Why Caterpillar Fungus Is So Expensive | So Expensive
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- Опубликовано: 18 фев 2019
- Caterpillar fungus is a hybrid of a fungus that kills and lives in caterpillars. It has been used in traditional herbal medicine for many centuries but has gained popularity in recent decades. It can sell for up to 3 times its weight in gold. The high demand has driven up the price, which can be as much as about $63,000 per pound. Some towns in the Himalayas rely on collecting and selling this fungus for a living.
Following is a transcript of the video:
What would you do if a fungus invaded your body, and started consuming you from the inside? It sounds like something out of a horror film, but that's actually what happens to a certain type of baby moth.
The fungus eats its way through the helpless moth larvae and then sprouts out of their heads like a spring daisy. But this rare hybrid, the caterpillar fungus, isn’t just totally fascinating, it’s also expensive. Sometimes selling for more than 3 times its weight in gold!
Caterpillar fungus grows in the remote Tibetan Plateau and Himalayan Mountains but that’s not the only place you can find it. Here we are in New York City’s Chinatown. And nestled among countless drawers of dried mugwort leaves and hibiscus flowers.
There it is a small pile of 50 or so pieces of dried caterpillar fungus. Here, 1 gram of it costs about $30. But even that might be considered a good deal. Vendors on eBay, for example, list a gram for up to $125. The price is so high because this hybrid creature is incredibly rare.
It shows up for only a few weeks each year in remote regions of Nepal, Tibet, India and Bhutan. And even then, the fungus can be tricky for collectors to find, hidden amidst a sea of grass. For centuries, it’s been a staple of traditional Tibetan and Chinese medicine.
Kelly Hopping: "Traditionally, it was used as a general tonic, for immune support."
For instance, a family might add half of this to a chicken soup. And it’s even rumored that it can be used as a sort of Himalayan viagra though there’s little evidence to back it up. People also buy the fungus as a gift or use it for bribes or as a status symbol. As a result, better looking pieces fetch a higher price.
Kelly Hopping: "It’s all dependent on exactly the color of the caterpillar fungus, even the shape of its body when it died, all of these things that don’t necessarily have anything to do with medicinal value make all the difference for the economic value."
In 2017, for example, high quality pieces sold for as much as $140,000 per kg, or about $63,000 per pound. Now, caterpillar fungus has always been pricey. But experts say its value really skyrocketed in the 1990s and 2000s because of a growing Chinese economy, and the resulting increase in disposable income. Which ultimately, helped drive a massive boom in harvest.
In the Tibet Autonomous Region, for example, collectors reportedly hauled out more than three times as much caterpillar fungus in the early 2000s, than they did in the 1980s. And now, many families depend on the cash it brings in.
In fact, experts say that up to 80% of household income in the Tibetan Plateau and Himalayas can come from selling caterpillar fungus. One district in Nepal reported collecting $4.7 million worth of caterpillar fungus in 2016. That’s 12% more than the district’s annual budget! But those profits are at risk.
Surveys indicate that annual harvests have recently declined.
Kelly Hopping: "The collectors themselves mostly attributed this to overharvesting, acknowledging that their own collection pressure was driving these declines."
And it doesn’t help that it’s difficult to regulate the harvest.
Daniel Winkler: "All these different political units have different policy. In the end, it is really down to county level, how it’s implemented."
Climate change is also causing problems. You see, the fungus is more abundant in areas with long, cold winters, which are increasingly hard to come by.
Daniel Winkler: "For the rural economy, if there’s a lot of loss, that would be devastating."
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Why Caterpillar Fungus Is So Expensive | So Expensive 
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I'm from the Himalayan region of India myself and some of my friends from remote region go to collect this particular fungus. Collecting it is a risky business that involves camping in the wild for several days while risking one's life but at the end the one's who come back with substantial amount of the stuff are paid very well.
Buyer kaha milega Bhai, mujhe bechna hai ,
Oh geez but it sounds similar to people who go crabbing for the giant crab legs. I wouldn’t want to risk my life though
Bhai buyer hone se reply karo number dunga
Sounds like a blast
damn, people asking for buyers in hindi to resell, oh lord.
$35 a gram? No thanks, I’ll stick to heroin.
Danny Ainge I'll stick to shrooms
Heroin is more expensive then that
Nunace nope depends where you get it here in east bay its 25 a gram buddy
@@marisolroquechaves6130 I don't know what kind of garbage heroin you're buying
zack p drugs are literally even in liquor stores its not expensive because you can get it anywhere around here sounds like your getting ripped off to me since nobody in their right mind would buy even a grenade sack for 35
I remember back when I was a kid, my mom would like bags full of these caterpillars fungus in the kitchen shelves. They weren't nearly as expensive as they are now, had we know how much it will be worth now, shoulda just brought it and stored it in a fridge for 10/15 years for some amazing profits lol
Their shelf life ain't long
Seems it basically does nothing but still valuable
Organism: Exists
Chinese: I'll eat that for health benefits
They ARE the fungus.... They eat the planet from inside out.
