Fresh Stinkhorn

Monday Mushroom #91

This stinkhorn is brand new. The stinky, grey spore-mass - the gleba - attracts flies which will devour it in short order, dispersing the spores as they do so.

Phallus impudicus - stinkhorn

On top of the world! Phallus impudicus - stinkhorn.

For comparison, here is a photo of a stinkhorn completely denuded of spores.

Phlebia radiata on Birch

Phlebia radiata - wrinkled crust fungus

Some small spots of Phlebia radiata just pushing through the cracks in some dead birch bark.

My Favourite Topping

Fencepost of the Week #93

Cup-lichen is a bit of a favourite of mine... ^_^

Larch Bolette

Monday Mushroom #90

This is Suillus grevillei - the larch bolette. It always grows near larches. In Argyll it is often brown, though the guide books mostly describe it as yellow. Either way, the little woodland rodents seem to quite like nibbling on it.

Suillus grevillei - Larch Bolette, brown form.

Suillus grevillei - Larch Bolette - yellow form.

Orca Pod

Digital painting from back in 2003.

Sunbeams

Sunbeams in the woods.

Post from Cajas

Fencepost of the Week #92

This luxuriant outgrowth of lichens is the only fencepost I saw fit to photograph during my peregrinations in South America. It is from Cajas National Park, up in the mountains of Ecuador near the beautiful city of Cuenca.

Golden Woods

Girdled Knight

Monday Mushroom #89

Tricholoma cingulatum - Girdled knight

This is Tricholoma cingulatum - the girdled knight. A mushroom of damp willow woods. 

Tricholoma cingulatum - Girdled knight

Tricholoma cingulatum - Girdled knight

Auckland Tree Weta

Hemideina thoracica - Auckland tree weta

More noctournal New Zealand crickets! These are auckland tree wetas, Hemideina thoracica. The one above is reversing out of a tree knothole where it has spent the day resting - you can quite often glimpse the rear end of a tree weta by looking in small holes in trees.

Hemideina thoracica - Auckland tree weta

The large holes on their forelegs are actually ears - most grasshoppers, crickets and katydids have similar hearing organs.

Hemideina thoracica - Auckland tree weta

The photo above is of a corpse - they wouldn't normally come out in the open during the day like this.

Match-head Lichen Patch

Fencepost of the Week #91

Forest Edge

Friston Forest, Sussex, UK.

Green and Golden Bell Frog

Litoria aurea - Green and Golden Bell Frog

These are green and golden bell frogs - Litoria aurea - that were calling in a lagoon at night, and were attracted to my torch beam. They are not native to New Zealand, but introduced from Australia.

It's worth noting that this image is a composite of six separate photos - each of a single frog in a spotlight.

Tree Fern Understory

Lovely tree-fern understory in an exotic conifer plantation, by a mill pond full of green and golden bell frogs. Whakarewarewa Forest, Rotorua, NZ.

New Zealand Glow Worms

I found some New Zealand glow worms - Arachnocampa luminosa - last night. They’re a bit different from the ones I know from back in the UK. They produce chandeliers of sticky droplets to catch bugs in -> Wikipedia

Arachnocampa luminosa - New Zealand Glow Worm

Arachnocampa luminosa - New Zealand Glow Worm

Arachnocampa luminosa - New Zealand Glow Worm

Arachnocampa luminosa - New Zealand Glow Worm

Auckland Cave Weta

Gymnoplectron acanthocera - Auckland Cave Weta 

I photographed this Auckland Cave Weta - Gymnoplectron acanthocera - in the Waitakere Ranges when I was out on a rainy night looking for glow worms. Cave wetas mostly come out at night, though they are often seen during the day resting in nooks in garden sheds and other dark, quiet buildings.

Gymnoplectron acanthocera - Auckland Cave Weta 

This one is chowing down on a small bracket fungus.

Yellowing Curtain Crust

Monday Mushroom #88

The green colouration in the center of these brackets is caused by algae taking up residence in the older concentric zones.

Stereum subtomentosum - Yellowing Curtain Crust

Stereum subtomentosum - Yellowing Curtain Crust

Stereum subtomentosum - Yellowing Curtain Crust

Stereum subtomentosum - Yellowing Curtain Crust

Misty Beeches

Laminar Decay

Found this amazing piece of wood in the forest last sunday - it's not a fancepost - I think it's an incredibly delicately rotted larch tree.

It was somewhere around here...

Sun-Bleached in Somerset

Fencepost of the Week #90

Another sun-bleached post from the Mendips, Somerset.

Twig Parachute Mushroom

Monday Mushroom #87

This is Marasmiellus ramealis - the twig parachute mushroom. It mostly grows on old, dead bramble and raspberry canes (though other twigs will do.)

Marasmiellus ramealis - twig parachute mushroom

It's pretty tiny - maxes out at a cap-diameter of about 1.5cm.

Marasmiellus ramealis - twig parachute mushroom