Cordyceps sp. (genus)

2 Caterpillar fungus at Kianga, NSW

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Identification history

	Cordyceps sp. (genus)	28 May 2019	Teresa
	Cordyceps sp. (genus)	28 May 2019	Teresa

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Significant sighting

Teresa noted:

31 May 2019

A most unusual sighting particularly on the south coast and one that requires much ongoing study and research. Herbarium collection made to enable this to continue.

User's notes

The Cordyceps fungus attacks a host, in this case an insect which is in the wood, and the mycelium has invaded it and replaced the host tissue and the resultant white fruit bodies, you can see, have broken through the remaining outer tissue of the insect. There are approximately 400 species of Cordyceps fungi worldwide.

1 comment

Pam wrote:

31 May 2019

This is an as yet unidentified Cordyceps anamorph (conidial fungi) Which is a different state to the fungi we see that produce spores. In simple terms these come from conidia rather than spores due to a different and independent evolutionary pathway to its related telomorphic fungus (with spores) from which they were derived!! . Due to the naming Code all these different states are grouped under the one name these days - hence Cordyceps in this case. A great and unusual sighting, well photographed

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