Fungi devour flies from the inside, carving holes in their still-living victim's abdomen

Scientists in Denmark have uncovered two new species of deadly fungi that devour from the inside, bursting from the abdomen of their still-living prey. The parasites--Strongwellsea acerosa and Strongwellsea tigrinae--infect adult flies, which continue to buzz around for days with massive holes in their bodies. As they do, the fungi rain spores from these holes down onto other unsuspecting flies. Thousands of torpedo-shaped spores can shoot out like a rocket from a single fly. The corpse of a fly with two large holes in its abdomen, caused by the fungus Strongwellsea tigrinae. Researchers from the Natural History Museum of Denmark and the University of Copenhagen's Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences have reported on the two new fungi.