Anyone watching the Planet Earth natural history series on BBC1 will have been stunned by the many natural wonders that are on show. The episode that aired on Sunday 19th of November concerned the tropical rainforests of the world.
The rainforests couldn't exist without the millions of fungi that inhabit them. The series is so good that it can even make the death of a bullet ant unbearably poignant.
A parasitic fungus called cordyceps (sounds like the same type of mushroom that Chinese athletes use to boost performance) infiltrates both the body and the mind of the ant, directing it to travel upwards and grip tightly to the stem of a plant.
Then as the orchestral score swells, the fruiting body of the fungus erupts out of the ant's head and finally leaves it but a dead husk adhering to the stem of the plant. Not unlike a nasty sci-fi scenario.
There are thousands of different cordyceps species that single out different species of insects to host them in this fashion.
This is certainly not a medicinal mushroom for the insects involved!
Planet Earth is a brilliant television series though.
