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Cordyceps gunnii (Berk.) Berkeley |
 Image © Ian D. Bell Reproduced by permission Common Name: Vegetable Caterpillar |
Derivation: Literally 'Heart shaped head' named after the Tasmanian botanist R.C. Gunn. This is one of the 'vegetable capillars' produced by fungi parasitic on moth larvae, often under Acacia spp. The elongated fruitbody is usually connected to the head section of the larva by a column of fungal tissue which can be up to a metre long. |
The dark olive-green 'head' section is narrowly club-shaped and usually about 50-60 mm long with very shallow grooves running along its length. The surface is finely velvety and may have small black spots due to the presence of spores.
The infected larva is usually 5-8 mm long and is enveloped in white mycelium.
On soil in open woodland or tall closed forest.
Fuhrer, B. Field Companion to Australian Fungi p. 155-156
Description prepared by Bettye Rees
Last modified on 28 May 2001
Maintained by Mike McBain
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