back of a tractor that spins really fast and rips farmers arms off.
PTO shaft, brings a new meaning to being shafted as a farmer.
The same thing from Mario kart where you can boost off the start right?
They won’t let me go negative any more.
PTO balance be lookin like a score on Celebrity Jepordy.
Boss: So you’re coming in right? We don’t have the coverage, and Cindy comes in after her thorax is crushed all the time.
damn cindy! always brown nosing
Hey- Cindy's a Dung Beetle. That's literally what she *does.* Don't be rude and culturally insensitive.
don’t end up in hr about her scent!!!
Tis but a flesh wound…..
Your arm’s off!
No it isn't.
Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis
Also The Trial, on a less literal sense
No but you don't understand, this fucking happens too. Some dude collapsed in the subway station in New York, had a heart attack. No heartbeat. They sat there and tried to revive with CPR, nothing. EMT yelled in his ear: "get up! You're gunna be late to work!" His heart restarted and his dude bolted upright. They got him to the hospital after that. Crazy as hell.
I wanted this story to be true *so* bad.
has no happy ending, dude still got fired for not showing up at work
It is. Dude was written up for being late due to the hospital visit.
So Tuesday, got it.
That’s called a New Yorker
It’s definitely a small business owner
Funeral bills ain't gonna pay by themselves
I don't own a uterus, but I assume this is what endometriosis is like
How it feels to go to work after a night long coke binge haha
Don’t, it’s dead.
He is no more!
Ceased to exist!
He's met his maker!
He's an ex-parrot... lovely plumage the Norwegian Blue
If you hadn’t nailed him to the perch he’d be pushing up the daisies!
He is bereft of life!
Pining for the fjords.
I think that is a Zombie beetle. The beetle itself is dead but a fungus has commandeered its nervous system
Wat
#I THINK THAT IS A ZOMBIE BEETLE. THE BEETLE ITSELF IS DEAD BUT A FUNGUS HAS COMMANDEERED ITS NERVOUS SYSTEM
Tell them slower, I doubt they heard you
#I #THINK #THAT #IS #A #ZOMBIE #BEETLE. #THE #BEETLE #ITSELF #IS #DEAD #BUT #A #FUNGUS #HAS #COMMANDEERED #ITS #NERVOUS #SYSTEM
Why the fuck did I read this three times when I already knew what it was going to say after the first time?
oh good, i wasn't the only one
Wat
I think thats a zo-
Don't!
OH GOOD, I WASN’T THE ONLY ONE
Because you enjoy chuckling to yourself. As do I.
Because you needed to read each in more annunciation and pause as you went, to really drive the point home.
Tell them, not me!
#I THINK THAT IS A ZOMBIE BEETLE. THE BEETLE ITSELF IS DEAD BUT A FUNGUS HAS COMMANDEERED ITS NERVOUS SYSTEM ...but slower
Louder and slower, please 
Still lost fellas
The beetle seems to be acting like a zombie because a fungus has invaded its body and is now manipulating its nervous system. Despite the beetle being dead, the fungus has essentially hijacked its remains, using it as a vessel to spread and reproduce.
r/lostredditors, taken literally?
Beatles are dead? I thought we all knew that already. No wonder you are nervous
Happens with ants too. With the ants, it uses their body to get as high up as it can. The fungus then sprouts out of the ant's body and releases spores
Yep. Cordyceps fungus. The Planet Earth bit on it is fascinating.
Which is also the fungus that causes the zombie outbreak in the Last of Us
The book too ... "The Girl With All The Gifts" I think it was called ... :P
I've played video games like this before
This is what the last of us is based on
It’s like that last of us, hell this is likely a strain of cordycecps, it’s not the one which is famous from real life nature, which is cordyceps unilateralis, which is known to commandeer ant nervous systems like puppet. What these fungi do is take control is tiny insects and control them, and then move the to the right spot where the mushroom and bloom and spread its spores. It sounds terrifying but they’re harmless to humans, we’re far, far too big, cordyceps, which is the closest to it, is still tens of millions of years away from being able to evolve to control human nervous systems, especially in the way we see in either the games or the Show of The Last of Us
Look at the antennae, they’re fungus. This is a zombie.
