Cordyceps is a wonderful traditional Chinese medicine for nourishing and tonifying the body. Its wonder is not only reflected in its efficacy but also in its production process. The production of Cordyceps is the ultimate fusion of bat moth larvae and Cordyceps fungus. After the Cordyceps fungus invades the body of the bat moth larvae, it uses the nutrients of the insect body to grow and fills the insect body with fungus until summer, when the sporocarp grows out of the ground to spread fungal spores.

Cordyceps

In the cold and steep Yungui Plateau, since ancient times, bat moth insects have been randomly circulating here, like most insects, they sequentially go through the four developmental stages of egg, larva, pupa, and imago, completing the entire life cycle in about 3-5 years, with the longest larval period, about 2-3 years. If the bat moth larvae are invaded by the Cordyceps fungus during their growth in the soil, they will form Cordyceps.

The bat moth is a cold-resistant insect living in highland areas at an altitude of 3500-5000 meters. Its larval stage lasts only 4 to 12 days, but its pupal stage lasts 680 to 900 days. There is also a bacterium called Cordyceps in the same altitude area, and its spores can only survive for about 40 days if they do not find a suitable host. The majority of Cordyceps spores fall to the ground in the wind, naturally ending their lives, while only a very small part are carried by precipitation into the soil to find this bat moth larva, the host of the Cordyceps life.

The infection of bat moth larvae generally occurs at the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, about a month after the bacteria invade the larvae and grow into a nuclear fungus. In addition, the larvae of the bat moth then terminate its life and completely becomes a nutrient provider for the Cordyceps fungus. After the winter solstice, the temperature becomes cold, and the Cordyceps enters a state of hibernation. In the spring of the following year, the Cordyceps absorbs nutrients again, and at this time, its fungus fills the entire body of the insect. By the end of April, the first batch of sporocarps of the Cordyceps may grow from the head of the insect body, but it is from May to July that the Cordyceps grows most vigorously, which is also the best time for harvesting.

It has been past July, and the majority of the winter worm summer grass spores have already fallen, and the sporocarps have also withered away. At this moment, the winter worm summer grass no longer has much efficacy. The fallen spores have begun their next round of life, while the pregnant winter worm summer grass buried in the soil layer is only waiting to be dug up or rot away.

Bat moth

1. Development process of bat moth eggs

The larvae of the bat moth family live underground, preferring extremely low temperatures and feeding on the underground stems of green plants. The larvae spend the winter in the frozen soil layer, and the larvae that have not been infected by bacteria transform into moths from July to September, emerging from the soil. Initially, they are milky white, turning reddish brown after an hour, and then blackish brown. Their bodies are covered with spots, resembling butterfly flowers, fluttering left and right among the flowers, not resting or sleeping, but busy searching for their direct relatives.

The female moths begin to lay eggs a few hours after emerging, and the number of eggs laid is large, with an average of 400 to 500 eggs per female, with the highest reaching 700 eggs. After laying eggs, the female moths die immediately, and the male moths also die quickly. From emerging as moths to death, it usually takes about 3 days, which means they only live for 3 days on the ground in the sunlight, making their lives short.

The natural stage of laying eggs is from the late June to the mid-September, with eggs left on the leaves of green plants. Under suitable temperature and humidity conditions, after about a month, the eggs hatch into tiny white worm-like insects. As soon as they shed their eggshell, they rush into the soil, where the loose and wet soil provides an excellent habitat for them. The underground stems of plants such as Polygonum hydropiper, Polygonum viviparum, Fritillaria thunbergii, Coptis chinensis, and Sorbaria sorbifolia provide them with abundant food sources. They live and grow quietly and freely in the soil.

The bat moth larvae

2. The development process of the bat moth larvae

The larvae build tunnels that intersect around them and move back and forth within the tunnels with the change in temperature. The larvae have strong ability to withstand hunger and cold, even if it is frozen 3 feet deep in winter, they will not die. They are stiff but not dead.

The mature larvae that have overwintered will pupate in tunnels close to the ground. The pupae mimic the appearance of young insects. The young insects have a short lifespan, with their main activities being to find relatives, mate, and lay eggs to reproduce. However, if the bat moth larvae encounter a certain type of bacteria, its life trajectory will change, and this bacteria is the Cordyceps sinensis. The Cordyceps bacteria is a unique type among the Cordyceps genus bacteria, with a strong host specificity.

Cordyceps in the soil

3. The underground habitat of Cordyceps

After the spores of the Cordyceps sinensis fungus jump out, they float and fall to the ground, and under the effect of precipitation, they penetrate into the soil layer. If the spores come into contact with the larvae of the bat moth of the Lasiocampidae family, they will adhere to the body of the larvae. Once suitable conditions are met, the spores will germinate and produce germ tubes, which are pointed and can invade the body of the larvae through all possible channels such as the mouth and respiratory pores. In the larvae’s body, they produce bacteria and fungi. These bacteria and fungi utilize the organic substances of the larvae’s body as nutrients, eventually exhausting the life of the larvae, absorbing the essence of nature, and becoming a shell filled with fungi.

In the spring of the following year, a fungus that resides in the caterpillar of the bat moth larvae appears on the ground, slowly growing into a deep coffee-colored ‘grass’, thus the Cordyceps are produced. The key period of growth and development of Cordyceps is centered in the Yungui Plateau, as well as the cold snowfields of the Qiongzhou Mountains and the surrounding Yushu Mountains, on the dense and humid mountain shrubbery and alpine meadows at an altitude of 3500-5000 meters (concentrated in the vertical width ratio within an altitude of 4100-5000 meters). When the temperature exceeds 25℃, it cannot grow and develop.