Fungus - Insect interactions

[hamadryad]

Originally Posted by fairplay

When I looked round behind me I noticed you were fast asleep Tony.

(Only kidding - good to see you there !)

Neil.

Sleeping certainly not! Ive been to 4 BMS open meets now and that was one of the best, really good stuff, especially the first four, then I had to dash in case I got locked in the car park!

got a lovely example of Agaricus augustus on the way to lunch, and the biggest A. melleas ive ever seen.

you should have said hello, im much less "antagonistic" in real life!

tony

[Chris Yeates]

getting back on thread, here's one which highlights how little we know about many areas of the fungal world

this is a specimen of Limnellia quadrata a 'shore-fly' in the family Ephydridae:


you will notice something interesting on its abdomen:


here are two fruitbodies at high magnification (looking strangely like the back end of an alpaca or similar!:


the fungus is clearly a member of the Laboulbeniales, one can get closer insofar as the members of that order which attack ephydrids are in the genus Stigmatomyces and even I can recognise this fungus as clearly a Stigmatomyces);

however, I can find no mention of a Stigmatomyces on Limnellia (and they do tend to be highly host-specific); so there is a strong likelihood that this is undescribed . . . . .

one for Alex Weir - Dr. Alexander Weir: Faculty of Environmental and Forest Biology (and to think I knew him when he was a countryside ranger on Tees-side!)

cheers

Chris

[FungiJohn]

Hi Chris

Did you ever get to look at this I sent you



John

[fairplay]

Fungus on an Ammonite fossil ... mmm, that's new.

Neil.

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by FungiJohn

Hi Chris

Did you ever get to look at this I sent you



John

I didn't get at all far, it needs a lot more work - it's in my "long winter's nights to-do box"

Chris

[FungiJohn]

Originally Posted by Chris Yeates

I didn't get at all far, it needs a lot more work - it's in my "long winter's nights to-do box"

Chris

No worries Chris. I have a similar box too

John

[Lancashire Lad]

Originally Posted by Lancashire Lad

Just an update on this.

I sent the specimen, with as much information as I had, off to Martyn Ainsworth at Kew.
He advised that this type of fungus was no longer within his remit, but that he had discussed it with Dr. Brian Spooner, who had kindly offered to examine the specimen, and get back to me.

I have just received this most interesting reply from Dr. Spooner:-

"Martyn Ainsworth passed me your infected beetle! Nice conidia present. My best suggestion for this is Zoophthora crassitunicata Keller, but I am not certain.
There are few if any records of such fungi from carabids, and this species is typically on cantharids. But it is not well known and what its true host range is is not clear. Conidia match rather well. It is included in the key by Grace Waterhouse but is apparently not in FRD. I have kept and accessed as K(M)173475".

If Dr. Spooner's suggestion is correct, then this would be one of two new species of Zoophthora found as recently as 1978, in Switzerland. And first described in this subsequent document by S.Keller:-
http://www.landesmuseum.at/pdf_frei_..._0167-0173.pdf

Regards,
Mike.

[fairplay]

Well done Mike - probably best this is retained by Kew otherwise you will have to install a coffee machine in the house to satisfy hordes of foreign mycologists coming over to examine your material.

Neil.

[MattPrince]

How about this.. Found on the underside of a live hazel leaf, end of November in Stover Country Park Devon.

Is the fungi related to the deceased fly - or coincidence?

I normally expect an insect related fungi to erupt directly from the hosts body, but I guess there is no reason for the fruiting body to be attached by anything more than mycelium. Or perhaps it was attached and got dislocated when I turned over the leaf looking for inverts and/or rusts.

Perhaps this is "just" a final stage of good old entomopthora after it has fed well?

Regards,
Matt

[FungiJohn]

Hello all

This 'fungal' infection on Ladybirds seems quite common at the moment but I can't for the life of me remember what it's called



Any help much appreciated as usual

This is a typical post for the Fungi on miscellaneous substrates which I hope to sort out soon. Sorry for the long delay

Thanks too to everyone who has contributed with ideas on how the Sub forum should be used. I'll post a summary before making changes.

John