Fungi on insects

[Fungus]

Three examples of macro- and microfungi on insects, two on a pupa of a butterfly (Lepidoptera) and the last one on a fly.

 

Photo 1/2. Cordyceps militaris

Photo 3/4 : Paecilomyces farinosus

Photo 5 : Entomophthora muscae.

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[skyhuck]

The circle of life.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

love it, the Bug fung worm turns!

[janey]

You made me think of this Science Photo Library, the most well known and comercially important moth / fungal relationship?

[Fungus]

You made me think of this Science Photo Library, the most well known and comercially important moth/fungal relationship?

 

Janey,

Yes, the combination of the pupae of the Goast moth (Thitarodes namnai) and Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Yartsa gunbu), along with Tricholoma matsutake and Termitomyces species, are the most commercially important collected food and "medicinal drugs" with lots of supposed or evidenced properties and qualities. In the Himalaya's (Tibet), yearly hundreds to thousands of kilo's of "Yartsa gunbu" are "harvested" in the wild, which depending on the quantity availible and the quality, are sold in the market place for 2.200 to 40.000 dollar pro kilo. Of Tricholoma matsutake, yearly 2.300 to 3.500 tons of fresh mushrooms are exported from China to Japan.

The Sumo wrestlers of Sjanhai consume the "Caterpillar Fungus" before entering into contest. At the Chinese national championships in 1993, Chinese athletes broke 9 middle and long distance track world records. Because the "medicin" is not on the international list of forbidden drugs, the records had to be accepted.

[janey]

I thought you'd be the man to enlighten me some more on the subject

[elicokiz]

If you havent already seen it check out David attenboroughs video on Cordyceps...its from his series, The Private life of Plants..

enjoy

regards

Dave

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuKjBIBBAL8]‪Cordyceps: attack of the killer fungi - Planet Earth Attenborough BBC wildlife‬‏ - YouTube[/ame]

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

If you havent already seen it check out David attenboroughs video on Cordyceps...its from his series, The Private life of Plants..

enjoy

regards

Dave

 

I have the series on DVD, it is without doubt the all time best documentary, nothing will ever beat it IMO:thumbup1:

[RobArb]

wonders of the universe was pretty good, so was the human body one that was recently on:thumbup: