Below the fold is a video about fungi that selectively infect specific species of insects, with devastating effects.
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A dead ant infected with a parasitic Cordyceps fungus (David P. Hughes).
A team of entomologists working in the Brazilian rain forest has discovered four new species of parasitic Cordyceps fungi, which infect insects and manipulate the behaviour of their hosts in order to disperse their spores as…
(From the Gilbert Lab at the University of Texas)
This carpenter ant (genus Campanotus), and the bullet ant in the first film clip below (Paraponera clavata), have fallen victim to parasitic fungi of the genus Cordyceps, which manipulate the behaviour of their host in order to increase their…
In Robert Louis Stevenson's classic story, Dr Henry Jekyll drinks a mysterious potion that transforms him from an upstanding citizen into the violent, murderous Edward Hyde. We might think that such an easy transformation would be confined to the pages of fiction, but a similar fate regularly…
Stinkhorn Mushroom, Clathrus crispus??.
Click each picture for a truly large mage and then
feel free to correct me on the scientific name of
this mushroom, since I am not a mushroom expert
and need some help from those of you who are!
Images: Todd Smith.
The photographer, Todd, writes;"Here are…
I remember seeing many years ago a segment on the PBS series Nature about this fungus in ants. The episode was about the ants that have a symbiotic relationship with certain trees in the tropics.
I did not know that this type of fungus infects many different types of insects.
well, this fungus has evolved into specialized forms so each species of insect that can be infected has its own fungus species that does the infecting.
Why was the mushroom so popular?
Because he's a fungi.
I just saw this a few days ago on the CBC. My wife and I were sitting there with our jaws on the floor watching the ant sprout new antennae made of fungus. Totally amazing!
This post about entomopathogenic fungi and other manipulative parasites is by far the most viewed item on my blog. It also contains film clips of parasitic gordian worms, which infect terrestrial insects and secrete neuropeptides that alter the geotactic sense of the host, causing it to jump into water so that the mature worm can emerge.