Morphology
The species can be identified at the end of its lifecycle by its reproductive structure, consisting of a wiry yet pliant darkly pigmented stroma stalk extending from the back of the deceased ant's head. The stalk has perithecia just below its tip. The fungus infects ants, most known as the carpenter ants, in which the fungus creates a single stalk arising form the dorsal neck region on which the sexual structures are borne horizontally, which creates the spores. Once infected with the fungus the ant will climb down from its normal habitat and bite down on the underside of a leaf. This is known as "the death grip" occurring in very precise locations.
Read more about this topic: Ophiocordyceps Unilateralis
Famous quotes containing the word morphology:
“I ascribe a basic importance to the phenomenon of language.... To speak means to be in a position to use a certain syntax, to grasp the morphology of this or that language, but it means above all to assume a culture, to support the weight of a civilization.”
—Frantz Fanon (1925–1961)