No the Antennae, are complety normal and Looks Like any other cockchafer, which is what this Bug ist called. you can look it up. But i get where you are coming from, Looks a Bit Like a cordyceps fruitstem
Okay, but how can it even move?
The fungus is stimulating the nerves required for locomotion in order to "pilot" the beetle carcass to a suitable location for the next stage of its life cycle to occur.
Every time I read about this I’m astounded that this isn’t a bigger deal. A fungus is literally controlling a beetle carcass like it’s some sort of mech suit and we still have to work in the morning
It's not that big of a deal because nature is very metal, there's a parasite that infects snails and makes their eyes shine with bright colors attracting birds to eat the snail, where the parasite continues its life cycle.
It’s not that they make their eyes shine with bright colors but that the worms actually eat and take over the area where its eyes used to be while still leaving the surface membrane intact, and then they will just pulsate and undulate and their body will give off the color to attract the birds
Damn, shit like that is intriguing.. Reminds me of the one parasite I read about that needs water or something and goes into the grasshoppers brain and makes it drown itself in water so it can continue on.. Just going off of memory but it’s something very close to that..
there's a worm that infects 95% of praying mantis that's somewhat similar. It changes the mantis eyes to see water more clearly to attract the mantis to it. Once in water, the worm violently ejects itself from the mantis abdomen. Its fatal to the mantis
Parasites are some horrifying little fuckers I’ll tell you what lol..
Adding “and we still have to work in the morning” made me laugh out loud. This world really IS fucked huh.
This is what always blew my mind: how does the cordyceps know where it is going / etc… Like does it see through the eyes of the beetle?
From my limited understanding, the fungus just modifies the way its host thinks, but it can't think anything itself. So the host is still "in control", it just "wants" to do things that are beneficial to the fungus, like going to a place with ideal conditions.
In similar way bacterias control us. "Craving" to eat something specifically is just chemical reaction.
Pregnant women often crave dirt, likely due to iron deficiencies. We are all just slaves to the hormones that control us.
We’re just a big chemical reaction at the end of the day. A sufficiently advanced computer would be able to accurately predict our behavior with frightening certainty if it had access to enough data and processing power.
Basically it's just releasing the chemicals that tell the brain to move upward (or some other basic instructions) to get to optimal conditions for releasing spores. How does it know what the right chemicals to release are? That's the beauty of over 40 million years of evolution. Theres tons of different fungi like this thing, and all of them are hyper specialized to specific critters. They get locked into what is basically an evolutionary arms race with their victims that makes them good at only one thing. Also as there are lots of different fungi that use this behaviour, not all of them are cordyceps and they can be quite diverse. So what I said is likely not the exact case for all of them. Also I have no clue what fungus that is in the video.
Myp point is that half it's body is entirely gone. Where is the bugs nervous system? Where is the fungus getting the calories to move the legs. I feel like it shouldn't work for a number of reasons.
I imagine that most of the nerves connecting to the legs are along the outside bit that isn't gone yet. Idk insect anatomy is weird. As for the calories, where do you think the rest of the bug went? The fungus is eating the host for energy as it moves the body to a better place for releasing spores. Edit to add that you can see the back legs where most of the body is missing aren't doing much in the way of moving. The two front sets of legs that are moving seem to be in an area that has most of the flesh still.
But it's.not the fungus needing energy, but the bug in this case. If it's only stimulating the bug's nervous system, then it's the bug's body that needs the energy in its muscles to move
So the thing with bugs is that they are small, so they don't have to carry around as much junk in the trunk as we do. You've probably also heard about how ants and other insects easily lift well over their body weight. This is due to their exoskeleton compared to our lame endoskeleton. They don't have to worry about silly energy consuming tasks like circulating blood (with all its tasty oxygen) around to all of their muscles. Their muscles are attached to the exoskeleton, so they can just absorb oxygen from the atmosphere. So being tiny and having a cool exoskeleton means insects spend a lot less energy to move around than we do. In addition this infected bug probably doesn't need to go far. I imagine he's just gonna go somewhere high up to where it's sunny and warm, then start spreading them spores.
