Does Cordyceps turn back into worms in winter?

Cordyceps sinensis is a peculiar thing that grows together with insects and grass, insects in winter, and grass grows from insects in summer. The worm is the larva of the Cordyceps bat moth, a fungus of Cordyceps. How did it grow?

In summer, the insects lay their eggs on the flowers and leaves of the grass, and the leaves fall to the ground. After about a month of hatching, they become larvae and burrow into moist and soft soil. The soil contains ascospores of a Cordyceps fungus that only attacks the fat, well-developed larvae.

The larvae are attacked by spores and burrow into the shallow layers of the ground, where the spores grow in the larvae's body, and the larvae's internal organs slowly disappear, and the body becomes a shell full of hyphae, which is buried in the soil. After a winter, the hyphae begin to grow in the spring of the following year, and in the summer they grow out of the ground and grow into a small grass, so that the larval shell and the grass together form a complete "Cordyceps".

When the midsummer comes every year, in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Cordyceps sinensis production area above 3000 meters above sea level, there is an insect called Cordyceps bat moth into the oviposition period, the female adult bat moth with a small body flower will lay thousands of insect eggs on the vegetation on the ground, after about a month of hatching, the moth eggs become small insects and then burrow into the moist and loose soil, grow by sucking the nutrients of plant rhizomes, and gradually raise the body to be white and fat.

There is a spherical Cordyceps fungus ascospores in the soil layer, when the Cordyceps bat moth larvae are attacked by spores, the body begins to appear lesions and burrows into the shallow layer of the ground, and the Cordyceps fungus spores continue to grow in the larvae's body, the larvae's internal organs are eroded little by little until they disappear, and finally the head is up and tail down and dies, then the larval body becomes a shell full of hyphae, buried in the soil layer, which is "Cordyce".

After a winter, in the spring and summer of the following year, as the temperature gradually rises, the mycelium in the worm's body begins to grow again, and finally a small purple-red grass grows from the mouth or head of the dead larva and burrows out of the ground, the grass is usually about two to five centimeters long, and there is a pineapple-shaped sac shell at the top, which is the "summer grass". In this way, the shell of the larvae of the Cordyceps bat moth and the grass that grows together form a complete "Cordyceps".

Cultivation conditions:

1. Strains: The cultivation of Cordyceps should first have excellent pure strains, first, it should be early and high-yielding, and the main purpose is to shorten the production cycle and reduce costs; Second, it should be infectious, requiring the bacteria to have strong vitality, with a survival rate of more than 95%, which can quickly infect insects and die as soon as possible; Third, it has a wide range of adaptation, especially to environmental temperature changes and other miscellaneous bacterial infections.

2. Insects: mainly use bat moth larvae as parasitism of Cordyceps, the larvae must be live, the individual is large, the obesity is better, and the number is determined according to their own cultivation. Generally, 1 kg of larvae, one mother species, and 50 kg of fine sand soil are required per square meter.

3. Environment: Cordyceps can be cultivated artificially regardless of altitude, and the key depends on temperature. Cordyceps sinensis is a kind of medium and low temperature fungus, the growth and reproduction temperature of mycelium is 5-32, the most suitable temperature is 12-18, and the formation of sclerotia and daughter base is 10-25.

Whenever in the middle of summer, on the plateau meadow above 3000 meters above sea level, the adult bat moth with a small body flower will lay thousands of eggs on the ground, after about a month of hatching, the moth eggs will become small insects, and then burrow into the loose and moist soil, suck the nutrients of plant rhizomes, and gradually raise the body to be white and fat, and in the soil, there is a spherical Cordyceps fungus ascospores, after the larvae of the Cordyceps bat moth are attacked by this spores, they will drill into the shallow layer of the ground, and the spores will grow in the body of the larvae. Little by little, the larvae's internal organs disappear, and eventually the larvae die with their heads up and tails down.

After a whole winter, in the spring and summer of the following year, the mycelium will begin to grow again, and from the head and mouth of the dead larva will grow a purple-red grass, about 2-5cm high, with a pineapple-shaped sac shell at the top, which is called "summer grass", and the larval shell and the grass will form an intact "Cordyceps sinensis".

How to identify Cordyceps

1. Identification of traits.

1) Cordyceps sinensis insect body resembles silkworm, 3-5cm long, thick, dark yellow to yellow-brown appearance, 20-30 rings, thin rings near the head, reddish-brown head, tail like silkworm tail, brittle, easy to break, slightly flat section, light yellowish white.

2) 8 pairs of feet, 3 pairs near the head, 4 pairs in the middle, 1 pair near the tail, 4 pairs in the middle are distinct, the subbase is dark brown to tan, generally longer than the body of the worm, slender cylindrical, 4-7cm long, about 03cm, the tip has a smooth sterile tip, the surface has fine longitudinal wrinkles, the upper part is slightly expanded, the texture is flexible, the section is white, the gas is slightly fishy, and the taste is slightly bitter.

2. Microscopic identification.

1) Transverse section of the head of the substellation: there are many linear ascospores in the ascomycete shell, and 2-8 linear ascospores in each ascomycete; 1 row of ascomycetes around the sub-base, the ascomycetes are ovate to elliptic, and the lower half is buried in the concave sub-base; sterile apical (ascent of the subtraction without ascomycete shell); The subsid** is full of hyphae with fissures in between.

2) Cross-section of the insect body: surrounded by the shell of the insect body, irregular shape, on which there are short and different sharp hairs and long hairs, some seem to be branched, and there are a large number of hyphae in the shell, and there are cracks in between.

Cordyceps sinensis, a precious medicinal material, is it a plant or an animal, and how is it formed?

Cordyceps sinensis is a bug in winter, and grass grows from the bug in summer, and the worm is the larvae of the Cordyceps bat moth, and grass is a cordyceps fungus.

Cordyceps sinensis is an animal called a bat moth that lays its eggs in the ground, causing it to hatch and grow into larvae like baby silkworms. In addition, there is a kind of spores that will penetrate into the ground through water, specifically looking for the larvae of the bat moth to parasitize, and absorb the nutrients of the larvae, and reproduce rapidly, called Cordyceps fungus.

As the hyphae grow, the larvae grow out of the ground. Until the hyphae multiply to fill the worm body, the larvae die, which happens to be winter, which is called winter worms. When the temperature rises, the mycelium will slowly germinate from the head of the winter insect and grow a grass-like fungus called summer grass.

In the head of the fungus subconstellation contains ascosiums, which harbor spores. When the ascomycetes mature, the spores are released and again look for the larvae of the bat moth as a host, which is the Cordyceps cycle.

<> Cordyceps sinensis is generally in the state of insects in winter. Cordyceps sinensis fungus enters the body of the larvae to absorb its nutrients in winter or before winter, and after summer, the nutrients in the larvae are absorbed, and due to the more suitable climate at this time, the cordyceps fungus will break out and eventually form Cordyceps.