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Project Noah Nature School
Cordyceps sp.
This moth has been infected with a Cordyceps fungus. The parasitoid fungus has the ability to manipulate insect behaviour, sometimes causing them to climb high up into branches where they grab onto a surface and don't let go. The fungus then sprouts from the insect corpse as fruiting bodies, which are visible in this photo as protruding stalks on each side of the moth. These release spores that are dispersed through the canopy to infect other victims. There are hundreds of species of Cordyceps, each specialised to a different insect species.
Secondary Amazon rainforest, Payamino, Ecuador.
Wish I could have got a better photo but my macro was playing up! See this video, narrated by David Attenborough, for more amazing detail about Cordyceps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuKjBIBBA...
Spotted on Jul 12, 2012
Submitted on May 15, 2013
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