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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. (In the Amazon, there are treehoppers in the genus Bocydium that appear to mimic these fungi. Some examples are shown here.) 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
Most, if not all, of these spiders are afflicted with species of Gibellula (a.k.a. Torrubiella). Kathie Hodge's article here shows examples of Gibellula pulchra and Nomuraea atypicola.

Cellar spiders with Engyodontium aranearum (previously identified as Torrubiella pulvinata; see discussion here)


Harvestmen
Pandora phalangicida is a harvestman-specific fungus. Also see Kathie Hodge's photo here.


Grasshoppers and Crickets
Some information about Entomophaga grylli here


Earwigs


Cockroaches


True Bugs


Leafhoppers, Planthoppers and Cicadas


Aphids


Barklice


Lacewings


Beetles


Goldenrod Soldier Beetles infected with Eryniopsis lampyridarum


Ladybugs with Laboulbeniales fungi (see more here)


Ants and Wasps


Caddisflies infected with Erynia rhizospora

This one apparently has some other kind of fungus:


Moths

Also see the bottom of this page.
Cordyceps militaris on moth pupa:

Caterpillars -- some of these may be killed by a virus or bacterium rather than a fungus:


Flies
See Tom Volk's Fungus of the Month page for Entomophthora muscae.

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

Snipe flies with Furia ithacensis:

Cordyceps variabilis on Xylophagidae larva:

Some infected fly larvae found in leaf litter:


Millipedes
These millipedes are victims of Arthrophaga myriapodina, described in this paper.


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

 
It does sound like a good match...
and apparently that's still the valid name for the species, which is pretty amazing. According to Wikipedia, Isaria is in the same family as Gibellula, Jay's suggested ID for the fungus. ZipCodeZoo's Gibellula page is dead, which may mean it's no longer a valid name (in the eyes of whoever maintains that site, which I found to be in agreement with mycologists I corresponded with when researching entomopathogenic fungi).

I have some newly posted additions


I have many more that I've collected but not photographed yet.

Another spider

A most excellent spider addition...

Grasshopper?


I have to agree with John & Jane: this looks like a grasshopper who's had a very bad day.

 
I disagree...
See the comment I just added.

 
Interesting!
I thought--like J&J--that I saw an orthopteran femur in there. But I've got precious little experience (okay, none) with moose/deer fur, so I'll go with your interpretation. :)

Looks like fungus likes flies!
I have some to contribute from the Dolly Sods Wilderness in WV:




Another one??
I'm wondering what Charley and others think of this possibly fungus-attacked fly?


 
Looks like it
I guess I'll add the leafhopper one below to the "maybe, maybe not" category.

 
I think this may qualify…

It doesn't look as though this leafhopper has been added yet...

Another fly

a teneb victim

Another H. axyridis...

Another ant victim -
I guess, here:


Another fly
It is bursting

Another one

Another Harmonia axyridis.

 
And another Harmonia axyridis
I only posted this for the fungus data point - Chesterfield County, VA in early August. It was hot and very humid, and I've been wondering if the fungus is more common in that sort of climate. I haven't seen it in my cooler, drier region of the Northeast.


 
Laboulbeniales in New England
I saw this fungus for the first time within the past few weeks. Can't remember where I was exactly, but it must have been either Massachusetts or Vermont.

Worth mentioning
The fungus Entomophaga grylli attacks grasshoppers and is used as a biocontrol. Cornell University.

What an incredible page of an
What an incredible page of an almost alien invassive organism. I study fungi and molds but rarely ever come across the results among the insect population. What an amazing ensemble.

Gypsy Moth killed by Entomophaga
It's introduced, but it is a fungus. Anyway, a possibility for your consideration.



EDIT: Or not... See Charley's comment under the photo.

Lacewing larva

Fungus-ridden Syrphid

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

Removed
Not the victim of a fungus

other individuals

 
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.

 
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".

One more...
Very similar to Lynn Bergen's here.



.

Another one

Fungus beetle

Check this one

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

 
Looks
to me like nothing more than excrement. These spiders simply tilt their abdomens back and go, and this one seems to have had some problems...

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.


 
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.

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.

 
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:


 
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.

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


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

Fungus?
Was the one at the top attacked by a fungus?

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.


© John Pringle at MPG

 
Another of this type
Found in unidentified moths



We really should make a guide page for these.

Here are a few more.

Here's my contribution.

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