Caterpillar Fungus

lugi_ch has added a photo to the pool:

Caterpillar fungus (Cordyceps sinensis) is a species of parasitic fungus that is found in south-western mountainous China. The fungus invades the body of the Thitarodes caterpillar, filling its entire body cavity with mycelium and eventually killing and mummifying it. A caterpillar killed by a Cordyceps sinensis fungus is also called "vegetable caterpillar" even though no plant matter is involved. In Tibetan it is known as Yartsa Gunbu, and its Chinese name (dong chong xia cao) means "winter worm, summer grass".

The entire fungus-caterpillar combination is hand-collected for medicinal use.

The fungus is highly prized by practitioners of Tibetan and Chinese medicine, where it is used as an aphrodisiac and as a treatment for a variety of ailments from stress, fatigue, anxiety to cancer. It is regarded as having an excellent balance of yin and yang as it is apparently both animal and vegetable (though it is in actuality not vegetable, but fungal). Assays have found that Cordyceps species produce many pharmacologically active substances.

(adapted from Wikipedia - Vegetable Caterpillar)