Back to Show
Deep Look
This Mushroom Fakes Its Own Death To Trick Flies
Season 9
Episode 3
The cage fungus looks and smells like decaying meat — on purpose. Its goopy lattice gives off a rotten odor that attracts flies, which help spread its spores far and wide. It’s like a bee to a flower, but way more macabre and putrid.
Sign up now for inspiring and thought-provoking media delivered straight to your inbox.
Support Provided By

3:49
Giant water bugs pack one of the most painful bites of any insect, but they're great dads.

4:33
The spotted wing drosophila may look like a common fruit fly, but it’s so much worse.

5:13
Those precious silk garments in your closet were made by the caterpillars of a fuzzy moth.

3:58
Barnacles might look like jagged little rocks, but they have a surprisingly wild sex life.

4:36
Honeypot ants stuff members of their own colony until they look like tiny water balloons.

4:25
What animal sprays acid that reeks of vinegar from its rear end? A vinegaroon, of course.

5:12
Subterranean termites fly off in swarms, and then drop their wings to start new colonies.

4:59
A twig is actually just one of many disguises for the Australian walking stick insect.

4:46
They might look like harmless grasshoppers, but locusts have an appetite for destruction.

4:58
A kissing bug gorges on your blood, plus it may carry a potentially deadly parasite.

4:38
Skeleton shrimp anatomy can be confusing, with their funky assortment of body parts.

4:42
Tadpole shrimp are a special type of time-traveling crustacean called triops.