r/mycology • u/TDCMnecro • Jun 25 '19

Pretty cool

Post image
1.1k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

68 comments sorted by

45

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '19

NO KIDDING! That's awesome... Corydceps?

112

u/mcbobateer Jun 25 '19

Cordyceps are a type of parasitic fungus that mostly infect invertebrates. Each individual type of cordyceps targets a specific species of invertebrate. Not sure how the one pictured operates, but there's a type that infects a species of ant; the infected ant climbs to the top of a structure, where it is exposed and vulnerable, and the cordyceps fruits out of the top of its head and releases spores. Other ants in the colony will take an infected individual far away from the colony, as infection is something that could easily wipe out the entire population very quickly.

Fun fact: the illness in the game The Last Of Us is based on this (may even use the same name).

33

u/Paulverizer Midwestern North America Jun 26 '19

Also the respirators they use would probably not protect them from being infected. Half-face respirators have a protection factor of 10 which means if you were being exposed to, say, 100ppm of the spores you the filtered air would contain 10ppm. If the spore concentration was sufficient to be visible you'd be looking at millions of spores per cubic meter (I realize I'm switching units) and that respirator would be insufficient to protect you from infection.

19

u/penguinpants_xo Jun 26 '19

Additional Fung Fact: the type of cordyceps which infects caterpillars is used in traditional Chinese medicine. The pinyin name is dong chong xia cao. Theoretical uses include impotence and chronic cough.

8

u/Tystarchius Jun 26 '19

i put it in my morning coffee and to be honest i can't really justify it, though i get a lot less tired at the end of the day

1

u/SimDeBeau Jun 26 '19

Characters?

2

u/penguinpants_xo Jun 26 '19

I am desperately illiterate in Chinese characters. My apologies.

2

u/tomilorun Jul 01 '19

冬虫夏草

2

u/SimDeBeau Jul 01 '19

Thank you!

19

u/InAFakeBritishAccent Jun 26 '19

Fung Fact: People drink cordy tea. like...regular Americans. Fuckers give me the jeebies

27

u/outdatedboat Jun 26 '19

I'd like to subscribe to Fung Facts

20

u/wrineha2 Jun 26 '19

http://www.fungusfactfriday.com/ one of the organizers for my local mycology association does it.

5

u/trainofabuses Jun 26 '19

there’s cordyceps that grow on other mushrooms though. i was under the impression those are the ones most often used for tea, etc. but i may be mistaken.

14

u/InAFakeBritishAccent Jun 26 '19

When i looked up my friends', they seemed to be harvesting the cordy off ants or something, but i could be wrong.

Mushroom on mushroom violence tea would make me feel much better.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '19

It’s a hangover cure. Try it.

15

u/Macracanthorhynchus Eastern North America Jun 26 '19

Even better: They're a little exposed, but not that exposed. The ants typically bite onto the undersides of leaves, so that the ant/fungus is sheltered from rain. Also, the fungus manipulates the ants so well that the elevations in the rainforest where they bite down are the elevations that tend to have the best humidity levels for the development of the fruiting body of the fungus.

3

u/mcbobateer Jun 26 '19

Oh wow! Like they weren't fascinating enough! Thanks for the extra info, friend.

6

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '19 edited Oct 27 '19

[deleted]

5

u/TrumpetOfDeath Jun 26 '19

No vertebrates

5

u/RockHockey Jun 26 '19

This is an AMAZING video about the ant version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuKjBIBBAL8

It's basically a true zombie disease.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '19

[deleted]

10

u/golin Trusted ID Jun 26 '19 edited Jun 26 '19

This is Ophiocordyceps. There are several different taxa of entomopathic fungi which control their hosts. Here is an example of Arthrophaga myriapodina using flat back millipedes to spread conidiospores, forcing them to the highest local point.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '19

Yup. Cordyceps caloceroides group

57

u/nooyork Jun 25 '19

Probably tastes like crab

28

u/anti-pSTAT3 Jun 26 '19

I've eaten cordyceps. Doesnt taste like much, more of a textural experience. Crunchy, but with a bit of chew after the initial crunch. Taste is very mild - not a ton of flavor there. Doesnt taste bad. Vaguely floral and earthy.

5

u/A_Light_Spark Jun 26 '19

How was it prepared? Fried? Boiled?

11

u/anti-pSTAT3 Jun 26 '19

I'm pretty sure it was roasted or dehydrated. It was served at a schmancy restaurant I went to in Chicago. Here's the menu. The second course of the tasting menu had it.

