[Pollinator] Fwd: Caterpillar medicine

[Subodh Adhikari]

I guess there is much more about this magic thing:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3121254/

http://www.cordycepssinensis.org/

http://www.npr.org/2011/10/09/141164173/caterpillar-fungus-the-viagra-of-the-himalayas


On Sun, Jul 5, 2015 at 12:00 AM, Peter Bernhardt <bernhap2 at slu.edu> wrote:

>
>
> This  photo must stand alone.  We flew from Li-Jiang back to Kunming
> yesterday afternoon.  While Dr Ren picked up his luggage I saw this long,
> illuminated poster outside the exit.  This shows how traditional remedies
> have been modernized here in China.
>
> Do you see what's supposed to be the "active ingredient" in these "very
> gras" tablets (no, I don't know what very gras means)?  Many of you know
> about the famous vegetable caterpillars.  A big, fat larva, usually of a
> saw fly (a primitive wasp-like insect), Drs Fortier and Camilo may want to
> comment here becomes infected with fungus, dies and is sort of mummified.
> Eventually, the fungus "fruits." It develops a stalk (that black horn
> emerged from the larva's head) and the corpse is pushed up out of the
> thatch or moss to stand upright or lie upon the ground.   It's quite a
>  lucrative industry through much of rural, montane Asia.   The final
> product is marketed, in particular, to older people and is supposed to
> increase the strength of the body's immune system.
>
> You see all sorts of these remedies advertised on Chinese television.  In
> particular, the Chinese seem to have perfected the "infomercial."  Some old
> man, wearing a mandarin jacket, sits in front of the camera, talking to a
> well-dressed younger woman, about how his treatments work better than
> others.   Meanwhile, the camera cuts to "before and after" footage.  I note
> that the patients in these videos all seem to belong to the over 50 crowd.
> Maybe I could use some very gras?
>
> Peter
>
>
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-- 
...........................
Subodh Adhikari
PhD Candidate
Land Resources and Environmental Sciences
Montana State University
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