Sample of dried caterpillars, used as a tattooing pigment. Three whole caterpillars, plus a broken piece of a body. The caterpillars were infected with an endoparasitoid fungus, probably a species of Cordyceps. One of the caterpillars still has the fungal fruiting body (ascocarp) protruding from its head, and there is also a detached length of ascocarp in the sample.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
14.119
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
smallest caterpillar: 55 mm x 10 mm; medium caterpillar: 62 mm x 12 mm; caterpillar with fungal fruit body: 100 mm x 75 mm x 12 mm; broken piece of caterpillar: 24 mm x 12 mm; ; detached fungal fruit body: 98 mm x 21 mm x 3 mm
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