Fungus-killed Insect
by Danté Fenolio
Title
Fungus-killed Insect
Artist
Danté Fenolio
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Predatory fungi are not uncommon in the upper Amazon basin. Cordyceps sp. are common within these forests. The fungus kills the invertebrate host, one or more fruiting bodies (stromatic clavae) sprout from the invertebrate's exoskeleton, and spores (ascospores) are swept away on air currents to infect new hosts. The relationship between the insect and the fungi is complex in some interactions, and insidious. For example, specific Cordyceps species that infect ants and flies can control the behavior of their hosts just before they kill them. The fungus makes the ant or fly climb to the highest place they can, then they die. Having climbed to an elevated position, the breezes are greater and the spread of the spores much farther.
Uploaded
June 12th, 2013
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