STREET CREATURES QUIZ

What is Street Creatures?  This is the game I run on Twitter every Friday. I’ve
collected all the past quizzes here in one place so you can either relive them, or play
them for the first time.

How does it work?  Provided are four, seemingly unrelated clues, that are all
connected by a wild organism that can be found in a city. Look at the four clues,
do some research, and when you think you’ve figured it out, click on ‘Answer’
to reveal what connects the clues, and how they are connected.

Follow me on Twitter to play #StreetCreatures live every Friday at 9am PST.

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Syrphid fly
Insect destroyer
Summit disease
Sporangiophores

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Entomophthora syrphi

Syrphid fly:

This specific fungus only infects syrphid flies, sometimes also called hover flies or flower flies, which are convincing bee mimics. Other species of this fungus target other families of flies and other two winged insects.

Insect destroyer:

The genus name ‘Entomophthora‘ means “insect destroyer”.

Summit disease:

The fungus grows through the fly and into their brain and causes the fly to crawl somewhere high, gluing itself to the plant to prepare for the release of spores. This behavior is called ‘summit disease’.

Sporangiophores:

Once in position, sporangiophores erupt out of the unfortunately fly’s body to be taken away by the wind and infect a new fly host, leaving behind the carcass.
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