Although the expensive _O. sinensis_ fungus described in this article is renowned in traditional Tibetan medicine, it actually does not contain cordycepin, a chemical with proven anti-cancer effect. The _C. militaris_ caterpillar fungus is much cheaper and contains cordycepin.
What's more, the Chinese scientists have discovered a way to plant the cheap caterpillar fungus on corn-wheat mixture, with no caterpillar needed during the entire farming cycle, which made it even cheaper and cheaper - as cheap and a cabbage.
rasist
Enter coron.... Hehehe
Honestly it really helps when my mom has extreme joint pain or something she makes soup with this and immediately the next everything is cured
Take into account, it’s incredibly light-weight so that has a lot to do with the fact that it’s so expensive per lb
MOM, let’s go buy some caterpillars
Mum: We have caterpillars at home
Caterpiller at home: ruclips.net/video/ub82Xb1C8os/видео.html
i need a buyer
@@ooforange1st881 you-
@@ooforange1st881 oh come on i was expecting something disgusting but this is way too far smh
Will they turn into butterfly fungus?
EDITED: it's a joke comment
Im not stupid.
😂😂
yes
no . it add +10 strenght to your little brother
If it were to turn into a butterfly fungus it’s two OP because it can spread more fungus in to a caterpillar
@@cheapalopod8563 and 5inches to your wingspan
but how they discover it as a consumable fungus? It never comes to my mind to eat this weird-looking fungus
Garry Nelson ur lack of knowledge has attested ur ignorance
@@skey8809 wtf, you also wouldnt dare to eat a weird looking unknown food which may reassemble some bug that you are phobic to
Rangkara how do you think people did for survival?
ancient human comes along this weird looking thing might pick it up. soon finds out it has some medicinal value and only comes around once and a while.
99% food = see if it kills you, 1% food = even if it kills you, find a solution to make it edible and not kill u. The evolution of food
in nepal it is called yarsagumba
Yeah, it is yartsa gunbu. Finally we find something that both country use the same name.
If you support the Sherpa name of the highest mountain in the world, then we two nation can issue a joint statement to help the world say goodbye to Britisheverest.
China has gave up the Chinese name _Shengmu Feng_ in favor of the Tibetan name *Qomolongma* in 1950s, now all you need to do is give up the newly coined Khaskura name _Sagarmatha_ in favor of the Sherpa name *Chumulungma.* When we both insist the same, no country in this world can find an excuse to disrespect us!
in america we call that snake oil
In Hong Kong we call that "蟲草" which literally translates into "bug grass" 😂
In North Korea we call that Kim jong-un
The full name in Chinese is
Dong Chong Xia Cao (冬虫夏草） literally means winter worm summer grass
Somebody should make a show: "Chinese People Buy The Darndest Things"
Trevor Doge Well, can’t blame them. It contains loads of minerals and antioxidants. Go back to your processed meat cave, please
@@FarewelI you don't need to pay ×3 the weight/price of gold for minerals and antioxidants.
I'm actually vegetarian but I'm glad I could touch a nerve in you. Maybe you'll grow from this.
@@FarewelI ...also I was making a broader point about Chinese consumers who support the illegal exotic animal trade in Africa.
So it's not like I'm being arbitrarily critical against the Chinese here. It's a serious issue and many Chinese celebrities including Yao Ming and Jackie Chan have brought awareness to it.
If it's too abrasive for you, so be it. But I have the freedom to express myself. So I'll leave it at that.
Seriously. I hope this doesn't come off racist or anything, but the ignorance that a lot of Asian cultures have on certain things drives those animals, plants, to go endangered
Mikey Guanipa As a Chinese I fully understand how bad the situation is. But one thing I’d like to share is that most young people couldn’t care less about those extremely expensive but rather useless animal or plant products, at least it’s true for my friends and classmates. That’s the reason Yao was invited, as a moral model of young people. I guess that’s just because our society changes so fast, many old people are left behind the modern world.
All of those things in the herbal store sounds like it should be in harry potter
all the western pharma companies stole its active ingredient and labeled it as proven science
the fact that my mom made me eat this stuff when i was 5 concerns mE
This sounds like the beginning of the plot to "The Last Of Us". Where zombie fungus that preys on insects mutates & spreads to humans.
