Photo of the Day 430

Fungus on a Fly, Location Unknown, 2000

Photograph by Darlyne A. Murawski

Looking like delicate seeds, the spiky spores of a tiny parasitic fungus produce fruit on the back of a fly. These fungi are found throughout the world but will only live on certain insects.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Fungi," August 2000, National Geographic magazine)