Life Cycle of Cordyceps

Species of Cordyceps – like many ascomycetes – exhibit pleomorphic life cycles that are defined by more than one free-living, spore-producing state. A species of Cordyceps may possess one meiotic state (teleomorph) and from zero to many mitotic states (anamorphs). For most species of Cordyceps, however, the complete life cycle has not been definitively observed. The figure below is a schematic of our current understanding of the type of the genus C. militaris. Its telemorph is observed in nature on larvae and pupae of Lepidoptera. Its anamorph is a Verticillium-state that is observed in culture.