OOF
I mean... The real virus from Last of Us is based off a real virus.... Go back in the beginning of the episode and you'll see the scientific name is literally almost the exact name of the virus in the game.
Jonathan Tan lets hope there’s a mad scientist who heard your prayer.
Nicole Keiran plot twist. We were the original virus.
don't underestimate the Chinese, they're just going to harvest the human brain cordyceps and sell it as aphrodisiac.
Wait til these fungus find way to jump from insect to human. Priceless.
Time to start selling them then
nope, insects and humans are in different phylums
Coming soon: The NEW coronavirus.
In Korea, it is called Dong Choong Ha Cho (Korean pronunciation of Chinese 冬虫夏草). It means, it is a bug in winter and grass (or plant) in summer. There are more than one type of this (grows on different bugs) and some were even farmed in Korea, but the one on the video is the original one used for medicinal purposes.
So people are paying fortunes for Dong?
in Vietnamese Đông Trùng Hạ Thảo
Thanks business insider for covering this, I've grew up seeing yarsagumba near my ancestral home.
Dherai dherai dhanybaad
The World best, found in "Dolpa" Nepal 🇳🇵, In Dolpa it can cost you 20-30k USD per kg, but in International market 140k wow.
My grandma would put in some into the soup, I really love it due to the texture haha. No I'm not joking you should try it.
You're cute
No thank you . Ya'll eat EVERYTHING. 🙄
No thanks I like my money more 🤣
Same, man and i also dont like it
It's Viagra kind of right ?
The Last thing you want on your Burger King burger is someone’s FOOT FUNGUS
but that might be what you GAET
Lol
no 15... BURGER FOOT LETTUICE
FUNGAES
BURGER KING FOOT LETTAECE
Ancient chinese salesmen must have been amazing at their jobs. They literally picked up the ugliest nastiest shit and convinced the biggest country on earth that it's all magical
Although the expensive _O. sinensis_ fungus described in this article is renowned in traditional Tibetan medicine, it actually does not contain cordycepin, a chemical with proven anti-cancer effect. The _C. militaris_ caterpillar fungus is much cheaper and contains cordycepin.
What's more, the Chinese scientists have discovered a way to plant the cheap caterpillar fungus on corn-wheat mixture, with no caterpillar needed during the entire farming cycle, which made it even cheaper and cheaper - as cheap and a cabbage.
Not surprised, Chinese stuffs are always cheap..
@@HackSparrrowakaSicario So you were claiming that the high-end _O. sinensis_ are expensive because you find some Chinese stuff not cheap?
Its known as YARCHAGHUMBU in Tibetan language. Yar refers to summer/monsoon and cha means grass and GHUN means winter and Bu means bug/insects . So its a grass in summer and insect in a winter.. but in Nepal its mostly known as YARSAGUMBA which is a miss pronunciation of Yarchagumbu(the original name)
I came to know about this when I was trekking in Himalayas, Uttarakhand state, India. I have asked those villagers who were searching this on high altitude and its very risky to fall down during collecting.
The caterpillar fungus will metamorphose into a beautiful butterfly mushroom someday.
the story of discovery this fungus will b very interesting...
how did it come to b recognized and many more questions ..
already explained in Skyrim.
1. you discover weird stuff...
2. you eat it.
3. ???
4. profit!
There’s an interesting cultural obsession with aphrodisiacs coming from eating strange things in China
Lol
Yet Americans consider bull's testicles an aphrodisiac
Source:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_oysters
They are literally eating an animal's balls hoping it'd give their own balls a boost
I’m sure China is the ONLY culture in the world that eat strange stuff... oh wait
America eats tide pods...
Just because u think something is strange doesn’t mean it actually is strange
This fungus is actually very beneficial... but people make a lot of fakes out of it
Also don’t blame China for eating exotic food
Y’all have never tasted them.
Try to consider stuff for another point of view
If u can’t
Then ur stupid🙂
@@flamindigo6965 saying 'Americans eat Tide pods' is a lot like saying Ugandans eat humans, cause theres a few cannibals in Uganda...
ya only a few chinese eats bat
less than 1 percent of the population
Super interesting! Thanks a lot! 😊
As a seller of Cordyceps sinensis, I believe this remarkable fungus is vastly underrated and deserves more attention and research to highlight its potent properties and essential health benefits.
Caterpillars: *Died from deadly infection fungus*
Humans: I see profits
This is an example of something having perceived value just because it's rare. The fact that better looking pieces are worth more proves that. People are silly.
yeah? well when one of those guys that eats just the right shaped caterpillar and lives to be three hundred years old you wont be laughing
@@philtripe yeah. I'll be dead:)
also , people that think he is so knowledgeable just by watching youtube
It can also be found in northern region of Myanmar, we called it Shipadee
I saw these on sale on AliExpress and I had no idea what the heck they were.
this got me confused.
