In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionary strategies within parasitism, distinguished by the fatal prognosis for the host, which makes the strategy close to predation.
Ophiocordyceps sinensis, known colloquially as caterpillar fungus, is an entomopathogenic fungus in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. It is mainly found in the meadows above 3,500 metres (11,500 ft) on the Tibetan Plateau in Tibet and the Himalayan regions of Bhutan, India, and Nepal. It parasitizes larvae of ghost moths and produces a fruiting body which is valued in traditional Chinese medicine as an aphrodisiac. Caterpillar fungus contains the compound cordycepin, an adenosine derivative. However, the fruiting bodies harvested in nature usually contain high amounts of arsenic and other heavy metals, so they are potentially toxic and sales have been strictly regulated by China's State Administration for Market Regulation since 2016.
Cordyceps is a genus of ascomycete fungi that includes about 600 worldwide species. Diverse variants of cordyceps have had more than 1,500 years of use in Chinese medicine. Most Cordyceps species are endoparasitoids, parasitic mainly on insects and other arthropods ; a few are parasitic on other fungi.
Metarhizium robertsii is a fungus that grows naturally in soils throughout the world and causes disease in various insects by acting as a parasitoid. It is a mitosporic fungus with asexual reproduction, which was formerly classified in the form class Hyphomycetes of the phylum Deuteromycota.
Hyphomycetes are a form classification of fungi, part of what has often been referred to as fungi imperfecti, Deuteromycota, or anamorphic fungi. Hyphomycetes lack closed fruit bodies, and are often referred to as moulds. Most hyphomycetes are now assigned to the Ascomycota, on the basis of genetic connections made by life-cycle studies or by phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences; many remain unassigned phylogenetically.
Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, commonly known as zombie-ant fungus, is an insect-pathogenic fungus, discovered by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace in 1859, and currently found predominantly in tropical forest ecosystems. O. unilateralis infects ants of the tribe Camponotini, with the full pathogenesis being characterized by alteration of the behavioral patterns of the infected ant. Infected hosts leave their canopy nests and foraging trails for the forest floor, an area with a temperature and humidity suitable for fungal growth; they then use their mandibles to attach themselves to a major vein on the underside of a leaf, where the host remains after its eventual death. The process, leading up to mortality, takes 4–10 days, and includes a reproductive stage where fruiting bodies grow from the ant's head, rupturing to release the fungus's spores. O. unilateralis is, in turn, also susceptible to fungal infection itself, an occurrence that can limit its impact on ant populations, which has otherwise been known to devastate ant colonies.
Metarhizium is a genus of entomopathogenic fungi in the Clavicipitaceae family. With the advent of genetic profiling, placing these fungi in proper taxa has now become possible. Most turn out to be the asexual forms (anamorphs) of fungi in the phylum Ascomycota, including Metacordyceps spp.
Ophiocordycipitaceae is a family of parasitic fungi in the Ascomycota, class Sordariomycetes. It was updated in 2020.
Syngliocladium is a genus of anamorphic fungi within the Ophiocordycipitaceae family. Members are anamorph names of Ophiocordyceps.
Tolypocladium is a genus of fungi within the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. It includes species that are parasites of other fungi, insect pathogens, rotifer pathogens and soil inhabiting species with uncertain ecological roles.
Ophiocordyceps camponoti-balzani is a species of fungus that parasitizes insect hosts of the order Hymenoptera, primarily ants. It was first isolated from Viçosa, Minas Gerais, on Camponotus balzani. This species was formerly thought to be Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, which has subsequently been divided into four species. O. camponoti-balzani infects ants, and eventually kills the hosts after they move to an ideal location for the fungus to spread its spores. This has earned the species names such as “zombie fungus”, given the fungus has been observed to cause its hosts to bite hard into the substrate it stands on, so that the fungus can then stably grow.
Thitarodes caligophilus is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It is found in Bhutan. It is a host of the entomopathogenic fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis, a species of the genus Cordyceps. The fruiting bodies of Ophiocordyceps sinensis are used extensively in Traditional Chinese medicine. As a result, T. caligophilus-sourced Cordyceps harvested in Bhutan have become "widely used".
Ophiocordyceps myrmecophila is a species of fungus that parasitizes insect hosts, in particular members of the order Hymenoptera.
Cordyceps militaris is a species of fungus in the family Cordycipitaceae, and the type species of the genus Cordyceps, which consists of hundreds of species. The species was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 as Clavaria militaris. Cordyceps militaris parasitizes insects and is used use in traditional Chinese medicine and modern pharmaceuticals.
Ophiocordyceps camponoti-novogranadensis is a species of fungus that parasitizes insect hosts, in particular members of the order Hymenoptera. It was first isolated from Parque Estadual de Itacolomi in Ouro Preto, at an altitude of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft), on Camponotus novogranadensis.
Ophiocordyceps camponoti-melanotici is a species of fungus that parasitizes insect hosts, in particular members of the order Hymenoptera. It was first isolated from Viçosa, Minas Gerais, on Camponotus melanoticus.
Ophiocordyceps camponoti-rufipedis is a species of fungus that parasitizes insect hosts, in particular members of the order Hymenoptera. It was first isolated from Viçosa, Minas Gerais, at an altitude of 700 metres (2,300 ft) on Camponotus rufipes.
Ophiocordyceps formicarum is an entomopathogenic fungus belonging to the order Hypocreales (Ascomycota) in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. The fungus was first described by mycologist George S. Kobayashi in 1939 as a species of Cordyceps. Originally found in Japan growing on an adult Hercules ant, it was reported from Guizhou, China, in 2003. It was transferred to the new genus Ophiocordyceps in 2007 when the family Cordycipitaceae was reorganized. A technique has been developed to grow the fungus in an agar growth medium supplemented with yeast extract, inosine, and glucose.
Ophiocordyceps robertsii, known in New Zealand as vegetable caterpillar is an entomopathogenic fungus belonging to the order Hypocreales (Ascomycota) in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. It invades the caterpillars of leaf-litter dwelling moths and turns them into fungal mummies, sending up a fruiting spike above the forest floor to shed its spores. Caterpillars eat the spores whilst feeding on leaf litter to complete the fungal life cycle. Evidence of this fungus can be seen when small brown stems push through the forest floor: underneath will be the dried remains of the host caterpillar. This species was first thought by Europeans to be a worm or caterpillar that burrowed from the top of a tree to the roots, where it exited and then grew a shoot of the plant out of its head. It was the first fungus provided with a binomial name from New Zealand.
Ophiocordyceps dipterigena is an entomopathogenic fungi species from the genus Ophiocordyceps. This species was originally described in 2007.
