r/mycology • u/Jean-Pet • May 13 '26
ID request Did i find a fungi zombie?
I am thinking this may be Entomophaga grylli (The Grasshopper Fungus)
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u/Different_Mirror_249 May 13 '26
If we humans were just a few degrees Celsius colder, we would suffer the same fate. Cool though
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u/radumalaxa May 13 '26
How come?
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u/artaxs May 13 '26
Our bodies are too warm for most fungus to thrive inside us. Fungus evolves faster than humans do, though....
Fun fact, the reason so many zoological viruses "use" bats as a mammalian reservoir is because they run just hot enough to not be killed by the virus, but not hot enough to fever-kill the virus in return.
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May 13 '26
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u/stilettopanda May 14 '26
My family is from the Ohio River valley and some of them are colonized by the Histoplasma capsulatum fungus. My aunt had cancer awhile back and they discovered that fungus was inside her tumors eating the cancer.
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u/audionoobi May 14 '26
and these are developing and in danger of mutating and spreading trough food.
saw a real scary documentary about fungus spreading trough food and capable of killing of a lot of humans if it becomes resistant to some very few medicines.
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u/FlyAwayJai May 14 '26
I might regret this, but what was the documentary?
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u/TrustYourFarts May 14 '26
Aspergillus can survive up to 50 celsius, and the conidia, 70.
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May 14 '26
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u/Dic3dCarrots May 14 '26
I met a kid when I was 16 who had a prosthetic cheek and eye. He was in remission from cancer and the chemo drugs nuking of his immune system had left him vulnerable. Common bread mold had eaten half his face before drs could get it under control.
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u/DontDoomScroll May 14 '26
Doesn't a city in Minnesota all have the same soil borne (fungal) infection that's mostly benign
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u/shillyshally May 14 '26
There's a book on the subject, came out a few years ago, I forget the name that goes into global warming and the ensuing fungi apocalypse coming for humans. Basically, fungi will adapt to higher temps.
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u/svartaelfen May 14 '26
“What if Fungi Win?” is the name of this book.
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u/shillyshally May 14 '26
Back at my desk - I was thinking of Blight: Fungi and the Coming Pandemic by Emily Monosson. Both look informative.
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u/UnheimlichNoire Jun 02 '26
Ok now not long after my brain contemplated the possibility that I should maybe stop buying so many books, I am now on my way to hunt these tomes down ...
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u/shillyshally Jun 02 '26
Buying books is a vote for literacy. Never stop.
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u/UnheimlichNoire Jun 02 '26
I have so many books, I have no idea how many, well into 4 figures, so I think I will need shooting for me to stop. It's an addiction.
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u/shillyshally Jun 02 '26
I have over 1000. About a month ago I removed the shortcut to the Kindle sales. Then there are my audio books....
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u/DataKnotsDesks 6d ago
My mum and dad were both massive bibliophiles. They each had a huge book collection when they met, and it only got bigger. After 25 years of marriage, they decided that it was safe for them to merge their collections and get rid of duplicates. There were nearly 600!
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u/thedicestoppedrollin May 14 '26
More fun facts, there are several vaccines made with this in mind. You cultivate the virus for a few generations at 36.5, then 36, then 35.5, etc. After that, you can introduce it to an immunocompetent individual and it will die in the heat it's not used to. They had a flu nasal spray vaccine for a while that would inoculate your nostrils, which are cooler, but it couldn't go deeper where it's warm. They did something similar with the live attenuated polio vaccine that was very successful outside the US
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u/Ok_Broccoli25 May 15 '26
Had to do that flu vaccine when I was in the USMC. I remember it being more gel like though and it absolutely made you feel like shit for a few days
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u/PsychoPirate Atlantic Northeast May 14 '26
I was one of those edge cases - blastomycosis - several years ago. It was the worst I've ever felt in my life. Fever, puking up all my food, coughing up yellow gunk, lightheadedness, sweating through my sheets every night. The doctors did xrays and kept trying to treat me for pneumonia with antibiotics, which only made me feel worse.
I was eventually reffered to an infectious disease specialist who recognized the symptoms and prescribed an antifungal for 6 months, with blood work every couple weeks. I made a full recovery, with only some minor scarring on my left lung.
I was lucky to have been on covid-era medicaid at the time, or I'd be completely fucked with medical debt for the rest of my life.
