Global Plant Protection News

From PestNet Community

by Jonathan Amos

9 September 2019

Frenchman Frank’s remarkable photo was taken in the Peruvian amazon, near Iquitos, at the Madre Selva biological station.

“At first, I was wondering what could be this weird thing,” he said. “Then, I got closer and I was really impressed by this sight and the perfect symmetry of the fungus,” he told BBC News.

Frank had seen some other parasitised beetles, but none in quite so photogenic a pose.

Parasitism, where one organism adapts its whole mode of living around the exploitation of another, is one of the great marvels of evolution. And on occasions, it can become wonderfully sophisticated.

In this case, the fungus spreads inside the poor weevil, taking chemical control of the creature and compelling it to climb. When it reaches a suitable height – for the fungus – the insect will lock down on the stem and die. Look and you can see the glaze has gone from its eyes.

Meanwhile, fuelled by the weevil’s insides, the fungus will start to grow those exquisite fruiting bodies. The capsules at the top will eventually burst and release countless tiny spores to infect new prey.

“The perfect symmetry made me think to photograph the beetle from the front to get sharp the whole fungus and the head of the beetle both,” said Frank.

“Furthermore as the beetle was dead and immobile, I tried a long exposure under daylight, avoiding the sun to reduce the contrast of the background.”

Now in its 55th year, WPY has become one of the most prestigious competitions of its kind anywhere in the world. Nearly 50,000 entries were received for this year’s event.

Frank Deschandol’s picture was Highly Commended in the Plants and Fungi category. A number of other Highly Commended images are shown below.