Related Species and Artificial Cultivation
C. sinensis is a complex of larva and parasitic fungus. Many
species in this genus are valuable medicinal fungi with broad
development potential. The parasitic complex of the fungus
and caterpillar, well known as ‘DCXC’, is only found in the
prairie soil at an elevation of 3500–5000 m. It is mostly
distributed in Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu
province in China. The fungus and caterpillar complex is
limited to C. sinensis and Hepialus armoticamus Oberthur,
while complexes consisting of other species of fungi and
insects are called ‘ChongCao’, not ‘DCXC’.[9