“There are over 680 documented species of the sac fungus genus Ophiocordyceps, and one of the best known of these is Ophiocordyceps sinensis, colloquially known as caterpillar fungus. The fungus is known in Tibetan as yartsa gunbu or yatsa gunbu. O. sinensis is known in the West as a medicinal mushroom and its use has a long history in Traditional Chinese medicine as well as Traditional Tibetan medicine. The highly valuable fungus-caterpillar combination is hand-collected and is used as an aphrodisiac and as a treatment for a variety of ailments from fatigue to cancer”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Nomads dig for Chinese caterpillar fungus from a mountain May 25, 2007 in Guide County, Hainan Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China. Nomads can earn about 2,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan (about U.S. $260 to $653 ) through their work during the fifty-day Chinese caterpillar fungus gathering season. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

A statue of The Earl of Beaconsfield looks on as a giant mechanical spider sits on the side of the derelict Concourse tower in Liverpool city centre on September 3, 2008 in Liverpool, England. The 50ft tall spider was commissioned for the city's European Capital of Culture year and will begin moving to explore the city operated by artists from French theatre company La Machine. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Artist Elizabeth Thompson poses next to her Blu-tack Spider sculpture at London Zoo on October 25, 2007 in London, England. The sculpture, known as “Blu-ey”, is a model of a common house spider and is completely made out of blu-tack. It is on show at BUGS! at ZSL London Zoo. The sculpture is made from around four thousand packets of Blu-tack and weighs over 200kg. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

A Funnel Web spider is pictured at the Australian Reptile Park January 23, 2006 in Sydney, Australia. The Funnel Web is one of Australia's deadliest animals, with a venom that is packed with at least 40 different toxic proteins. A bite from a Funnel Web causes massive electrical over-load in the body's nervous system. Finally, fatalities occur from either heart attack or a pulmonary oedema, where the capillaries around the lungs begin to leak fluid and the patient effectively drowns. Death can come as quickly as two hours after a bite if no medical treatment is sought. Due to advances in anti-venom, there has been no death from a Funnel Web bite in Australia since 1980. Australia is home to some of the most deadly and poisonous animals on earth. (Photo by Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

An oversized, prehistoric praying mantis wreaks havoc in a freeway underpass as it overturns cars and trucks, in a film still from “The Deadly Mantis”, directed by Nathan Juran, 1957. (Photo by Universal Pictures/Courtesy of Getty Images)

A girl allows a butterfly to be placed on her nose at the Sensational Butterflies exhibition at the Natural History Museum on April 6, 2011 in London, England. The exhibition is divided up into five sensory zones exploring how butterflies see, hear, taste, smell and touch. The display containing hundreds of butterflies runs from April 12 to September 11, 2011. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

People enjoy the fine weather on the coast at Wembury during the first ever nationwide survey to map the location of the threatened and creatures on March 24, 2011 in near Plymouth, England. Often found on the coast, and particularly in the south west of England, the number of oil beetle species found in the UK has halved in the last 100 years and the survey will help establish the whereabouts of the remaining four species and boost efforts to secure their future. The survey is being launched today by Buglife: The Invertebrate Trust and the National Trust in partnership with Natural England and Oxford University Museum of Natural History. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)