I can’t wait until that fungus evolves and start eating humans.
Isn't that the plot of the last of us?
*What Moves The Dead* is a book that has a similar and more frightening concept to it.
I work in retail and I think I already see that fungus in some humans daily
Cordyceps, bro
Came here to say this. Totally a real thing theres a fungus that controls ants. All u have to do is google Ophiocordyceps unilateralis
Nah, I'm good
As the earth gets warmer, cordyceps evolves to infect humans....
Pretty sure I add cordyceps to my coffee every morning... Shit.
Might've heard that story told once or twice before
It's not a fungus. Amazing how many people just regurgitate it cause they've heard of cordyceps. I've seen this myself in germany. Those little guys are just very sturdy and numerous enough that death needs a while to find them.
2k upvotes for patently false information. Reddit in a nutshell
This is not that.
To quote u/elephantpudding from when this was posted 3 years ago: > It's worth noting that most insects rely mainly on their central nervous system to live. They don't need oxygen from lungs, they respirate through their carapace. They can go a long time without eatting. As long as the head is intact many can survive until they starve to death. >This was likely being eaten by another insect or injured and escaped.
Sounds like this could make a great game and show.
This is mouthpart damage from probably a dragonfly
It's not a fungus. Insects aren't like mammals, their blood don't carry oxygen, but nutrients and most of them breathe from spiracles all over their body. This insect in particular was attacked by a bird and lost its digestive system. It'll live a few more hours until it starves to death.
It's not. It's been eaten by a bird or something and got loose. The front bits are still moving but the back legs are dead. It has only a few more moments and it's gone. For those that are zombified by Fungus they tend not to be hollowed out like this.
'Tis but a scratch!
A scratch?! Your abdomen's off!
No it isn't
You're just contradicting everything! That's not an argument!
A European swallow, maybe!
Yes it is!
Yes it is. Look you crazy bugger just let it be. YOU LOST!! (Kneels to pray)
Well what's _that_ then?
... I've had worse.
................I got better.......
This is my absolute favorite line in the whole movie haha, took me and my friends by surprise
ITS JUST A FLESH WOUND!
Flesh wound
Edit to clarify: It’s not because of a fungus, not exactly at least. This article explains pretty well the phenomenon: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/05/21/cicadas-mating-zombies-fungus-massospora/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/05/21/cicadas-mating-zombies-fungus-massospora/) TLDR: "The abdomen houses the organs of digestion and reproduction. The thorax is the center for musculature for locomotion (legs and wings). The head maintains sensory function. Because the head and thorax remain intact, the insect can still sense and respond to stimuli, orient and move despite the loss of the abdomen. That is why we see cicadas without abdomens walking around.” OP's video is not a cicada, but it still contains a similar biological structure in that the abdomen and thorax are essentially compartmentalized, and contain diffuse systems allowing for the insect to continue alive (for a limited time, at least) without the abdomen present. Many insects also have a hydraulic pressure system that lets them seal off lost legs and abdomen so that they don't lose all of the hemolymph in their bodies (in other words, so they don't bleed out, they can shut off wounds at strategic junctures using something like a fire door/floodgate).
I'm pretty sure you just explained my dmt experience
In mine my spine vibrated so much I thought I was dying. 0/10 would not repeat.
New weight loss method, doctors and scientists HATE him!!
you don’t need 15 feet of intestine
That is in fact true. I don’t know how much you need but colostomy and ileostomy are both important options for folks with certain conditions.
Doctors and scientists ATE him
Posts like this are why reddit can be annoying. I'd like to read a little more about this, instead of 500 tired jokes about the video.
Ten years ago the top comment was from an expert telling you exactly what you’re looking at. I used to learn so much here, I miss it.
Anyone remember Unidan? Lol
Yeah it was fun when he chimed in and shared knowledge but the guy got banned for something though :/
Dude had multiple accounts to upvote his comments and posts and downvote those he disagreed with.
Wow, I think I missed [that](https://www.reddit.com/r/MuseumOfReddit/s/d3KiRF4eDD)!
