a fungus growing out of its face.

臉上長出了菌類。

I’m Anna, and this is Gross Science.

我是安娜，這裡是 "噁心的科學"。

On the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas, ghost moth caterpillars live underground,

在青藏高原和喜馬拉雅山，鬼蛾毛蟲生活在地下。

keeping warm and eating plant roots til they turn into adult ghost moths.

保暖和吃植物的根，直到它們變成成蟲鬼蛾。

That is, unless they get infected with the fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis. The fungus

也就是說，除非它們感染了真菌Ophiocordyceps sinensis。這種真菌

enters a caterpillar’s body in summer or autumn, and it starts to grow in threads through

夏天或秋天進入毛毛蟲的身體，它開始通過線狀生長。

the caterpillar’s organs, eating it from the inside out. Brainwashed by the fungus,

毛毛蟲的器官，從裡到外把它吃掉。被真菌洗腦。

the caterpillar crawls upward until it’s just below the surface of the soil, where

毛毛蟲向上爬行，直到它的表面以下的土壤，並在那裡。

it dies.

它死了。

In the spring, a long, brown fungal stalk bursts from the caterpillar’s head. It pops

春天的時候，毛毛蟲的頭頂上會冒出一條長長的褐色菌柄。它爆裂開來

through the soil to send out its spores, which infect other caterpillars—and the circle

通過土壤發出孢子，感染其他毛蟲---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------循環往復

of life and parasitism continue.

的生活和寄生的繼續。

Now, you might think that’s the end of the story, but people scour the meadows where

現在，你可能會認為這是故事的結尾，但人們在草原上搜索，在那裡

the fungus grows, hoping to harvest these infected corpses. Why? Well, a pound of the

真菌的生長，希望能收穫這些被感染的屍體。為什麼這麼說？嗯，一磅的

fungus, called yartsa gunbu, can be worth tens of thousands of dollars. In fact, it’s

菌類，叫yartsa gunbu，可以價值數萬美元。事實上，它的

probably the most valuable fungus in the world. That’s because it’s used in traditional

可能是世界上最有價值的真菌。這是因為它被用於傳統的...

Chinese and Tibetan medicine to slow aging, cure cancer, and treat all kinds of other

中藏藥延緩衰老、治療癌症、治療其他各種。

diseases. It’s even sold as an aphrodisiac.

疾病。它甚至被當做春藥來賣。

The science is still out on whether eating yartsa gunbu actually does anything good for

科學界對吃yartsa gunbu是否真的有什麼好處的問題還沒有答案。

your health. But, harvesting it is definitely bad for the fungus. It’s a huge status symbol

你的健康。但是，收割它對菌類絕對是不利的。它是一種巨大的身份象徵

in China, and people have collected so much Ophiocordyceps sinensis that it’s now endangered

在中國，人們收集了很多麥冬，以至於現在已經瀕臨滅絕了

in some places.

在一些地方，。

And, this isn’t just a problem for the parasite, or for the people who eat it or brew it in

而且，這不僅僅是寄生蟲的問題，也不僅僅是吃寄生蟲的人的問題，也不僅僅是釀造寄生蟲的人的問題。

tea. Yartsa gunbu is a big part of the economy in places where it’s harvested, like Tibet

茶葉。雅爾薩貢布在收穫的地方，如西藏，是經濟的重要組成部分。

and Nepal. So, local communities are trying to figure out ways to sustainably harvest

和尼泊爾。所以，當地社區正在想方設法可持續地收割

the fungus. Because for them, this is one parasite that’s worth protecting.

的真菌。因為對他們來說，這是一種值得保護的寄生蟲。

I still feel kind of bad for the caterpillar though.

不過我還是覺得毛毛蟲挺可憐的。

Ew.

Ew.