Allocordyceps | |
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An image of a carpenter ant species, the type of species that Allocordyceps parasitize. | |
Scientific classification | |
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Class: | Sordariomyces
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Genus: | Allocordyceps Poinar
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Type species | |
Allocordyceps baltica |
Allocordyceps is a genus of parasitic fungus in the order Hypocreales that parasitizes carpenter ants.[1][2] The fossil of Allocordyceps represents the oldest known fossil of an ant-parasitizing fungus before Ophiocordyceps. The only species within this genus is Allocordyceps baltica.[3][4]
Allocordyceps is characterized by its ascoma being an orange color, stalked and cusp shaped. It also has a pair of partially immersed perithecia that emerges from its rectum. When parasitized by Allocordyceps, separate stromata with separate mycelium emerge from a carpenter ant's neck and abdomen.[4]