eli5 Why is it only possible for the cordyceps fungus to infect arachnids and insects, but not other animals, like amphibians, microscopic animals, and others?
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Cordyceps’ optimal temperature to grow is 18°C, and are known to be very sensitive to temperature changes, which is why, if it ever infected anything with a temperature higher, lower, or even with too many variations, it wouldn’t survive. And keep note that every cordyceps is only able to control a few animals if not a single species. And they do for one reason, emptying the hosts of their nutrients, and leading them in nice, warm, wet areas where they will spread spores and then fungi. It’s not that it only infects a few animals, but that it only survives inside these. And it’s already quite a lot of work to jump from a species of ant to another (because their fungal cells can only target specific nerve cells found in that specific ant), imagine how cordyceps would need to evolve drastically (and out of nowhere) to be able to infect other animals. And there’s no point in infecting an animal that won’t contribute to your growth anyways, it would seem like an useless ability if they had it.
Cordyceps’ optimal temperature to grow is 18°C, and are known to be very sensitive to temperature changes, which is why, if it ever infected anything with a temperature higher, lower, or even with too many variations, it wouldn’t survive. And keep note that every cordyceps is only able to control a few animals if not a single species. And they do for one reason, emptying the hosts of their nutrients, and leading them in nice, warm, wet areas where they will spread spores and then fungi. It’s not that it only infects a few animals, but that it only survives inside these. And it’s already quite a lot of work to jump from a species of ant to another (because their fungal cells can only target specific nerve cells found in that specific ant), imagine how cordyceps would need to evolve drastically (and out of nowhere) to be able to infect other animals. And there’s no point in infecting an animal that won’t contribute to your growth anyways, it would seem like an useless ability if they had it.
Cordyceps’ optimal temperature to grow is 18°C, and are known to be very sensitive to temperature changes, which is why, if it ever infected anything with a temperature higher, lower, or even with too many variations, it wouldn’t survive. And keep note that every cordyceps is only able to control a few animals if not a single species. And they do for one reason, emptying the hosts of their nutrients, and leading them in nice, warm, wet areas where they will spread spores and then fungi. It’s not that it only infects a few animals, but that it only survives inside these. And it’s already quite a lot of work to jump from a species of ant to another (because their fungal cells can only target specific nerve cells found in that specific ant), imagine how cordyceps would need to evolve drastically (and out of nowhere) to be able to infect other animals. And there’s no point in infecting an animal that won’t contribute to your growth anyways, it would seem like an useless ability if they had it.
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