Fungus Controls Zombie Caterpillars

[Squink]

Tibetan herders join rush for prize fungus

Amid towering mountains stretching from western China into Tibet, a tiny fungus is luring herders into a feverish treasure hunt that promises wealth to people who have often been bystanders at China’s economic party.
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“Worm grass” is not really a plant. Known by Tibetans as “summer-grass winter-worm,” it forms when a parasitic fungus hijacks and devours the bodies of ghost moth larvae that have burrowed into the alpine soil for up to five years. It then steers their bodies to the surface so it can spread its spores.

Alas, the true tale of caterpillar fungus, Cordyceps sinensis is perhaps not quite so lurid:

Tibetans recognise two distinct phases in the transformation process. At first, from the head of the larvae the “grass” starts growing. At this stage the worm, whitish in colour, is still alive and it is possible to see it moving over the ground with a short horn protruding from its head. Subsequently, as the season progresses, the horn continues to grow until the worm dies. When the metamorphosis is completed, the worm, [now] brownish-yellow in colour, is transformed into the root of a kind of grass”.

Pictures here.

[China_Guy]

Chongcao in Chinese. This is a big cash crop for the Tibetan herders. Downside is that with Tibet being increasingly accessable, Chinese have come in and there is over gathering. In the delicate Tibetan ecosystem with little topsoil, digging out the fungus is causing damage.

Interestingly enough, Tibetan buddhist monks do not harvest these things as believe it is a living creature.

Used a lot in Chinese medicine. Also very popular in soups in the winter. Makes good soup. The chongcao themselves are a little bitter but edible.