Friday
Mar072014

Tar Spot Fungus

What is probably Diatrypella quercina growing on a twig from an oak tree (Quercus sp).

I took the following specimen:

This yielded the following spores (magnification x600, field width 86um):

These are strongly curved and about 9 x 2um which agrees well with the "strongly curved, 8-12 microns long, 2-3 microns wide" given here at Pilzbestimmer.de.

First photo and specimen taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-02-22.

Thursday
Mar062014

Dock Bugs

From three and a half years back: a group of dock bugs, Coreus marginatus (Hemiptera: Coreidae).

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2010-09-10

Wednesday
Mar052014

Crust Fungus

A grey crust fungus, probably Peniophora cinerea, growing on a fallen beech branch (Fagus sp).

I took the following specimen home with me:

It yielded the following spores (magnification x600, field width 86um):

These are about 9.5 x 3.5um which is at the large end of the range 7-9(-10) x 2.5-3.5um given for Peniophora cinerea given here at MycoBank.

First photo and specimen taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-03-02.

Tuesday
Mar042014

Primrose

A common primrose, Primula vulgaris.

Photo taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2014-03-02.

Monday
Mar032014

Hoverfly

A female Episyrphus balteatus (Diptera: Syrphidae).  I have seen a few of these over the past few weeks.

Photo taken in Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2014-03-01.