December moth and May butterfly

The first December Moth - Poecilocampa populi - for 2009. I suppose phenology has changed a bit since these were first named.



This is another first: the first of my garden Large White butterfly larvae that has survived to pupate. Of the 8 larvae that I have observed, 7 were parasitised. Now that's population control.

Four more have arrived, and we'll see what the final tally is.

Drumboe fungi

At the Drumboe car park, I noticed some Honey Fungus - Armillaria mellea - on an old stump:


A close inspection revealed a very small (4mm) Ichneumonid exploring the older specimens:


This is no surprise, since most fungi are eaten by fly larvae, and a quick inspection revealed the target:

This parasitisation of fly larvae in mushrooms reveals a stunning synchronisation of the 3 species: the fly larvae are only present for a short time each year - during the fungal season - and each mushroom specimen will only last for a small number of days. Meanwhile, the fly larvae must grow from egg to pupation very quickly (showing that fungi must be an excellent food source), so the Ichneumonid has only a very short window of opportunity to find a suitable larva and lay her eggs.

Honey Fungus is known to be an aggressive decomposer of dead wood, and its presence is often revealed by the presence of black 'bootlaces' on old stumps:


One of my favourite fungi is the minute Marasmius hudsonii, which only grows on old, black, Holly leaves:

Despite the fact that the whole fungus is only perhaps 20mm tall, microscopic examination of the tiny cap shows that it is covered in spikes:

I cannot fathom any reason for a minute fungal cap to be ornamented in this way. (Notice that the stipe also has spines).


A single specimen of Wood Blewitt - Lepista nuda - shone purple through the orange Beech leaves:
Edible, but I don't like the over-perfumed taste.

After the deluge

We've had a long spell of atrocious weather, and when it hasn't been raining the light has been filthy. It has to be good for something....

A pair of Sulphur Tuft - Hypholoma fasciculare:


A fascinatingly-shaped Deceiver - Laccaria laccata:


The (always) bizarrely-shaped Helvella lacunosa:


And what I learned as Bolbitius vitellinus, although I know it has changed its name recently:

Autumnal moths

Considering that most insects need heat before they can move, it never ceases to amaze me that some species don't emerge until it's almost time for a frost. This is the Small Autumnal Moth - Epirrita filigrammaria.


And this is the November Moth - Epirrita dilutata, in a colour form that makes it paler than the virtually indistinguishable Pale November Moth.

I suppose it means that there is less competition for food, but it seems a risky strategy.

Lichens from Ards

Lobaria pulmonaria is a lichen in which the photobiont (aka 'the prisoner') is a nitrogen fixer and they are a major source of nitrogen for forest plants, including the trees they grow on. This is the only location where I have found the species, although I understand it is more frequent in southwest Ireland.


Lobaria virens is even scarcer in Ards than its close relative: in fact I know of only one tree which hosts it.


You have to go the oldest and cleanest forests to find these lichens: they are extremely sensitive to disturbance and pollution.

Extreme rarity

I immediately knew that I had never seen this mushroom either in the field or in any literature. The cap was covered in a brown powder, and the stipe (stem) had a distinctly bitter almond smell. A search through all my books revealed no close match, so the internet was the next port of call. I had almost chosen Rozites caperatus as the likely candidate when I was very lucky to find a comment on a swiss website that mentioned that some Rozites could be mistaken for Phaeolepiota aurea. A quick check confirmed that this extremely rare mushroom was the correct identification. It's a nettle associate, documented in european literature, but not in English. The almond smell is due to the presence of cyanide compounds, but strangely I was the only person out of four who could detect it, and for me it was so strong I recoiled from the smell. There are a few Irish records. Provisional red data list.



Some fungi are successional, depending on other fungi to have been present before they can fruit. This succession can take decades to occur, and there may be several links in the chain, so some rare fungi are only found in our oldest forests, and they might not make fruitbodies every year. Ards forest in west Donegal is very special: it's an ancient forest on the first landfall from the atlantic, so it's old and very clean. It has many rare fungi and is home to some very rare lichens that need extremely clean air, so it's a wonderful place to visit.

Phellodon melaleucus is one of the rarest fungi, and most mycologists will never see it in a lifetime. I've been privileged to see it for a few years now, always in exactly the same location. It smells strongly of fenugreek, especially when dry.


Right next to the Phellodon, I found a small stand of Clavaria vermicularis:


I feel priviledged to have seen these three species in the space of a few days.

Smart Miners

Leaf miners on deciduous trees have a limited season for their development: they need to feed while leaves are green. That means they are usually only found between April and September/October. In autumn, trees withdraw the chlorophyll from the leaves for reuse in the next next year, turning them brown before they drop to the ground to become composted.

Some of the Ectoedemia micromoths have found a way to block the return valves, creating small 'islands' of chlorophyll in the leaves, even after they have fallen, thereby extending the length of their season. This Oak leaf has a couple of 'islands' containing mines of Ectoedemia heringi:


Bright, white mines with widely dispersed frass (dung) are usually dipterous. These are the mines of at least 14 specimens of Phytomyza spondylii on Hogweed.

Notice the crescent-shaped exit holes where the larva has left the leaf to pupate:


Another new miner for me: the micromoth Caloptilia syringella on Ash. I suspect this one is usually too high in the tree for me to see it, but this branch had broken in high wind.


A couple of moss shots. The capsules of Thuidium tamariscinum:


And a shot of Hookeria lucens, showing how the overlapping leaves retain water: one of a few techniques used by mosses to keep wet.