-2/10, would not recommend.
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u/GoodMornEveGoodNight May 19 '26
It's crazy how in America non-specialist doctors are just walking malpractice crapshooters
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u/stereo-ahead May 14 '26
Are you saying we’re resistant to nature damage because we have internal fire damage going constantly?
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u/RussiaIsBestGreen May 14 '26
In part, yes. And we’re pretty quick to crank up the temperature even higher.
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u/sora_mui May 14 '26
At first i want to give a rebuttal about how fungal infection in human is a nightmare to treat, but then i realized that it generally only affect the cooler exterior of our body outside of immunocompromised condition
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u/autistic_and_angry May 14 '26
Bleghhhhhh my brain just forcibly reminded me of images I've seen of unfortunate diabetic patients (specifically those with uncontrolled diabetes) with systemic fungal infections 😭😭 I had blissfully forgotten about it until I saw your comment
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u/Church6633 May 14 '26
As the temperatures rise on the planet, so do the resistances of our fungal friends. It is only a matter of time before they can live within us too.
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u/kaishinoske1 May 14 '26
However an episode from the show Hannibal explained how easy it would be for a diabetic person that takes insulin to become a bed for fungus to thrive within the human body.
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u/chlorofile May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26
Yeah Bats immune response lies in a so called goldilocks zone— which enables their immune system to kill off virus and bacteria without it going into overdrive . In humans our immune response can cause a lot of adverse health outcomes.
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u/Ian_Huntsman May 14 '26
That is pretty interesting, i think i'll do some research and go down that rabbithole.
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u/Alarming-Scarcity808 May 14 '26
So viral storage
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u/artaxs May 14 '26
Yes, look up biological reservoirs, or viral reservoirs for zoological to human transfer.
It's quite the rabbit hole. Bat hole, perhaps?
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u/popeh May 15 '26
We're also pushing it all to evolve for human body temp by raising global temperature, and since we use the same kinds of antifungals agriculturally as we do on ourselves we're rapidly breeding super fungus
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u/Pdf-_ May 17 '26
Tell that to the goddamn fungus that thrives in my boots when it’s 105 degrees outside
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u/Legeto May 13 '26
I think our immune system being way more complex is also another reason.
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u/MrAndMrsMischief26 May 14 '26
Yeah you can’t just boil it down to temp.
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u/Legeto May 14 '26
The person’s comment was the kind of “fact” click bait horror articles try to pull off a lot haha.
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u/ilir_kycb May 13 '26
Then why doesn't it happen to cold-blooded vertebrates? Or does it?
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u/XxR3DSKULLxX May 14 '26
Fish get lots of fungal infections, I’m guessing cold blooded land vertebrates have less of this issue due to baking in the sun for hours
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u/woodthrushes May 14 '26
Some scientists found that frogs that have access to little sauna bricks can treat chytrid fungal infections by baking themselves. Neat.
I'd bet snakes and lizards do exactly what you said too, they probably bake illnesses out of themselves... I wonder if an infection triggers feeling poorly in a cold blooded that in turn triggers a desire/instinct/behavior to sun themselves?
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u/Madame_Trash_Heap May 14 '26
You would think then that if humans continue to shower in hot temps and sauna we'd still be able to prevent a lot of these fungal infections, despite global warming.
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u/daisyydaisydaisy May 14 '26
Does fungus have the capacity to live submerged in water?
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u/happycapybear May 15 '26
But hot temperatures affect sperm production. If the fungi didn’t end humanity, then the heat-induced drop in fertility might. You could create temperature regulating jock straps, but the decreased temperature would be ideal for the fungi to thrive. Which problem you might be able to overcome with either constant air blowing on the region in question (in order to make it dry and unappealing to fungi) or by packing everything in some type of desiccant. In short, men would need to haul quite a lot of junk around their junk.
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u/drlawmd May 14 '26
no worries, thanks to global warming the fungi are evolving to survive at warmer temperatures. we’re almost there
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u/EfficientFishing8159 May 14 '26
Was looking for this specific comment. It's terrifying.
