DSC_4863 Vegetable cicada (Cordyceps sinclairii) in situ on forest floor. A native fungus parasitic on root-feeding cicada nymphs which burrow underground. The hyphae of the fungus penetrate the cicada nymph and feed on the internal tissue, killing the nymph. The fungi then sends a branched white stalk up above ground, which is covered in powdery white spores. Ohakune *
DSC_4856 Vegetable cicada (Cordyceps sinclairii) removed from the forest soil. A native fungus parasitic on root-feeding cicada nymphs which burrow underground. The hyphae of the fungus penetrate the cicada nymph and feed on the internal tissue, killing the nymph. The fungi then sends a branched white stalk up above ground, which is covered in powdery white spores. Ohakune *
DSC_2307 Entomopathogenic fungus (Cordyceps tenuipes) the fruiting bodies of a deadly little fungus which is similar to C. sinclairii, but with yellow stems. It has parasitised and killed its underground host (a moth pupa). Arnold Valley, Moana *
