Parasitic Fungus Sprouting From Hornet's Body

This greater banded hornet (vespa tropica) probably died days ago, and it was still stuck on the leaf waiting for its body decomposed with fungus. The parasitic fungi can be seen sprouting from the hornet's body. Once the fungi has attached itself to an insect, it slowly penetrates its skeleton and brain. The insect effectively becomes a zombie as the infection slowly takes over its body. Since it was not longer moving, I could freely take photos in very close range. this hornet was hard to catch when it was still alive, it is fast flyer and only make a very short stop before taking off to another spot. So here I go, I finally notice one of its kinds died on the leaf which allowed me to witness how the insect died.

---

---

Camera	Smartphone
Category	Macrophotography
Lens	Lensbong Macro/Modified Macro lens