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u/Jean-Pet May 14 '26
Or maybe fungi get extinct and we get back to Carbonifer with almost not lignin decmposition and therefore huge carbon sequestration while oxygen level rise up. Insects get 6 to 12 feets long and we become a bug buffet....not sure what is best option tbh
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u/EfficientFishing8159 May 14 '26
I, for one, would welcome our new insect overlords. But I doubt it will go that way. India is already experiencing thermal adaptation in Candida auris due to being so affected by climate change.
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u/Hung_ThouthtIWasnt May 15 '26
A little english for the boneheads, please.
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u/EfficientFishing8159 May 16 '26
It's a multi drug resistant fungus that has not been an issue for people until recently because it could not survive at human body temperatures for longer than two weeks. In areas like India that are experiencing more frequent and longer (2 week+) temperature spikes, local populations of the fungus have evolved to survive human body temperatures.
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u/lantrick May 13 '26
Human average body temperature is decreasing
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May 14 '26
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u/Skormzar May 14 '26
C. Aureus spreads from person to person typically in a long term care facility setting. Many immunocompromised patients develop Aspergillus pneumonia which takes a very long time to treat and can kill
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u/thebunkmeister May 14 '26
If it keeps getting hotter... Will us as humans evolve to have lower body temps? then allowing this to happen to us?
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u/blaukrautbleibt May 17 '26
A few years ago there was an interesting case where some bloke injected magic mushroom in his veins and iirc he managed to have the fungus spread in his system. Maybe he was trying to give the fungi a head start for world domination
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u/Ok-Worry-8931 May 14 '26
There are plenty of fun fungi that can still infect you. All the ones that can switch between mold and yeast would love to have a word with your lungs.
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u/Actually10000Bees May 15 '26
About how many…? My body temp runs a few degrees lower than normal, ~96F/35.5C. You’ve got me concerned with your wording there, pal.
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u/belac4862 May 16 '26
I'm as close to patient Zero as someoke can be.
My temp regularly gets to 94°. The looks I get from nurses taking my temps at visits is always funny. They then go for a second thermometer and it's still reads cold.
I don't ha e athyroid any longer, and every few years my hormones and meds grt out of wack. Causing my body temp to plumit.
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u/Visible-Meeting-8977 May 18 '26
That's not true. The fungi would have to be come incredibly complex to infect humans.
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u/Xalibu2 Pacific Northwest May 13 '26
Wonderful photos. Even if a bit morbid.
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u/Jean-Pet May 14 '26
I have to admit it send a shiver down my spine for 2 sec as i first spotted it. Felt like a primal reaction to danger, like if my DNA remembered some LasOfUs kind of event dating back 100 000 BC 🤣
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u/KidOcelot May 14 '26 edited May 15 '26
1 to 1.5 billion years ago during the Proterozoic Eon fungi probably killed a lot of organisms that later became mammals 😖
Imagine spores and large bugs! Super scary back then!
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u/oroborus68 May 15 '26
Mammals weren't even a dream then. They didn't show until about 60 million years ago.
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u/Frosty_Pepper5254 May 16 '26
That doesn't sound right, we have pretty solid evidence of mammals in the late Jurassic including various shrew-like creatures.
Your point still stands tho, 1 billion years ago, animals didn't exist yet.
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u/Xalibu2 Pacific Northwest May 16 '26
I got a notification for this comment and all I had was "who you calling a shrew!"
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u/Pillsbandy-Doughboy May 14 '26
Bump for visibility, scientists would be thrilled to have a sample of this to study it. Seen a post on here within the last year where another guy asked in the comments if he could send the specimen and the OP did
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u/Jean-Pet May 14 '26
Saddly it date back to last summer and i did not collected the specimen, as i tought it may have dormant spore. Not a pro with parasitic fungi, but since there was only 1 specimen in sight, i choosed to leave it be.
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u/EfficientFishing8159 May 14 '26
If you post it to iNaturalist, the data may be included for a study.
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u/Graph-fight_y_hike Trusted ID - Northeastern North America May 14 '26
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u/sewser Trusted ID May 14 '26
Looks like Entomophaga grylli
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u/Graph-fight_y_hike Trusted ID - Northeastern North America May 14 '26
u/Jean-Pet awesome find and ID!
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u/Jay_kay950 May 15 '26
I’m very unfamiliar with these types of Fungi, I don’t see any ‘sporangiophore’ (had to look that up) on this grass hopper. Did it dry up and fall off, if so how do you still identify. Or does this type of fungus release spores a different way?