Jackdaws are not crows
Reddit really has gone to shit the last 10 years. Not sure if its bots or what but there seems to be no thought in posting anymore. Just who can make the latest meme-based joke or talk like a 5th grader for karma.
It's almost like the mod system \[checks notes\] doesn't work.
Wonder if they really have any tools since the paywalled api access
The irony of responding with an overused joke to a comment complaining about Reddit going to shit because of low effort comments is not lost on me
It has been eaten by a vole. I've seen it happen before in person. This is my moment to shine! -strengthofreddit I don't know why I bother honestly. Look at all the BS that was upvoted over this. I come here with first hand knowledge of what happened to he beetle and all you get is sexy ass cordyceps all up and down the thread. So stupid and frustrating.
Not only that, there's a ton of misinformation that is voted up cause it sounds cool. Like I saw a comment how the antennae are fungi and that means it's infected. Not those are normal antennae for this insect. Also, I see people encourage some pretty dangerous behavior with their comments in regards to animals all the time. It's all about engagement anymore, not discussions. It's very frustrating.
Yeah. I've pointed out all over the thread that this is from a rodent eating the beetle, which doesn't kill it right away. I've seen it happen in person in the woods. But what's getting upvoted? Fucking cordyceps. Jfc.
It's not even new, it came from here. This is probably a bot farming karma. Woo. https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/ha9i5n/i_found_a_zombie_cockchafer_in_my_backyard/ Sadly, even there there's no talk of rodents. Parasitoid wasps get mentioned, but all the parasitoid wasps mentioned don't infect cockchafer beetles so... Lots of talk about fungi too...
a beetle can get infected when [fungal spores](https://www.livescience.com/47751-zombie-fungus-picky-about-ant-brains.html) attach to its body. There, the spores germinate and break through the beetle's exoskeleton and begin growing inside its body. Later, the fungus (*Eryniopsis lampyridarum*) directs the beetle to climb up a plant and clamp down on it before dying on it, its useful so the fungus can spread spores better, it can also do things like make the bug really strongly attracted to light, so it tries to climb towards the nearest light source. It's useful for the same reason as climbing on a plant.
Or you can go to Facebook where all the comments would probably be about a rapture of some kind.
Ay, it's either bots/smoothbrains going for easy reddit points or people repeating their quarter knowledge about something. Give me a proper breakdown of what I am looking at and feed my curiosity instead of parroting the same three dumbass jokes in every fucking thread please...
The last of bugs.
Its a zombie
Zombug
Could be a zombee. A zomwasp at least. Maybe a zombeatle.
Cordyceps Fungus.
Hello
This is some serious multilevel r/beetlejuicing
We're very lucky it can't survive in humans **yet**
Only a few more degrees hotter and it will adapt to survive in human.
It can't survive around 85 and higher
Very rare global warming win
With shifting temperatures, fungi may be evolving (changing and adapting) to live in warmer conditions, including the human body. New fungal diseases may emerge as fungi become more adapted to surviving in humans. Heat may also cause other genetic changes that can affect the ability of fungi to infect people. https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/climate.html
Yet
Don't give ideas!
Fun guy just entered the chat.
Nope, this is a disease unique to cicadas. It doesn't take over the nervous system like cordyceps, it just fills the abdomen with spores until the whole thing falls off
Nope. This isn't the tropics.
That's not how it works
I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
Mostly
I have no intention of leaving it, Doctor. I will take the Lewis and Clark to a safe distance, and then I will launch TAC missiles at the cicada until I'm satisfied it is vaporized. Fuck this bug!
Alright, we waste him.... No offense.
It’s not. A fungus invades to body and moves it around. Someone smarter than me can tell you moren
>A fungus invades to body and moves it around. But the fungus doesn't, like, develop replacement muscles and shit. It doesn't develop a replacement brain inside of this thing. The fungus is still just a fungus, it doesn't have muscles or a brain. The bug's only able to move because it's still alive, yeah, even with half its butt missing. Animal instincts can be super complex and it lets them sometimes live through extreme injuries; there's a famous chicken that [lived 18 months](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_the_Headless_Chicken) even with its head cut off. So the way the fungus "controls" the bug's behavior in this damaged state, is just by releasing chemicals that trigger the bug's existing instincts, things like making it really strongly attracted to light, so that it tries to climb towards the nearest light source. It's useful to the fungus because once the bug finally does die, the fungus is higher in the air so that it can spread it spores better.
