By Susan Milius
In a novel case of egg mimicry, a fungus is taking advantage of hard-working termite nursemaids, a researcher says.
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A fungus in the genus Fibularhizoctonia forms compact balls of tissue that, under the right conditions, can start a new colony of the fungus, explains Kenji Matsuura of Okayama University in Japan. Termites in both Japanese and American species pick up these balls and tuck them into a nest’s egg piles.