HIGHLY COMMENDED CATEGORY PLANTS AND FUNGI
Ripan Biswas | Zombified

Name: Ripan Biswas
Picture title: Zombified
Category: Plants and fungi
Nationality: India
Occupation: I am a school teacher by profession. Photography is my passion.

Technical information
Camera: Nikon D500
Lens: Tamron SP/AF 90mm f2.8 Di macro lens
EXIF: F18, 1/200 sec, Iso- 800
Accessories: Laowa kx800 flash used. A torch light is used for creating back-light.

Ripan Biswas says:

Cordyceps are a genus of fungi that is known as parasitoid. That means they live as parasites in the body of their host. Insects and other arthropods are their main host. They reproduce through spores. Normally spores float in the air and when they get inside of their living host, they start to eat up their host from inside of the body. This time, the host becomes a zombie. It does not have any control over its body. The fungus now controls the host. One day the host dies and stands still. The fruiting body of the fungus comes out of the body of the host. Fruiting body is the last stage of the fungus. In this stage, the fungus spreads millions of spores in the air and dies.

In the evening of the monsoon, I found this fruiting body of a Cordyceps fungus covering the body of a dead daddy with long legs. One or more spores of this fungus had entered the body of this poor insect and ate it from within. This is the final stage of the life of that fungus. White, fur-like fruiting body of the fungus has covered up the whole body of the daddy’s long legs. After inspection, I thought a strong back-light would highlight the white fruiting body of the fungus. So I placed a strong torch light behind the insect to highlight the fruiting body and used a low beam flash to get some details of the body of the poor insect. I took this photograph in a garden nearby my house in Coochbehar (West Bengal in India).