{"id":376,"date":"2008-07-14T09:42:32","date_gmt":"2008-07-14T13:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hawkdog.net\/wordpress\/archives\/376"},"modified":"2011-12-05T08:34:06","modified_gmt":"2011-12-05T13:34:06","slug":"fungus-among-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/hawkdog.net\/wordpress\/archives\/376","title":{"rendered":"Fungus among us"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steve posted recently<\/a> about overharvest of a Tibetan medicinal fungus – when I clicked through and read the LA Times article<\/a>, the scientific name of the fungus rang a bell. “Cordyceps<\/em>,” says I. “Isn’t that the genus of the mind control fungus?” Off to Wikipedia to verify that, yes, indeed, Cordyceps<\/em> unilateralis<\/em><\/a> changes the behavior of it’s ant host.<\/p>\n

Cordyceps unilateralis<\/strong><\/em> is a species of entomopathogenic fungus<\/a> that infects and alters the behavior of ants<\/a> in order to ensure the widespread distribution of its spores<\/a>. The spores enter the body of the insect through its spiracles<\/a>, where they begin to consume the non-vital soft tissues. When the fungus is ready to spore, its mycelia<\/a> enter the ant’s brain and change how it perceives pheromones<\/a>, causing the insect to climb to the top of a plant and use its mandibles<\/a> to secure itself to the stem. The fungus then kills the ant, and the fruiting bodies<\/a> of C. unilateralis<\/em> grow from its head and explode, releasing the spores. This process takes 4 to 10 days.*<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

No similar activity was mentioned for Cordyceps sinensis<\/em> (the Tibetan vegetable caterpillar), but that won’t stop me from speculating. I have 2 hypotheses:<\/p>\n