More fungi and other autumnal species

The fungal season is progressing well, which is unsurprising given the amount of rain we've had this year. In no particular order we have:

Tremella mesenterica, otherwise known as Witches Butter or Yellow Brain fungus:

Witches Butter

I usually find T. mesenterica on dead branches of Gorse, although the Tremella is actually parasitic on Peniophora sp. crust fungi which are decomposers of the dead Gorse, so this is a double dependency.

Just for the challenge, I took a shot of the Tremella spores:

Spores of Tremella mesenterica at x400

On the same branch, I noticed some microscopic Lachnum virgineum:

Lachnum virgineum

These cups are 1-2 mm diameter, and absolutely beautiful. New to my species list.

I noticed these yellow marks on the leaf of Creeping Buttercup, and immediately knew I had found something new:

Leaf of Creeping Buttercup, showing yellow indications of fungal attack

I turned the leaf over and saw this sporulating fungus:

Urocystis ranunculi on Creeping Buttercup

The description of Urocystis ranunculi reads: "Sori in leaves and stems of R. repens as silvery blisters which burst to expose black masses of spore balls." I cannot imagine a more accurate description. There is only one previous record from Ireland, and that was in 1946. New to my species list.

The spores of Urocystis ranunculi are interesting: each round, brown spore is accompanied by some transparent sterile cells the same size as the spore (top right and mid left):

Spores of Urocystis ranunculi x400

Taphrina tosquinetii is a leaf gall of Alder:

Taphrina tosquinetii on Alder

The fungus enlarges the surface area of the leaf in order to create more area for spore production. The remaining normal part of the leaf can be seen to the left.

The Harvestman Mitopus morio doesn't make a web: it lies in wait and jumps out on prey when triggered by movement. It usually (?always) uses one leg as a movement detector. In this case, it's the right rear leg, which has been crossed over and suspended from the right second-from-rear leg, presumably to heighten sensitivity:

Harvestman waiting for prey

I found this solitary sawfly larva on Alder:

Sawfly larva on Alder

I think it might be Nematus viridissimus, but I'm waiting for confirmation, since I haven't seen this before.

We had a single night of frost last week and every night since then has produced a few November Moths:

November Moth - Epirrita dilutata

These can emerge from late September to November, but this is the earliest I have seen them. Larvae feed on leaves of numerous trees.

More clockwork

Last night no fewer than 5 specimens of the November/Autumnal moth came to light. It just so happens that the previous night was the coldest since springtime, so I have no doubt that these species are triggered by temperature. There are four species in contention here: November Moth, Pale November Moth, Autumnal Moth and Small Autumnal moth. Identification is mainly done through dissection, so we tend to record these as Epirrita agg.

I rather liked this shot of the Nematus larvae fighting over the last tiny remnant of the Willow leaf. They will now have moved on to the next leaf down the branch.

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.

September Sun

At last, after 4 months of rain, we have had some sunshine.

That should bring the fungi out: this is Coprinus comatus, or Lawyers Wig. Edible and good (and they were).

And now one of the tiniest of fungi: Marasmius hudsonii. These grow only on dead Holly leaves:


The close-up shows the thick gills and hairs on the cap, which is about 2mm. across:


The Willow Leaf Beetle - Lochmaea caprea is about 7mm long:


Moths are still coming to light in small numbers. This appears to be November Moth - Epirrita dilutata, but I'd better put an agg. on that to be on the safe side.


This is also a new species to me: Frosted Orange - Gortyna flavago.