Mycology

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/13518835

Main photo 'Camponotus atriceps infected by Ophiocordyceps camponoti-atricipis, biting onto a leaf edge' by João P. M. Araújo

You've probably played and/or seen 'The Last of Us' and the cordyceps infected humans....which is completely fictional. However, for insects becoming infected by a zombie fungus is a rather horrifying realty, and also incredibly fascinating for us to observe

Ants are targeted by Ophiocordyceps unilateralis sl, aka the zombie ant fungus, which is found mostly in the tropics, and was first discovered by Alfred Russell Wallace in 1859

Ophiocordyceps unilateralis sl, represents a whole complex of many species within O. unilateralis, all of which are host specific, infecting and manipulating carpenter ants. Although researches have recently discovered additional O. unilateralis species that specialise in neotropical ants and have described them as O. kniphofioides subclade.

These are all the O. unilateralis described so far

O. albacongiuae
O. blakebarnesii
O. camponoti-atricipis
O. camponoti-balzani
O. camponoti-bispinosi
O. camponoti-chartificis
O. camponoti-femorati
O. camponoti-floridani
O. camponoti-hippocrepidis
O. camponoti-indiani
O. camponoti-leonardi
O. camponoti- melanotic
O. camponoti-nidulantis
O. camponoti-novogranadensis
O. camponoti-renggeri
O. camponoti-saundersi
O. halabalaensis
O. kimflemingiae
O. naomipierceae
O. ootakii
O. polyrhachis-furcata
O. pulvinata
O. rami
O. satoi

And the following are from the O. kniphofioides subclade

O. daceti
O. kniphofioides

That's a lot of different zombie ants!!

The O. unilateralis fungus has very distinctive characteristics

exhibits a single stroma with a Hirsutella asexual morph, which arises from the dorsal neck region of the dead ant and produces a dark brown perithecia attached to its stalk

As well as only infecting the Camponotini species (Carpenter Ant), the fungus also causes the ant to fix itself to vegetation by clamping down via it's mandibles aka 'the death grip'

O. kniphofioides on the other hand

produce a stroma that grows laterally from the host's thorax which itself generates an orange ascoma [fruiting body, usually bowl shaped]

With O. kniphofioides the infected ants do not show the 'death grip' and typically die at the base of large trees in the Amazon, amongst moss carpets

In the tropics the ant species Camponotus leonardi lives in the tree canopies and had aerial trails on the branches, they will travel down the tree trucks and cross the forest floor when the gaps in the canopy are too wide to navigate. It is here they are infected by the fungal spores

The spores attach to their exoskeletons and break through using both mechanical pressure and enzymes. Yeast stages of the fungal infection spread throughout the ants body causing it to have full body convulsions that make it fall from the canopy to the forest floor.

The ant then climbs up the stem of a plant , and clamps itself to a leaf it using it's mandibles (usually 26cm above the floor on the Northern side of the plant, in a location with 94–95% humidity and temperatures between 20 and 30 °C). This is the optimal location and environment to produce the maximum infections (up to 20 to 30 dead ants per square meter) If the dead ant is moved elsewhere the fungal growth and spores released either fail to occur or are undersized

The fungus then kills the ant, and continues to grow inside it's body, until mycelia sprout from the ant's exoskeleton anchoring the ant further to the plant leaf/stem and

secreting antimicrobials to ward off competition

When the fungus is ready to reproduce it's fruiting bodies grow and erupt from the ant's head....the whole process takes around 4-10 days

And now for some dead ants.....

Ophiocordyceps kimflemingiae by Danny Newman

Ophiocordyceps albacongiuae by Danny Newman

Ophiocordyceps camponoti-renggeri by João P. M. Araújo

O. camponoti-floridani by Roel Fleuren

Ophiocordyceps ootakii here

Ophiocordyceps camponoti-indiani by joaofungo

Ophiocordyceps pulvinata here

Ophiocordyceps unilateralis infecting Formicidae here

Ophiocordyceps unilateralis growing from a carpenter ant by David Hughes

Palthotyreus tarsatus biting onto a green stem. Once infected by an Ophiocordyceps species (still undescribed) by João P. M. Araújo

Apologies I can't remember where I found this one, but it's too good not to share....If anyone knows the photographer let me know in the comments and I'll edit. Cheers

All info and quotes via wikipedia

I'm not an expert, I just like sharing interesting things I find. Any errors please post a comment and I'll edit..... and as always please leave a comment as it gives me encouragement to do further posts 👍

