Backyard Zoology · 20 April 2018
2018-04-20T18:14:20+10:00
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Well this is a very unexpected edition of 'total bastards' which has somehow become a thing on Backyard Zoology 😂🙌. 

Now first of all, let's get this out of the way: this is a very crappy photo but trust me, it's worth it. I did a bit of a garden wander this afternoon desperate to find something to take a picture of. There were loads of birds but I wasn't feeling particularly 'birdy' today - well, I was, but my basic photography skills were not feeling particularly 'birdy' and everything was very blurry and not particularly interesting. 

And then I saw a little ladybird in the shade. I tried to snap a couple of shots but I was shaking, the leaves were shaking...I even went inside to get the monopod which I almost never use and once I looked at it, and then looked at the bottom of my camera and had a 'well I have no f*cking idea' moment I realised why, and headed back out to try handheld again. I even pulled off the leaf that the ladybird was on to take it into the sun for more light, only for it to fly onto me (it looked AMAZING on my black and white gingham shirt but I figured even if I could work out how to take a photo of myself with said bug you guys might not appreciate a gratuitous boob shot). Anyhow after a minute or two it took to the sky and surprisingly no amount of yelling "are you fricken kidding me?!" would entice it back down.

I continued my wander and found a lovely super tiny spider which I'll post later but as I was going through my photos and deleting all the ladybird ones, something stopped me. This insect had 'fingers' coming out of its exoskeleton! Fungus! Parasitic fungus! And as you know parasitic is code for 'total bastard' on this page. 

I know next to nothing about fungi but from what I can see this is likely Laboulbeniales parasitic fungus and is spread when the bugs are in close proximity to one another - often during mating. What a bitch! As with many parasites it is not in the best interest of the parasite to actually kill the host and from what I have read, aside from sometimes affecting movement and flight, the ladybird often escapes unharmed to live out its natural lifespan just carrying a little extra something! 

Fungus-Eating Ladybird with parasitic fungus
Northern Illawarra

#northernillawarra #coalcoast #totalbastard #parasite #parasiticfungus #ladybird #insects #entomology #backyardzoology