Jumping Spider (Salticidae) cocooned in fungi

Did you see this similar spotting Christiane? http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/7104616

I was working in diagnostic labs most of the time but I bought back about 300 exotic specimens for image capture. I will send links as they come online. I have a weevil from Chile that has eyes that look like the Spider Man character mask. I have never seen anything like it before. I'll show you soon. sy

Hi Christiane - Fantastic except I got stuck in Chile due to the Chilean volcanic ash cloud. Finally had to fly home through Los Angelese. I saw some amazing insects while I was there but the thing I will never forget was the chaotic taxi rides I had in Lima, Peru - more fun than you can imagine! Think of what the traffic is like with a population of about 10 million. Road rules - none; Most used part of the car - the horn! I met so many wonderful people. I felt embarrassed that I could only speak English when most people there are bilingual if not multilingual. `But my lack of Spanish was tolerated with lots of smiles and confusion but always taken in good humour. Good to be back.

Indeed, it could be a Cordyceps fungi. This fungus is more usually associated with insect larvae living in the soil. Cordyceps characteristically develops elongate, fruiting bodies that are spectacular. Here is a link to an image: http://www.itsnature.org/plant_life/vegetation-plants/cordyceps/ However, Cordyceps can certain mummify above ground invertebrates as well. Again, here are some links: Here are some URLs that show these growths: http://www.utexas.edu/courses/zoo384l/sirena/species/fungi/ http://www.forensicgenealogy.info/images/ant_fungus_campanotus.jpg

that´s cool christiane! I heard of a fungus called cordiceps, that infect insect, forcing them to commit suicide, after infecting others. This particular fungus infected ants and wasps, even moths... it would be likely that there is a cordiceps sp. for spiders...

Good rule.

yes - it's a jumping spider (Salticidae) cocooned in fungi.

Looks like an arachnid in the second photo

Is that some sort of fungus on it?