New Zealand Fungi and Lichens

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 *

DSC4863Vegetable cicadaCordycepsIsariacicadaesinclairiinativefungusparasiticcicada nymphundergroundsporesOhakune