Martyn recently posted several shots of two ladybird beetles, one of
which "appears to be covered in fungus," and he asked if there were "any
entomologists among us who can provide a diagnosis?" I guess I'm the OM
List's resident entomologist, so I'll try to add a bit.
I've seen numerous examples of insects killed by fungus infections;
unfortunately, I've never tried photographing one. Sometimes they will
look similar to the ladybird beetle in the last of Martyn's shots, that
is, covered with fibers or strands. Or they may simply be dead, with no
external evidence of fungi. I remember one dead grasshopper perched on
a grass stem--it had a single long, curved fungal fruiting body emerging
from its head which looked much like the flexible ray gun that emerged
from the aliens' space ship in the '50s movie War of the Worlds.
I tried Google Images with "fungal diseases of insects" and came up
with: http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/articles/archive/charnleylecture.html
The ladybird beetle in Martyn's last shot is a little tough to
call--it almost looks like it walked through fine dust. It's either
covered with dust or succumbed to a fungal disease.
Dean
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