Many signature French cheeses currently rely on just one single fragile strain of fungi — Penicillium camemberti — which is unfortunately at risk of dying out.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/12041593

Countless fans took to social media to share ways they're enjoying brie before the cheese is gone for good

On Thursday, Montana health officials published an outbreak analysis of poisonings linked to the honeycombed fungi in March and April of last year. The outbreak sickened 51 people who ate at the same restaurant, sending four to the emergency department. Three were hospitalized and two died. Though the health officials didn't name the restaurant in their report, state and local health departments at the time identified it as Dave’s Sushi in Bozeman. The report is published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Ophiocordyceps clavulata is a fungi parasite of scale insects feeding on trees including Pignut Hickory and American Hazel. It grows up to 4 mm

From the very limited information on the internet it's usual habitat is North America and Canada, but has also been recorded in Sweden

All photos via eol

All info via eol and here

Any corrections please post in comments and I'll edit my post

staghorn fungi at longshaw Found in wood at longshaw below pond

UK

Photo by desassessor

Phaeocalicium polyporaeum is a tiny mycoparasitic fungus, seen here on its most common host, Trichaptum cf biforme, although it has also been reported on Trametes versicolor.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/11022800

Always a delight to spot colourful waxcaps and even better to capture underside shots. Where possible, I prefer not to pick them and use my Pentax point and shoot, pressed down into the substrate, but sometimes this is not possible.

Found on flickr

https://twitter.com/ferrisjabr/status/1334216214436986881

This is hair ice. It is formed on dead barkless wood and a fungus called Exidiopsis effusa is the main reason. I found this and many more, during late autumn in a forest in Northern Denmark

This is from earlier this year in Northern Denmark

I have no knowledge but loads of fascination towards mushrooms and fungus in general

I think it's a Lycoperdon. Maybe Lycoperdon perlatum.

A big ol' Pseudoinonotus dryadeus aka "oak bracket". These fruit bodies can overwinter and last multiple years! This one was about 2ft across

Mycelial fibers, the fibrous cells found in fruiting mushroom bodies, have gained momentum as a sustainable material for making faux-leather and packaging owing to their excellent formability. Recently, a team of researchers has found a simple way of obtaining mycelial fibers, called 'mycelial pulp,' from fruiting mushroom bodies and bleaching them using sunlight while keeping their mycelial structures intact.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/5250884

Picked along the North Coast of California. Winter chanterelles, black trumpets, hedgehog mushrooms, and a few golden chanterelles which are not visible I don’t think.

We also picked a decent number of candy caps, which will be dried and used later:

I was wondering if these were edible or not.

Santa Cruz, California

Howdy y'all! I am diving extremely deep into mycology and am on a quest to catch up on all modern research on the subject. I recently discovered 21st Century Guidebook to Fungi (Free from the authors!! https://www.davidmoore.org.uk/21st_century_guidebook_to_fungi_platinum/) but I need MORE! I'll list out some conditions and wants to see if that gets me in the right direction.

• I am looking for fairly advanced books that are college level or higher.

• Diversity of authors and research is awesome. (Conflicting data between books is also not a problem as this is a "relatively new" field of study.)

• Detailed information about genetics, breeding, etc.. Information about different methods to breed and cross fungi would be a huge plus. (I am entering this hobby with a minimal understanding of genetics. I do understand that Mendel only scratched the surface on genetics with highly controlled studies about peas and his theories have a metric ton of caveats.)

• If anyone can recommend a good "bible" for mushroom identification, that would be great. I have one, but it is lacking. Any phone apps I have found are OK, but those are better supported with core knowledge first, me thinks. (Side note: I have been hearing rumors that identification of fungi may be slowly changing. While classification has typically been by fruit characteristics, that might not be the full story.)

• Aside from a focus on genetics and identification, what books have you found to be super interesting? (How to Change Your Mind or Fantastic Fungi would be examples of something in the "interesting" category and may only be slightly related to mushrooms.)

• What universities are on the forefront of research of fungi and psychedelics? UC Davis, UC Berkeley and a couple others have been releasing lectures and studies recently that are super interesting. (As a side-topic, I am enamored by the potential of psychedelics. While there is a great deal of spiritual self discovery to be had, I am super interested in the science behind it all.)

Thanks in advance for any information dump you can provide here!