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Pack Forest
Washington State
July 10-12, 2009
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DRAFT: Arthropod Pathogenic Fungi

This article is an effort to bring together all of BugGuide's images of bugs that have been attacked by fungi. Clicking a thumbnail will take you to the full-sized image, which may be linked to additional images of the same individual. If you come across images that are not shown here--particularly of different fungi or different victims--please add links to them in the comments below.

Check out this video to learn a bit about Cordyceps, a mostly tropical genus of fungus that can be found in the southeastern US. There is more information about Cordyceps and related fungi here. There are many other types of arthropod pathogenic fungi. If you come across good information about them, please post links etc. below and I will incorporate them here.

Life cycle information, along with many references, can be found in:
Roy, H. E., D.C. Steinkraus, J. Eilenberg, A.E. Hajek, and J.K. Pell. 2006. Bizarre interactions and endgames: entomopathogenic fungi and their arthropod hosts. Annual Review of Entomology 51:331-57.

Spiders

Grasshoppers and Leaf-rolling Crickets

True Bugs

Planthoppers and Cicadas

Beetles

Ladybugs with Laboulbeniales fungi

Ants and Wasps

Caddisflies infected with Erynia rhizospora

Moths

Also see the bottom of this page.

Flies

This still-living calliphorid appears to be in the process of succumbing to a fungus:

Miscellaneous Arthropods With Afflictions That May Or May Not Be Fungus-related

Images Submitted To This Page That Have Been Determined To Depict Victims Of Something Other Than A Fungus

Contributed by Charley Eiseman on 3 October, 2008 - 12:12pm
Last updated 8 November, 2009 - 10:28am

Lacewing larva

… Beatriz Moisset, 22 November, 2009 - 9:45am

Fungus-ridden Syrphid

… Dan Leeder, 19 November, 2009 - 3:58pm

Some new contributions

I found this spider and ant last week in the Honey Island Swamp, near Slidell, LA.

… Mark Fox, 2 November, 2009 - 2:42pm

Removed

Not the victim of a fungus

… Dan Leeder, 25 October, 2009 - 9:35pm

other individuals

… David J. Ferguson, 25 October, 2009 - 6:57pm

Added

I'm not sure what to make of the caterpillar, so I put it in the "Miscellaneous Arthropods With Afflictions That May Or May Not Be Fungus-related" section at the end.

… Charley Eiseman, 25 October, 2009 - 9:26pm

I wasn't too sure what to make of this one either

but forgot to comment when I "thumbed" it.

It certainly isn't a normal "blump".

… David J. Ferguson, 28 October, 2009 - 2:05pm

One more...

Very similar to Lynn Bergen's here.

… Dan Leeder, 23 July, 2009 - 4:21pm

Another one

… Beatriz Moisset, 22 July, 2009 - 4:50pm

Fungus beetle

… John F. Carr, 28 June, 2009 - 7:16pm

Check this one

… Beatriz Moisset, 28 May, 2009 - 7:58am

Hmm...

I guess I'll add a section for things that may or may not be fungus.

… Charley Eiseman, 28 May, 2009 - 9:00am

Another one.

I'm still not sure of the insect that is in this photo, but I'll take a closer look at it and let you know.

… Mark Fox, 27 May, 2009 - 3:34pm

My best guess

Is a caterpillar, or possibly a sawfly. No wings, very stumpy legs. Unfortunately, not a lot of this little guy is visible, and it has become very brittle.

… Mark Fox, 28 May, 2009 - 9:11am

Updated

The article above is now updated with all of the images below (except for a few that aren't actually of fungi). Please put any additional images in new comments so I will see them. All of the fungus-ridden flies are here now too, so those that can be identified are free to be moved to their proper taxonomic place. I've already moved those that I was sure about.

… Charley Eiseman, 27 May, 2009 - 3:17pm

Still more candidates for inclusion...

I confess that I spent way more time doing this today than I had intended, but I decided to search on "fungus" and see what else I could turn up. The following posts should probably be reviewed as the fungus was only speculative in some cases...

Beetles:

Flies:

Other:

… Harsi S. Parker, 27 May, 2009 - 8:13pm

Great!

I've added all of them except for the hornworm. Natalie may well be right about it being a fungus, but I'm not certain.

… Charley Eiseman, 27 May, 2009 - 10:21pm

Laboulbeniales fungi

I think this has got to be the heaviest growth I've seen yet... We should definitely include this one:

… Harsi S. Parker, 27 May, 2009 - 5:01pm

More ladybugs with fungi

It seems that Harmonia axyridis is very vulnerable to this type of fungus attack. A few more:

Are spotless ones more susceptible?

And a fly:

A wasp

… Beatriz Moisset, 9 April, 2009 - 5:07pm

Fungus?

Was the one at the top attacked by a fungus?

… Beatriz Moisset, 3 January, 2009 - 9:17am

Pretty Extreme Case

I have this story on an old (pre-database) page at MPG showing photos by John Pringle. I hope to carry this forward into our new system at some time.

… Bob Patterson, 28 December, 2008 - 12:56pm

Another of this type

Found in unidentified moths

We really should make a guide page for these.

… Karl Volkman, 16 March, 2009 - 5:41pm

Here are a few more.

… Lynn Bergen, 10 December, 2008 - 5:18pm

Here's my contribution.

… Carmen Champagne, 21 November, 2008 - 8:56pm

a few more

… David J. Ferguson, 15 November, 2008 - 2:12am

Spider Fungus

Found on a cedar tree.

… Jim Kramer, 28 October, 2008 - 2:55pm

My addition...

Here is a rather shriveled caterpillar which I "think" succumbed to a fungal infection.

and

Confirmation this is fungus would be appreciated before I move these to the fungal page or frass.

Thanks!

… Karl Volkman, 26 October, 2008 - 7:16pm

I agree with Mark Fox's reaction...

...of confusion. I also agree that it seems more likely to be a fungus than wasp cocoons, but I've never seen those black structures associated with either. I could imagine a fungus having spore-producing structures like that, but I'm not sure. The distribution of the fluff, particularly towards the bottom of the image, would seem to rule out wasp cocoons.

I'm always in favor of hanging on to things like this--you could always move the images here for the time being.

… Charley Eiseman, 26 October, 2008 - 7:28pm

A web site

I just found this while looking for information on the fungus that gives cellar spiders fuzzy knees:
An Electronic Monograph of Cordyceps and Related Fungi
I don't think all arthropod pathogenic fungi are related to Cordyceps, but many are.

… Charley Eiseman, 15 October, 2008 - 5:08pm

Cordyceps

This fungus is used in Chinese traditional medicine, though it's now mostly cultured on a plant-based medium rather than on bugs

… Chuck Entz, 28 December, 2008 - 3:09pm

Here's mine

… Wisconsin Oecanthinancy, 4 October, 2008 - 6:56pm

A few more

Laboulbeniales on ladybugs. Probably there are more.

Syrphid fly

I like the idea of keeping the victims in their proper pages. So this is a good way to have the fungi together somewhere also.
Maybe we could add a tag, such as a comment: "Fungus ridden" to each image, then they would all show up in a search.

Another one

… Beatriz Moisset, 3 October, 2008 - 10:25pm

Minute Pirate Bug

Attached to plant seed head by fungus. Bug is dead.

… Scott Justis, 12 October, 2008 - 8:04pm

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