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.
The Hepialidae are a family of insects in the lepidopteran order. Moths of this family are often referred to as swift moths or ghost moths.
Thitarodes is a genus of moths of the family Hepialidae. In English Thitarodes is known as "ghost moth". They are found in eastern Asia. The majority are restricted to the Tibetan Plateau. Often in Chinese entomological nomenclature Thitarodes is still referred to as Hepialus, although the name was changed back in 1968. Furthermore, some authors use incorrectly the term "bat moth" which is a bad translation of the Chinese term for ghost moth.
A sclerotium, is a compact mass of hardened fungal mycelium containing food reserves. One role of sclerotia is to survive environmental extremes. In some higher fungi such as ergot, sclerotia become detached and remain dormant until favorable growth conditions return. Sclerotia initially were mistaken for individual organisms and described as separate species until Louis René Tulasne proved in 1853 that sclerotia are only a stage in the life cycle of some fungi. Further investigation showed that this stage appears in many fungi belonging to many diverse groups. Sclerotia are important in the understanding of the life cycle and reproduction of fungi, as a food source, as medicine, and in agricultural blight management.
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.
Naomi E. Pierce is an American entomologist and evolutionary biologist who studies plant-herbivore coevolution and is a world authority on butterflies. She is the Hessel Professor of Biology and Curator of Lepidoptera in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.
Ophiocordyceps is a genus of fungi within the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. The widespread genus, first described scientifically by British mycologist Tom Petch in 1931, contains about 140 species that grow on insects. Anamorphic genera that correspond with Ophiocordyceps species are Hirsutella, Hymenostilbe, Isaria, Paraisaria, and Syngliocladium.
Isaria sinclairii is a species of entomopathogenic fungus mostly infecting the underground nymphs of cicadas. It produces myriocin, from which the synthetic drug fingolimod, a treatment for multiple sclerosis, was developed.
Dumbletonius characterifer is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It is endemic to New Zealand. It was first described by Francis Walker in 1865.
Dumbletonius unimaculatus, also known as the forest ghost moth, is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It is endemic to New Zealand. This species is host to the vegetable caterpillar fungus Ophiocordyceps robertsii.
Ahamus lijiangensis is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It was described by Hong-Fu Chu and Lin-Yao Wang in 1985 and is known from Yunnan, China.
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".
Thitarodes namnai is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It is found in Bhutan.
Thitarodes namlinensis is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It is found in China.
Cordyceps militaris, commonly known as the caterpillar fungus, 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 in traditional Chinese medicine and modern pharmaceuticals.
Paecilomyces hepiali is an entomophagous fungus. Based on 18S rDNA sequencing, this species is distinct from Ophiocordyceps sinensis. Samsoniella hepiali is defined by NCBI as a homotypic synonym of P. hepiali. Further work on the classification of this species was described in 2020.
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.
Cordyceps gunni is a species of fungus in the family Cordycipitaceae, and is of the genus Cordyceps. It was originally found and recorded by Gunn in Tasmania and named as Sphaeria gunnii and later moved into the Cordyceps genus and renamed Cordyceps gunnii. This fungus and its sisters in the genus Cordyceps are known for growing out of insect bodies. C. gunnii can be found at ground level poking out of caterpillar burrows, attached to a caterpillar's head.
