Larry
I though this sounded familiar - I remember seeing another (possibly
the same) fungus which invades the insect, grows within, and just
before the insect dies it causes it to climb up a nearby grass stem
or whatever and grips it. The insect dies and the fungus sounds
out it spore "heads" which release the spores. Being higher up off
the ground they are spread over a wider area.
This also reminded me of an Australian fungus called the "Vegetable
Caterpillar" which infects caterpillars feeding on certain dead
leaves (I think). The fungus appears above the ground like a normal
mushie/toadie (if a little unusual in shape) with the "fossilised"
caterpillar attached to it underground in a vertical position.
I found a picture of it on an Gould League poster "Common Fungi
of South-Eastern Australia" - coincidently, its scientific name is
Cordyceps gunnii! I wonder what other bizarre fungi are in this
genus?
BFN
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| John Taylor [Catweasel] | Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology |
| rphjt@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au | Department of Applied Physics |
| | Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA |
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