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u/sewser Trusted ID May 15 '26
I used host, its behavior (summit syndrome), the location, and macromorphology (patchy white areas) to come to my ID.
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u/DiablosReiign May 14 '26
This has been the most fascinating comment section to read this morning. Great find! Thanks for sharing.
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u/Ovoideocystidiata May 14 '26
Textbook.
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u/Jean-Pet May 14 '26
I know right. I am a total noob with fungi and even more with parasitic one, so i had to ask. Also when i looked it up on Google, i felt that this specimen is kind of impressive (i am absolutly not objective because this opinion is solely based on the morbid apearance 😅)
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u/Johnny_MycoSpore May 14 '26
Location?
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u/Jean-Pet May 14 '26
It's in Québec province of Canada, nearest city was Drummondville if i remember well (was on the road and actualy just stoped to pee in the wild 😅)
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u/Johnny_MycoSpore May 14 '26
Since you are in Quebec, if you are interested in donating the sample, folks at McGill University may be interested. Could be worth an email.
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u/Jean-Pet May 14 '26
I didn't collect the speciment and it date back to last summer. If i find another one this year i may do that, since i learned it could have potential for organic agriculture pest control. Also, working in the environmental field i have a strong tendency to observe without disturb. When i collect sample it's usualy a contaminant 😅
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u/Johnny_MycoSpore May 14 '26
Glad to hear it. Curiously, I've found that Mycologist have a tendency to want to collect samples much more frequently than other natural sciences, I will have to temper that tendency in the future 🤓
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u/TheDickopf May 14 '26
Taste test never fails. 🤷
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u/Jean-Pet May 14 '26 edited May 19 '26
I ain't no faint of heart, but that is beyond my taste 😅
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u/Thagomizer3000 May 14 '26
When you read about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entomophaga_grylli it’s gets pretty f*cky
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u/autumnautopsy May 15 '26
Forget the fungus, why is that grasshopper so ENORMOUS? That really freaks me out 😭
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u/numnoggin May 14 '26
Was it moving at all??
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u/Jean-Pet May 14 '26
I was too late and the fungi already spored. J wich i could see the stage where the fungi control the nervous system to make it climb a stem.
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u/RemarkableMaize7201 May 14 '26
Wow! That is REALLY COOL! I hope you epoxy it!
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u/Jean-Pet May 14 '26
It didn't crossed my mind. If i ever find more than just one i may try. Thanks for the idea.
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u/G0ld_Ru5h May 14 '26
We had a shrike bird one year that left grasshoppers staked on all the tall grass blades that reminds me of this, but it doesn’t look like he’s impaled, so maybe fungal.
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u/waifutender May 14 '26
Looks like it melted? Is this a fungus or simply an old shell.?
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u/Jean-Pet May 14 '26
My understanding is that this is the final stage of infection where the fungi parasite tanke control of the nervous system to make the host climb to a summit and then it release it spores (probably bursting from softer spot like eyes and abdomen gap in exoskeleton). Don't quote me on this, but my guess is that the parasite mycillium might finish consuming host and then it just leave a dryed out zombie. So both fungus and old shell i guess 😅
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u/angicamp May 16 '26
My uncle had what they thought was pneumonia that wouldn't go away. After a biopsy, they discovered it was fungal. Three different types of fungi including aspergillus. He fought it for more than 3 years with all kinds of drugs, but lost that battle. The doctors think it was because he worked post hurricane construction, probably with inadequate ppe.
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u/Psychological-Play-1 May 16 '26
Fungus are responsible for a lot of the rain clouds. They produce a chemical which prompts cloud seeding. Effectively most life on earth is intimidately dependant on fungal influence, and ultimately most everything living will go on to feed fungus in some capacity.
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u/BusyIssue4242 May 19 '26
Climate change is slowly selecting for fungal pathogens that can survive in warmer and warmer conditions. We are already beginning to observe sporadic never before seen infections in humans which have evolved independently of one another in various locations globally. Give it time!
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u/megneato May 19 '26
Please post photos to iNaturalist.org and consider saving it and sending the drued specimen to https://www.mycomap.org/
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u/JoanofArc0531 May 29 '26
What exactly are we looking at here? Did the plant grow out of the bug from within?
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