I saw a fungus growing out of a dog turd in my backyard. $50 each! Supply is limited
lol
🤣🤣🤣😂 holy shit pun intended
Did the infografics show collab on the intro?
It’s called Yarshagumba , we find those in our Himalayas at Nepal , these are very rare and seasonal
Does it give boners?
This scarily reminds me of that zombie apocalypse game of "The Last of Us"
What if that cordyceps mutates and eventually affects humans. 🤯
We still have about a month left in 2020, so it's possible.
@从 Deadpoppin 从 wtf do living creatures you think is smart?
@@DJdoppIer it's over now
@@ceilinglight1413 More like "It's over.....for now."
I love how some cheerful music is playing in the background when someone is explaining about a fungus that eats you from the inside out until you become a mere corpse of your former self :D
I wonder who saw that fungus growing out of a caterpillar and thought, 'I think I'll add this to my soup.'
It's called "bug grass" or "bug fungus" in Chinese and they don't actually taste that bad, contains lots of protein and nutrients too so it's quite good for you as well.
Except maybe your wallet...
For protein I'll go to KFC.
It actually tastes great. Its also usually a lot less expensive than what they said in the video
@@boulderbash19700209 I hope this was a joke :(
It is very common in high Himalayas of Nepal.
not common, it is very hard to find it out.
I am locally from that area and we go for the search ever year for 2-3 months..
@@nishantbal9068 bro, business start gar nu par cha. Reply to let me know where and how to find it
Nepals king came to my school about 10 years ago and walked into our classroom sir christopher hatton i still remember what him and his wife looked like
@@nishantbal9068 is there any of the local trying to farm them?
It’s become so much more than that.
That's a cruel death to buy for such expensive price
there r 3 district in nepal that only this yarsagumba(C Fungus) is found in manang ,gorkha and mustang there is not only 1 there is other also
Can you arrange this
this year it's cold in India, Nepal & tibet.....
Many people know this specific fungus mainly because of many movies and zombie video games and it make’s laugh when people say you can become a zombie when you consume or inhale this fungus
Its called yasagumba in nepal
we called it JIBANBUTI too.. Price of one fungs in nepal is $4 and 1 kg price $30000 to $40000 not so much expensive than your price
The caterpillar fungus which is found here in India, are called as 'Kirda-jadi'. Kirda means bug and jadi means root.
😄😄😄🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳
But that's lab made.. Not wild.
nepal and british stole soiuther tibaten land
So, Visit Nepal 2020.😊😊🙏🙏💖💖
Too late.. Covid-19 came first 😅
Dang Ive seen that irl when I was trekking to Roopkund, a guy had whole bag of it
Does anybody know what this looks like if it isn't harvested, but continues to grow in the ground? Does it just dry up or grow? TYIA 😁
A weird fungus eating caterpillars alive? Cool, better bring it to all the other countries and also use it in our soups. x__x
Sounds like how 'The Last of Us' started...
The fungus killled the bug. Its nature. things kill things.
@@SoNgO1314 Wait, does that mean that this world is a battle royale?
That fungus thing you said in the intro reminds me of symbiotes from marvel.
The title makes it sound like a question weve all been wondering🤣
Indians, Nepalese, Chinese, Bhutan and Tibetans from Himalayas knows about the value of this herb :)
0:07 bruh why one of her blush thing square
One is an impostor.
OMG! I ate it before and I ask my mom for more since I like its texture. But of course, I was young and didn't know what I was eating.
Are those profits going to the communities that source it?
Apparently I had some when I was little. It was recommended by a western doctor as a way to help the lungs. I was sick a lot and coughed a lot
Is this a business channel?? 90% of your videos are based on rare Japanese fish, rare species etc
It is business insider
It is a consumer's channel for exotic items, thus called business insiser.
Ikr they post so much stuff about selling stuff
well since you can easily find any other type business news, outside
My mum brewed this a couple of times for me, can't remember why, for clear skin or something? My sister and I put up a huge fuss cause it tasted disgusting, and she stopped trying after that. Yuck.
This thing is found in North eastern India too, but we didn't knew that its so costly . We were selling a kg in $ 5000 . Thanks for letting us know . From Next season I will try to sell this under $80000 .
You belongs to?
Like entire north east???? Or Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim????
north eastern is tebitan land stolen by Britisth
This video made me learn how much of an ungrateful ABC kid I was. What we lacked in other forms of material luxury, we made up with herbs and health food.