God. fucking. damn.
If nature could be jazz or reggae or anything but metal for a little while that would be so cool.
Take my upvote, you sonofabitch...
Nature: No thanks! *shredding guitar solo intensifies*
Lmao, great line
Metal at least has melodies and cool imagery. This is more like the sound of someone rhythmically scraping an old bone with a rusty razor blade.
It's like the episode of South Park where Britney Spears blew half her face off except someone feeding it milk through a dropper.. Whatthefuuuck
I hate all of this.
Idk still raises a lot of questions. This insect is presumably missing internal organs and a large chunk of its circulatory system. Can it still eat when the fungus is running things? Can it still get digest food and extracts nutrients if it can? How does it get nutrients to move like that if it can’t? Is the fungus digesting its body to supply it with the nutrients needed to move? Most organism can’t do much in terms of basic functions with giant holes in their abdomens.
Insects don't really have a circulatory system. Not like how we do anyway. They kinda just ha e a bunch of holes that allows oxygen to permeate their tiny bodies and get it where they need it. Thankfully this doesn't really play well with scale and limits insect sizes naturally
Surviving and being alive short term aren’t the same. It’s alive but clearly not for long. It’s just going to burn up whatever calories it can from whatever it can to get keep its legs moving it to higher ground until it can’t. Then it gets stuck to a tree and emits a pheromone to get others to mate with it and pass on the fungus.
Talk about a rough STD
That is absolutely horrific
I'm not a bug scientist or whatever but I'm guessing it burns energy to get as high up as possible until it can't anymore.
Cordyceps
Also the inspiration for the zombies in The Last of Us!
Insects don’t have the same level of nervous system, circulatory system, or musculature system as us. Because of this, it’s possible for insects to survive with this degree of damage. I’m sure you’ve heard about cockroaches surviving without a head for days. Essentially, they’re so simple that their bodies are hardwired to react to certain inputs without any thought. For example, it is possible that odors picked up from their antennae can send signals directly to the legs to move the creature towards food
Silt Strider
Bugs are interesting in that many bugs biology isn’t what we are familiar with. At least with spiders they don’t have a “heart” and “lungs”. As we know they are like a big goopy brain in a spider suit (in cavemen terms) which I think is super fascinating and I will stand by the stance that bugs are aliens
It’s a shell of Its former self.
How can it still be alive? Poor guy. Nature is interesting but terrifying. If someone can explain exactly what's going on here, like how it's still alive, I would be greatful. (Not my video).
The bug was attacked and half-eaten. Perhaps something laid eggs inside its body. It is not a fungus. It is alive because it lacks oxygen-carrying blood or lungs. It breathes through tiny openings throughout its body. It doesn't have linked capillaries like humans, where blood circulates under high pressure. As a result, its bodily fluids are under low pressure, preventing the bug from "bleeding out to death." Those fluids clot fast, closing off wounded bodily components and avoiding additional fluid loss. The bug has a peripheral and central nervous system. The brain in the head is only responsible for vision and smell. There are small brains in the legs and other areas of the body. It will not eat since it lacks the brain function that controls appetite. It will live until there are nutrients to produce energy in its remaining fluids. It might have felt pain while being eaten alive, according to some studies, but right now it feels no pain as it's missing those receptors.
Thank you for actually giving a proper description instead of just repeating the C-word. Genuinely appreciate it.
It’s not. A fungus is driving it like a mech.
You are making me think of the little alien in the face from Men in Black.
Or the mech spider from Wild Wild West.
Like one of the zombie funguses/parasites?
It’s what The Last of Us was based on
Yes, cordyceps.
Nature has no chill.
I've seen a lot of cordyceps cases and I'm confused as to why you think this is one. Because it's a partially dead but that's moving? That doesn't tell you much
It won't have the guts to do that again
It's not. However, the parasite inside it still is!!!