Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, commonly known as zombie-ant fungus, [2] is an insect-pathogenic fungus, discovered by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace in 1859. . Zombie ants, infected by the Ophiocordyceps unilateralis fungus, are predominantly found in tropical rainfo
Beauveria bassiana is a fungus that grows naturally in soils throughout the world and acts as a parasite on various arthropod species, causing white muscardine disease; it thus belongs to the group of entomopathogenic fungi.
Broad dead areas known as cankers form on the main stem, branches, young twigs, and exposed roots. Most cankers are covered with bark cracks. The fungus forms a dark mat of branching mycelium below the bark, from which arise peg-like hypha that lift and rupture the bark. In the later stages of infection, the bark above the canker is shredded.
Ophiocordyceps sinensis (synonym Cordyceps sinensis), known colloquially as caterpillar fungus, is an entomopathogenic fungus (a fungus that grows on insects) 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 .
Upon the death of the host, the O. unilateralis produces a stalk-like structure erupting from the head of the dead ant from which spores are released to the peripheral environment. [12] this process enables the fungi to infect more ants and, in the process, creates high densities of dead ants in the forest environment known as 'graveyards'. [12]
The fungus forms 1–8 centimetres (1 ⁄ 2 – 3 + 1 ⁄ 4 in) high, club-shaped [4] and orange/red fruiting bodies, which grow out of dead underground pupae. The club is covered with the stroma, into which the actual fruit bodies, the perithecia, are inserted. The surface appears roughly punctured.
Entomophthora muscae is a species of pathogenic fungus in the order Entomophthorales which causes a fatal disease in flies. It can cause epizootic outbreaks of disease in houseflies and has been investigated as a potential biological control agent.
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 (also often called fungi imperfecti).