Parasitic fungus on a cricket. Fruiting bodies (white spikes) of a Cordyceps sp. fungus growing out of the body of a cricket (order Orthoptera) clinging to a leaf. Cordyceps is an example of a parasitic fungus that releases airborne spores which infect and slowly destroy the bodies of insects. The fungus can sometimes alter the behaviour of its host before killing it, ensuring the insect will die in a high place, enabling the spores of the fungus to be spread easily. Photographed in Yasuni National Park, Amazon rainforest, Ecuador.