One of the best ways that scientists can find insects and small plants wrapped in Amber. Amber can save the same specimen as that day stepped into sticky media. A new research study has been published focused on interesting discoveries of fossil ants with new genuses and fungal parasitic species that grow from it.
Amber pieces have ants inside which have mushrooms that grow from their bodies. This discovery has been named Baltica Alocordyceps by the team that found it. This is a new type of mushroom ascomycota attached to ants, both of which are preserved at Amber 50 million years ago. Insects and parasites are found in the European Baltic region.
Ants are known to suffer from several strange parasites, some of which can change insect behavior to benefit the development and dispersion of parasites. Carpenter’s ants are very susceptible to mushroom pathogens from the genus OphioCordyceps. The new mushroom genus and species share several features with OphioCordyceps but also show the prior development stage unknown.
Researchers can see large ascoma, orange, cup shaped by developing a pumpkin-shaped structure that releases spores known as Perithecia. Fungus’ Perithecia stands out from anal ants while the vegetative part of the fungus comes out of the stomach and the base of the neck.
The researchers also saw what appeared as a bag where spores for mushrooms would develop. There are also some free standing mushroom bodies that display what Perithecia looks. All stages, including free standing and attached to ants, are the same species. One of the interesting discoveries about this special fossil is that the first fossil record shows members of the hypocritical order that emerged from the ant body.