Nature is brimming with all manner of interconnected relationships between plant and animal species, but not all of them are benign. In fact, some relationships require that one party must die in order for the other to live — nature’s greatest lesson. None exhibit this grim reality quite so gruesomely as the Cordyceps fungi, a species whose survival entails commandeering the body and eventually the life of a hapless insect, unaware that it has been infected with the deadly spores.
The Cordyceps fungus is a stealthy and efficient killer. Once inside the victim, it replaces the host tissue with its own mycelium, the vegetative part of the fungus that looks like tiny, wispy branches spreading from the original spore. The fruiting body, shaped like a long plant stalk, will emerge from the host body and eventually grow into a mature fungus, ready to release its own spores.
Ants in particular frequently fall victim to the Cordyceps fungus, which will override the ant’s instincts and drive it upward in a tree before completely overcoming and killing it. The clever Cordyceps has evolved this behavior in order to ensure the environment has the ideal temperature and humidity needed to propagate, as well as a position that will allow for the greatest distribution of their spores.
Nature, color us impressed. And a little creeped out….
Image via jorapavi
