4.3. Sordariomycetes hyperparasites of zombie-ant fungi

The genus Ophiocordyceps contains species of insect pathogens and mycoparasites (Fig. 8), a few of which are famous because of their ability to manipulate the behavior of their insect hosts (Eberhard et al., 2014; Roy et al., 2006). Species of the Ophiocordyceps unilateralis clade induce climbing and biting behaviors in ant hosts of the tribe Camponotini (Evans et al., 2011). This is known as “summit disease”, which is common to many arthropod parasites across multiple lineages of the fungal kingdom (Evans, 1989; Marikovsky, 1962; Roy et al., 2006). These behavioral manipulations increase transmission chances of Ophiocordyceps fungi and have earned them the moniker “zombie-ant fungi”. These pathogens are not immune to becoming parasitized themselves. While formal descriptions of hyperparasites of zombie-ant fungi are few and scattered, the presence of hyperparasites has certainly been noted by mycologists who study Ophiocordyceps across the globe (Andersen et al., 2012; Araújo et al., 2020, 2022; Mongkolsamrit et al., 2021).