Fungus - Insect interactions

[Chris Yeates]

Here he goes again, delving into the weird and abstruse corners of the fungal world . . . . well I make no excuses - over the next few days and weeks I shall post some stuff on the above topic, particularly in the hope that WABbers will pay some attention to some of the (often rather gruesome) examples of the variety of ways in which these two great higher taxa can come together (and which are not too uncommon if one looks around in the countryside, or indeed on windows in the garage . . . but I'm getting ahead of myself). I would be interested in having a look at anything people may find as well.

I shall kick off in an unexpected direction though, just to give an idea that things are not all one way. A couple of weeks back I was collecting mostly micro-fungi on the Magnesian Limestone east of Leeds (as I have said before a happy hunting ground for yours truly); I did, however, collect some 'big stuff' as well.

On examining one of my collecting boxes the following day this smart fellow - clearly a staphylinid beetle - was in evidence:


This is an example when working in a museum with good natural history collections is a boon. I was able to compare my photograph with the Coleoptera reference collection, and I was able to say confidently that I had found Oxyporus rufus - thankfully it is one of the easier 'staphs' to name - many, particularly the Aleocharines, are very much the sphere of the specialist. A bit of reading and I was able to see that Oxyporus rufus is associated with agaric fungi; the only suitable specimens in my collecting box were a couple of fruitbodies of Agrocybe molesta so I was able to give a good location for the beetle as well. I checked the distribution map and saw that this is very much a southern beetle: NBN Gateway: Oxyporus rufus grid map (my find was in 10km-square SE43, so very much at the leading edge of the distribution pattern). I contacted the county recorder and he emailed back saying: "Yes . . . . . Oxyporus rufus - getting rather scarce these days - associated with the fresh fruiting bodies of agaric fungi - I haven't personally picked it up for many years. At the north end of its British range in Yorkshire (although one or two very old records for Scotland)"; I also contacted a Yorkshire coleopterist who specialises in staphylinids and he too said he hadn't seen one in the county for years - so quite pleasing for a non-entomologist!

Some of the sharper ones among you may also have spotted the fact that Oxyporus is also the name of a genus of bracket fungi (with four, arguably five, British representatives - Oxyporus populinus being probably the best known) - so, I thought, a nice point to start.

More anon

Chris

[Chris Yeates]

Sticking with the Staphylinidae, but this time a fungus on an insect - here is a specimen of Stenus bimaculatus which was collected on the British Mycological Society spring foray which I organised in May 2004 at Cober Hill, north of Scarborough (I can't remember whether it was me or someone else who collected it). It is being attacked by an anamorphic ascomycete fungus in the family Cordycipitaceae (order Hypocreales) (and was exceedingly dead):

Beauveria bassiana


Chris

[Chris Yeates]

Quite often on WAB we see the phrase 'tiny fungus'; I would prefer 'small' most of the time, for reasons that may become evident

I should know the name of this carabid beetle, it's for the moment escaped me; it's around 1cm long; you will notice a small bristle (?) or something on one of its legs (arrowed):


here's a closer view:


that 'bristle' is an entire fungus (actually more likely two); none of this "of course you are only seeing the fruitbody here - most of the fungus, its mycelium, is in the soil" nonsense - that is the fungus

haven't got round to looking at it yet - though I would suspect a Laboulbenia species (more about the Labouls soon)

cheers

Chris

(and sorry for the poor photographs - I was in a hurry - not up to standard - though the fungus is genuinely tiny)

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by Chris Yeates

here's a closer view:


that 'bristle' is an entire fungus (actually more likely two); none of this "of course you are only seeing the fruitbody here - most of the fungus, its mycelium, is in the soil" nonsense - that is the fungus

cheers

Chris

Does that make you an ecological vandal then? Let's hope it had spread a fair number of its spores, otherwise it isn't like picking an apple but digging up and going off with the whole tree, roots and all ... Is the fungus picky? Or does it go for a range of species or even genera of beetle?

Melanie

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by SheffieldLass

Does that make you an ecological vandal then? Let's hope it had spread a fair number of its spores, otherwise it isn't like picking an apple but digging up and going off with the whole tree, roots and all ... Is the fungus picky? Or does it go for a range of species or even genera of beetle?

Melanie

hi Melanie

(a) this specimen is from a museum collection - not collected by me - though I did spot the hitherto-overlooked fungus
(b) the chances of coming across something like this (you have to be specifically searching of course) are miniscule there will be hundreds of thousands of beetles carrying these fellows around
(c) yes they can be extremely picky, often only occurring on a single genus (possibly only a single species within that genus); plus some Laboulbeniales have male and female forms and there is evidence that they are positioned upon a specific part of a specific species of beetle which varies between the insects' sexes - so when the beetles mate, the fungi mate - how cool is that ?

. . . . almost cool enough to explain why I like these quirky areas of mycology and why I just can't be ***ed to get excited about Russulas [Caedite eos! Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius]

I am not however prepared to go the way of the dark mycological lords who study the Trichomycetes - 'fungi' that live in the guts of insects, millipedes, woodlice, etc. (see towards the bottom of Chapter 3bxe Zygomycota - they're now not considered to be fungi, but then neither are slime-moulds and downy mildews: mycologists still study them) I gather that the best way to study these is to dissect the living creature

Chris

more about Labouls (and others) soon . . . .

[stickman]

Hi all,

Found this unlucky insect today in some leaf litter, and thought of this useful thread:





Like most muggles, I know very little indeed about insectivorous fungi & I don't think this is one of the usual suspects (Beuveria, Entomophtora etc) but I'm sure Chris might have a better idea...

Under the 'scope spores (conidia?) were borne singly on long hyphae. They measured 9-11 x 1.5-2.5 µm.





A point roughly in the right direction would be cool

Cheers, Nick.



PS any ideas on the ID of the insect would be nice too!

[diggleken]

Hi Nick, I'm no coleopterist, but the beetle could well be Pterostichus madidus or a close relative spp.
Cheers
Ken

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by stickman

Hi all,

Found this unlucky insect today in some leaf litter, and thought of this useful thread:





Like most muggles, I know very little indeed about insectivorous fungi & I don't think this is one of the usual suspects (Beuveria, Entomophtora etc) but I'm sure Chris might have a better idea...

Under the 'scope spores (conidia?) were borne singly on long hyphae. They measured 9-11 x 1.5-2.5 µm.





A point roughly in the right direction would be cool

Cheers, Nick.

hi Nick

I think this is a Hirsutella or something close to it - those bundles of conidiophores (technically called synnemata) are characteristic, though the conidia are rather elongated - were the conidia slimy in air?

Chris

[stickman]

Originally Posted by diggleken

Hi Nick, I'm no coleopterist, but the beetle could well be Pterostichus madidus or a close relative spp.
Cheers
Ken

Nice one Ken -P.maddidus looks spot on (to a non-entomologist)

Chris - I didn't notice any viscosity. I would descride the texture as 'delicately fibrous'.....

Cheers, Nick.

[Lancashire Lad]

Found 26 November 2011:-



(Photo taken in pouring rain - in a very awkward spot to get the tripod).

First of its kind that I've found, and pretty sure it's an Entomophthora species.

It was only when I looked on FRDBI that I discovered that more than 50 species of Entomophthora have been recorded in Britain.

I'm not holding my breath on getting it down to species level - but have posted an ID request for the beetle on the insect forum in hopes that if I can find that out, it might just narrow things down a bit.

Regards,
Mike.

EDIT - See also Fungus of the Day Thread for additional info from Chris (Yeates):-
Fungus of the day!