Cordyceps militaris is an endoparasitoid (entomopathogenic fungus) which has high potential as

biopesticide to control pest populations such as caterpillars that can attack oil palm plantations.
The mechanism of C. militaris as a biopesticide agent in infecting its target can be classified into
4 stages, namely:

1. The first stage: inoculation, that is the contact between fungal propagules and the insect
body.
2. The second stage: the attachment and germination of fungal propagules to the insect
integument
3. The third stage: penetration and invasion, that is penetrating the insect integument and
forming an appressorium
4. The fourth stage: destruction at the point of penetration and the formation of blastopore
then circulates into hemolymph and forms secondary hyphae to attack other tissues. After
the insects die, the fungi will continue the cycle in a saprophytic phase, where the fungi
will form colonies around the host's body. After the host insect's body is filled with
fungal colonies, infective spores will be produced. The infected larvae will experience
mummification and fungal colonies will appear around the body.

The infection mechanism of C. militaris which attacks the larvae of Dendrolimus pini which
is a pest in pine plant was described by Gedminas et al. (2015), larvae of D. pini were infected
by the fungus C. militaris through inoculation and resulted in the sublethal phase were typical for
infested larvae:

1. Day 2-5 after infection the larvae wimp out and lose the rigidity, but still have a passive
reaction to the irritants.
2. Days 6-10 after the infection develops mummification of the larvae, and they become
involuted, crooked, or prostrated. The duration of mummification is 7 days
3. The net of whitish C. militaris mycelial layer grows out on larvae. The net of the fungus
byphae gradually starts to thicken and become orange in natural light cycle, while
mycelium always is white in the dark. Dead larvae of D. pini under the moss in forest
litter showed white and clearly yellow mycelium, penetrating tissue of dead larvae.
4. The stromata of the fugus developed from the largest outgrowth of the mycelium. The top
of the fungal stroma is spiky in the beginning of the development and this feature may
 help to penetrater through the moss. The top of the fungal stroma thickens during30-35
days from the beginning of stroma development. Stroma of C. militaris grows commonly
from the part of the larval body.
5. The fruit bodies perithecia of the fugus are developing on the top of the stroma.
6. Ascospores development, the asci form inside and concentrate near the top of perithecia
after full maturation.