"Growing Chinese economy" makes everything expensive
Imagine eating those things and then become a clicker or even a bloater
How many balls do you have to be tripping to find a dead caterpillar with a huge fungus horn growing out of its skull and think to yourself "You know what? I think I'll pluck the nifty looking fungus off this caterpillar corpse, take it back to my tent, grind the shit up and put it in some green tea!"
It’s actually quite delicious in soup
It's fantastic really
Is it expensive just because of how rare it is or is it also extremely delicious?
More like health benefits.
@@avishekbista3779 like what health benefits? 😂 It's just Chinese bs..
Where does the fungus come from?
ya im nepali and i know ppl from other countries but it cheap from locals and sell if for way more later on.
also there is lots of blood bath on this businesss
This caterpillar fungus doesn’t have any taste. When I was little, I remember eating this because of its texture .
So why cant this eat humans inside out then ?
Stomach acid
Plus it just cant cuz biology
'Cause we ain't caterpillers.
As an Asian, believe me when I’m saying “to sell whatever thing to China and to make it become a hot trend with enormous price, just add that Item to benefit of “support male sexual life”. That’s the thing happens to this Fungus.
As a kid I used to eat this all the time (in Chinese traditional medicine) not knowing what is was... thought it was a plant
Jojo stans rise up.
Of course this video has only highlighted the economic side of this. but it hasn’t mentioned much about the health benefits proven by scientist.
Found in the mountains of Nepal, it's called yarshagumba in here..
i have been dosing Caterpillar fungus like it grows on trees, now that i see this video i understand! it actually grows on the ground! i may have to cut back
It actually helps quite a bit if my mom has extreme joint pain or if someone is coughing a lot we make soup with these and immediately we feel so much better but won’t lie that it isn’t expensive but it doesn’t taste like anything bad
It can sell for up to 3 times its weight in gold. What ugh my small brain got blown away i got my new brain from a cat moew moew
I used to eat it with milk as a kid. It grows back in mountains near my village. That district is mine. :)
@1:40 Kelly Hopping your Popping.
The Last of Us vibes are strong in this fungus 😂
In India it is called Kerajari and
illegal to harvest
This is actually really yummy
its called 冬虫夏草 in chinese
Here's a thumbs up for you 👍🏻
Most other young Chinese people are too busy being ashamed of being Chinese and often go the extra mile to show everyone how "un-Chinese" they are
@@hiyukelavie2396 Wew thanks!! Well you can't really change what race you are so why not just embrace it, plus there would always be the people who are racist anyways!
It also has really good anti-aging properties. I stumbled upon a luxury skincare line that has the fungus as an ingredient along with other rare oriental ingredients. That stuff cost almost $500 CAN.
in Tibet we call it: Yartsa Gumbu
Meaning: in summer grass🌱
: in winters insect 🐜
I am more interested in "Kelly Hopping | Assistant Professor"
I've taken it before, it really works. Feel energized, and not lethargic for half a day, effects felt about 3 hours after it is taken.
Deadly fungus is a medicine?!
Hlo sir, this fungus I also want to export foreign. How can I export
Picking more caterpillar fungus = less caterpillar fungus to pick. Pretty logical. Oh, wait, of course it's climate change
yeah, why is it so hard to understand...funghi reproduce by releasing spores, the more of the adults you pick (kill), the less spores available for sprouting (or how do you call it) there will be
@@da23injulecz exactly, well said!
Although I'm a defender of the climate change theory, you got a nice one 👍👍👍
Hah hah hah😂😂😂
climate change has a direct effect on everything.
@@ohyeahminecraft Ya. If it gets warm outside, usually everything else does too.. again, pretty logical
why not buy some live ones breed and cash in! 🤣
Because there is cultivation plant already, just a big cash to invest and a lot of failure.
Because a caterpiller cannot breed while having a fungus in its body
@LagiNaLangAko23 Oh yeah forgot about that
@LagiNaLangAko23 one more problem thats going to anger a lot of people for infecting animal just for money for ex: PETA they get mad easily
So I'm gonna go set up a catapillar fungus farm 😊😁
Is it good to eat or drink that?
Well, time to close my cannabis business and start my caterpiller fungus business.
so your not going to sell joints anymore?
Eat zombie worm
ew...
Please name that district
When i was in the annapurna reserve in spring like 10 years ago, full villages were out in the grass searching for this stuff. I don't know if they were having a laugh at me but they said it was to for erections.
Animal:exists
China: KAKA MUTHAFUCKA
Goddamnit here come the Asian jokes
Patrick bob Roundpants Before fungus! 8=o~
After fungus! 8=======o~
Hello