I had an unforgettable first confrontation with Cordyceps species in July 1984. Many of these fungi do bear some resemblances to mushrooms except for having life histories that may be even more complex than those of many other fungi. Cordyceps species infect and kill their hosts during summer or spring but do not produce their sexual fruiting bodies until the following year. The dead insects gain a sort of new life by producing a beautiful little fungal fruiting body from their body the next spring. It reminds me of Buddhist concept of reincarnation.
In the early days when we went out enthusiastically to collect these Cordyceps species, we often returned empty-handed. Each time I tried to be patient and to appreciate that at least I knew the unfavorable places for this pathogen. The accumulated experience of collecting and working with these pathogens over these intervening years has made it easier for us to find Cordyceps in the field. And I appreciate that many students accompanying me on our collection trips now find these pathogens relatively more easily than during the early days. I faced many troubles during our trips to collect Cordyceps and other insect fungi. Even though there were many stories I have experienced during my field trips, I would like to share a few unforgettable ones with you.
In 1991, we went to Mt. Seolak and Mt. Odae to collect insect fungi and planned to stay for 4 days and 3 nights. Even though it was raining all the way from Chuncheon to Mt. Seolak, we started looking for fungi inside a bamboo grove on the mountain as soon as we arrived and while it was still pouring. We were soaked but found no Cordyceps. I was lost in meditation for a while and feeling disappointed. When I tried to move on, however, I was surprised by an incredible sight. I realized that I was surrounded by Cordyceps militaris stromata poking out of the ground where I was standing. I wondered how this could be possible, and while I was totally absorbed in collecting this fungus, three female monks passed through the wood with some of their followers. They stopped and looked at us strangely and then started to ask me what I was looking for while they, too, were getting soaked by the rain. In fact, I had felt sorry that nobody was interested in my work, so I was very happy that anybody asked me what I was doing. I showed them the fungus I was collecting and explained what I was doing in detail. After listening, the monks looked perplexed, suddenly bowed three times and told me I was doing great work. The followers standing beside the monks also bowed. I will never forget the impression of that day and its discovery of an unusually large collection of about fifty Cordyceps militaris specimens.
After leaving Mt. Seolak, we headed for Mt. Odae by passing through Galcheon. We again started to look for pathogen despite the continuing rain. We searched for an hour before we found O. nutans. In fact, we found an unusual number of Ophiocordyceps nutans specimens in the same site since this species is usually fairly rare. Such a major find at that site probably indicated that the insects represented a dense, localized population that was infected by the pathogen more or less simultaneously.
A month later, when we visited Mt. Odae again, we collected numerous specimens of Ophiocordyceps nutans tricentri, which had not been known previously in Korea. To find so many examples of a new fungus was a much happier event than we had expected.
Our other places for collecting insect fungi are Mt. Chiak and the Kangwon National University forest where we found a number of Cordyceps species previously unrecorded in Korea.
Over the course of ten years that I have been collecting these fungi I have become confident that many Cordyceps species in Korea are an important genetic resource deserving further study and research. A few years ago, I tried to contact companies that might be interested in these fungi to ask for their cooperation in studying Cordyceps pathogens but I received no response. I then decided to pursue my research on this pathogen by myself instead of asking for aid from these firms. In the meantime, I received research funding from the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) to study these fungi. That aid was the turning point of my research. I was able to collect many new species and to visit key laboratories in France, USA, Canada, and China and to meet many international specialists in insect fungi. In addition to that, the interest on these pathogens had increased in Korea. In 1994, I became a member of an advisory committee of a TV documentary program on Korean mushrooms. At that time I was very anxious to introduce insect pathogenic (entomopathogen) fungi to people who were not familiar with them. During the hot summer season, I devoted myself to collecting as many specimens of Cordyceps and other insect fungi as I could. When the show was broadcast on TV, I was kept busy answering many calls from people who saw the program. I felt saddened when I realized that there were many people who did not understand until seeing that program that the simple use of mushrooms or these Cordyceps species could be an effective way to treat or even to cure some serious diseases.
There was an unforgettable call from one of the viewers of this TV program. He asked me to make an effort to promote the reputation of Korean insect fungi in a manner like the effort made to promote Korean ginseng. And after visiting many countries, I had the confidence that our country had the potential to become so, because in other countries, the occurrence of Cordyceps species appeared to be less common than in Korea.
These days we often use the word internationalism. In my point of view, I think that real internationalism means to develop the most Korean-like one. As far as research on Cordyceps in Korea is concerned, these fungi must be collected from as many different habitats as possible, preserved and various useful ways found to utilize these resources in scientific research as well as for commercial purposes, not the least of which will be for the medicinal value of these fungi. Recently, there have been a number of companies and research institutes that have shown interest in this pathogen. I am sure that Korea will soon become much better recognized globally as a rich source of Cordyceps species.
Personally I have thought about publishing an illustrated book of Korean insect fungi to encourage research in this area. I devoted myself to producing this book and basing it on our collections and my experiences. I hope that this book will accomplish this goal. I will continue to do my best to study the species of Cordyceps and other Korean insect fungus.
I would welcome any comments and suggestions for improving this book. There were many people who encouraged and helped me to publish this. Without naming them all, I would like to thank all individuals and organizationsm who helped make this book possible.
Finally, I would like say that if insects are reborn as fabulous mushrooms, I can only imagine what will happen to me after my death.
Jae-Mo Sung
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