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fungus

New Release: The Spores of Wrath – William C. Tracy

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The Spores of Wrath - William P. Tracy

QSFer William P. Tracy has a new queer sci-fi book out, The Biomass Conflux book three (gay, lesbian, non-binary, trans, poly): The Spores of Wrath. The fate of Lida looms. Agetha thought her fate was sealed, pushed to the edge of the colony to die. But with the revelation that the biomass is not only intelligent, but sentient, changes to colony are accelerating, threatening its very existence. Those who were controlled by the biomass once again have free will. Now, the human colonists are raising their voices and for the first time really influencing their new home. The planet-wide consciousness … Read more

NATURE: Now There Are Zombie Sex Flies

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Zombie Flies

A deadly fungus infects and controls the minds of house flies, before consuming them from the inside out — and that’s just the start of its gruesome reproductive strategy. As the fungus’s grand finale, its spores, which poke from the cadavers of infected female flies, emit an alluring scent that seduces males into mating with the corpses. When the pathogenic fungus Entomophthora muscae infects house flies (Musca domestica), it begins by manipulating their behavior, compelling the flies to climb to an elevated surface, like a tall plant stem or twig. The zombie flies then cling and die there with their … Read more

There Are Zombie Flies?

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zombie fly - pixabay

Two newly discovered fungi species have a similarly macabre mode of action: They eat flies alive while using them to drop spores on new victims.  The related species, Strongwellsea tigrinae and Strongwellsea acerosa, attack the fly species Coenosia tigrina and Coenosia testacea, which look like ordinary house flies but undergo a horrific change once they’re invaded by the fungi. The fungi eat one or more holes in the abdomens of the flies and then produce clumps of orange spores, which spread by dropping out of the holes.  The infected, now-zombie flies remain alive for days during this process, meaning they inadvertently spread the spores far and … Read more