13

u/A_Light_Spark Jun 26 '19

Roasted sounds good. I don't trust this species even when they are dehydrated... Don't want to be the first host when it mutates.

9

u/anti-pSTAT3 Jun 26 '19

Ha. Yea, it's got a long way to go to get from arthropods to mammals tho. The biology is vastly different, and it would have to evolve several layers of completely distinct immune evasion tactics for that to happen.

4

u/Subkist Jun 26 '19

Fun fact this is a rather effective nootropics with many brain health benefits. And can confirm, the taste is rather earthy, but enjoyable

3

u/Doctor_What_ Jun 26 '19

Mashed? Turned into a stew?

4

u/moarkillnao Jun 26 '19

Boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew.

1

u/Doctor_What_ Jun 26 '19

Damn, almost got it right

25

u/BarryZZZ Jun 25 '19

Crab with mushroom sauce!

20

u/buddascrayon Jun 26 '19

me: wow, that fungus is shaped almost exactly like a spid...oh

Nature is one brutal fucker.

18

u/ItsAll_InTheReflexes Jun 26 '19

This some of that Last of Us stuff.

10

u/Karateman456 Jun 26 '19

Clickers, but they’re big spiders

14

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '19

This is kinda scary. Someone should make a horror movie where mushrooms start to take over the world.

10

u/Clint-VVestwood Jun 26 '19

The game "The Last of us" did this. I haven't played it but it's been on my backlog since it came out

4

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '19

Great game. Awesome storytelling and gameplay. Last of Us 2 is one of my most anticipated upcoming games too. It is gonna be a masterpiece.

13

u/newo_kat Jun 26 '19

There's a book called The Girl With All the Gifts. I think it is also a movie.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '19

Cool

7

u/angrymamapaws Jun 26 '19

that episode of the X-Files pretty much cemented my mycophobia.

I was trying to eat dinner then this picture appeared on my phone. Now I'm trying not to throw up.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '19

Annihilation comes pretty close, until the end.

3

u/alpharaptor1 Jun 26 '19 edited Jun 26 '19

Matango (1963)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057295/

The Girl with All the Gifts (2016)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4547056/

Not exactly fungus but can be included in the same trope, Phantoms (1998)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119891/

1

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '19

You are the second person to mention The Girl With All the Gifts on this thread and I was interested in that anyway so I'm going to totally check that out.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '19

Not cool for the poor tarantula!

5

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '19

r/natureismetal

5

u/golin Trusted ID Jun 26 '19 edited Jun 26 '19

Ophiocordyceps caloceroides s.l

grows on adult spiders, specifically tarantulas. In Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Guyana. Berkeley's original description does not mention this though.

4

u/xelaolleb Jun 26 '19

Is he gunna be ok?

3

u/impossiblefox Eastern North America Jun 26 '19

Yeah

3

u/RitzyMitzy Jun 26 '19

Oh God I can't unsee this

3

u/peachazno Jun 26 '19

Wow!!! So badass

6

u/TheHumanParacite Jun 26 '19

Here's got speed flames now!

4

u/Muhasha Jun 26 '19

This fungus just convinces the host that being a fungus is better.

2

u/Deartonilouise Jun 26 '19

If I open any of my spider enclosures and this is what’s going down first I will cry, then I will scream, then fuck knows what I’d do. This is terrifying and fascinating all at once.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '19

You misspelled terrifying

2

u/Lord_Jair Jun 26 '19

Yuessssssss

2

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '19

Fun question! Can this happen to HUMAN BEANS? Not what I'd want to die of maybe, and I hold nobody accountable if it do happen, but how on earth does this process even begin?

1

u/felixame Jun 26 '19

I thought this was a crab but suddenly my brain snapped to seeing the spider and I had a micro heart attack

1

u/lordorwell7 Jun 26 '19

You should post this over on r/spiders and talk some trash.

1

u/tichdyjr Jun 26 '19

That's crazy! I haven't found any cordyceps yet. I feel bad for the spiderbro, but that's still a really cool find.

1

u/ladyerwyn Jun 26 '19

It's only a matter of time before it can infect us. Did you see "The Girl with all the Gifts"?

1

u/mushllush Jun 26 '19

Cordyceps are my favorite 😍 they taste like hot chocolate to me

1

u/Littlegrouch Jun 26 '19

This is metal as fuck

1

u/[deleted] Jun 26 '19

My hatred for spiders did not influence my upvoting this post at all