caterpillar fungus

English

caterpillar fungus, Ophiocordyceps sinensis, growing on two caterpillars

Noun

caterpillar fungus (plural caterpillar fungi or caterpillar funguses)

1. A fungus indigenous to the Tibetan plateau, Ophiocordyceps sinensis, which parasitizes various caterpillars.

   Synonyms: awheto, vegetable caterpillar

2. Any fungus of closely related species in genera Ophiocordyceps and Cordyceps, both in order Hypocreales.
3. The O. sinensis fungus and host caterpillar body used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Translations

Ophiocordyceps sinensis

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 冬蟲夏草／冬虫夏草 (zh) (dōngchóngxiàcǎo)

• Finnish: kiinanloisikka
• Hindi: यार्चा गुम्बा (yārcā gumbā), कीड़ा जड़ी (kīṛā jaṛī)
• Japanese: 冬虫夏草 (tōchūkasō)
• Kazakh: құрт шөп (qūrt şöp)
• Nepali: यार्सागुम्बा (yārsāgumbā), किडाजडी (kiḍājaḍī), जीवनबुटी (jīvanabuṭī)
• Santali: ᱭᱟᱨᱥᱟᱜᱩᱢᱵᱟ (yarsagumba)
• Tibetan: དབྱར་རྩྭ་དགུན་འབུ (dbyar rtswa dgun 'bu)
• Urdu: کیڑا جڑی (kīṛā jaṛī)

any fungus in genera Ophiocordyceps and Cordyceps

• Finnish: loisikka (fi)

in traditional Chinese medicine

References

• “caterpillar fungus”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “caterpillar fungus”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• Ophiocordyceps sinensis on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Hypocreales on Wikispecies.Wikispecies