forever fungi

This post condenses a vast number of fungi pics (believe me, you have been spared). I have really focussed on the contrast with colours, textures and shapes in this post but will of course identify the fungi as far as I can as I go along.

Amethyst Deceiver Laccaria amethystina

more of the above which were in abundance this season

I confess to having absolutely no idea what this is, having sourced all my books with no luck - it is not dissimilar to the Prunes and Custard/Plums and Custard in texture but for the bright red gills. It certainly wasn't around last year in the woods. 



Common Inkcap Coprinus atramentarius
I am particularly fascinated by the intricate detail of the gills that can be viewed by the eaten away flesh...

Yellow Stagshorn Calocera viscosa

Milking Bonnet Mycena galopus

Shaggy Parasol Macrolepiota rhacodes

Candlesnuff Fungus Xylaria hypoxylon

The Deceivers have been in abundance and I was intrigued to see so many with what appears to be gills pushing up  through the cap

a beautiful frilling effect as The Deceivers begin to age

a wonderful multicoloured effect caused by slugs munching their way through the Bolete cap

more slug effects



Biocoloured Deciever Laccaria bicolour

loved the textures provided by the smooth fungi growing in the cracks of the bark

Variable Oysterling Crepidotus variabilis

alas I came across a whole troop of Porcelain fungi as it was on it's way out, this was the best one I could salvage



Slippery Jack Suillus luteus

A Stinkhorn and a frog

On a beautifully sunny, late summer's evening the whiff of the mighty Stinkhorn heralds the beginning of the fungi season for me. And what a great fungi season it promises to be. Already fungi are pushing through the damp earth to stake their claim on the forest floor. A summer of continuous rain should have prepared the woodlands well.. .

Of course I smelt this well before I saw it and in the interests of my photography was prepared to get up close and personal. It comes as no surprise that the only living thing prepared to eat this is a fly

the Stinkhorn eggs are often eaten by slugs before they can develop- these are equally as nauseating on the nostrils


 

will look this Bolete up



Crab Brittlegill (Russula xerampelina)-home to a woodlouse

Red Cracking Bolete

this tiny frog was no more than 1.5 cm long, making it difficult to focus the camera and keep my hand still at the same time.

 




as above

 





Diptera

The only insects liking the persistent rain are flies. They are out in their droves - especially with the current humidity. There is a complete lack of butterflies who need sunlight both to collect nectar and feed and also to find a mate. Patches of sunlight would do it but we don't even seem to be able to provide this.
My lack of recent posts reflect the dampening effect of our weather on the insect population. My only hope is raised expectations for a spectacular fungi season.

there are several wasp-like flies, the give away being the fly eyes and antennae

Graphomyia Maculata ,mainly found on waterside flowers

Leucozona Lucorum

I can only think that given how tiny this was and a lack of other identification in my reference book this is a young Scorpian fly

this fascinating and perfectly constructed papery cocoon is possibly that of a moth such as The Burnet

Meadow Plant Bug

Soldier beetle

The Cinnabar- loves ragwort on which it feeds gregariously

The Burnet, a day flying moth which protects itself with distasteful poisons and spends a lot of time resting on flowers