Chinese caterpillar fungus
| Ophiocordyceps sinensis | |
|---|---|
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| Ophiocordyceps sinensis (left) growing out of the head of a dead caterpillar | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Sordariomycetes |
| Order: | Hypocreales |
| Family: | Ophiocordycipitaceae |
| Genus: | Ophiocordyceps |
| Species: | O. sinensis |
| Binomial name | |
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Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Berk.) G.H.Sung, J.M.Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora (2007) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Sphaeria sinensis Berk. (1843) |
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Sphaeria sinensis Berk. (1843)
Cordyceps sinensis (Berk.) Sacc. (1878)
Ophiocordyceps sinensis (formerly known as Cordyceps sinensis) is an entomopathogenic fungus (a fungus that grows on insects) found in mountainous regions of Nepal and Tibet. It parasitizes larvae of ghost moths and produces a fruiting body which used to be valued as a herbal remedy. However, it usually contains high amount of arsenic and other heavy metals so that it is potentially toxic and its manufacture and sales were strictly regulated by CFDA (China Food and Drug Administration) in 2016.
O. sinensis parasitizes the moths of the Thitarodes genus in the ghost moth family, Hepialidae; specifically species from the Tibetan Plateau, and the Himalayas. The fungus germinates in the living larva, kills and mummifies it, and then a dark brown stalk-like fruiting body which is a few centimeters long emerges from the corpse and stands upright.
It is known in English colloquially as caterpillar fungus, or by its more prominent names yartsa gunbu (Tibetan: དབྱར་རྩྭ་དགུན་འབུ་, Wylie: dbyar rtswa dgun 'bu, literally "winter worm, summer grass"), or dōng chóng xià cǎo (Chinese: 冬虫夏草).
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Wikipedia