I am not sure what the story is about this dragonfly. Someone brought it into the Oregon State University Arthropod Collection while I was there doing some imaging, so I shot it. Looking closely at the image, you can see that several legs are around the twig, so I assume the dragonfly landed there and then was overcome by the fungi. I seem to remember that some of these fungi modifies the victim's behavior so it dies in a spot where the spores are easily spread. I think the dragonfly is a Sympetrum, but I am unsure which species.
Canon 40D w/canon 100mm macro
1/200sec@f/8.0 ISO 200
Lighting with flash through fiberoptics to a diffuser collection chamber
24 layer stacked image
Fungi Dragonfly
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Fungi Dragonfly
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Steve Valley - Albany, Oregon
Steve Valley - Albany, Oregon
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Search the forum for "Cordyceps" and you'll find quite a few pictures by Ken Ramos showing corpses sprouting fungi.
Wikipedia, of course, knows something about this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordyceps .
I have no idea whether you have Cordyceps, or just something with a superficially similar appearance. And I have yet to notice one of these in my real-life wanderings.
--Rik
Wikipedia, of course, knows something about this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordyceps .
I have no idea whether you have Cordyceps, or just something with a superficially similar appearance. And I have yet to notice one of these in my real-life wanderings.
--Rik