Conopid Flies

A pair of Conopid flies, probably Conops quadrifasciatus (Diptera: Conopidae), mating on a thistle head.

Photos taken in the field below Chazey Wood, near Caversham, UK, on 2012-08-20.

Birch Polypore Fungus

Birch polypore fungus, Piptoporus betulinus, growing on a decaying birch log (Betula sp).  This fungus is common wherever there are decaying birch trees.

I collected the following small specimen:

The underside was covered with pores, about 3 per mm:

The specimen only gave off a few small spores.  These are shown in the following image (x600, image width about 86um).

These spores are about 4 x 1.5 um in size, which agrees well with the 3-6 x 1.5-2um given at MushroomExpert.com.

First photo taken and specimen collected in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-12-15.

Toothed Crust Fungus

A toothed crust fungus, probably Steccherinum ochraceum growing on an oak twig (Quercus sp).  The scale is given by the millimetre rule at the bottom.

The following image shows the spores at x600 magnification.  They are about 3 x 2um (the image is about 86um wide) which agrees reasonably well with the 3.5-5 x 2-2.5um given at MushroomExpert.com.

Specimen collected in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-12-23.

Springtails

A few weeks back I found some small animals on some fungi I had collected.  They appear to be three different species of springtail. (Collembola). 

[Note added 2012-12-25: They were actually on the Xylaria longipes shown here.  I have since also found them on Xylaria hypoxylon.  Maybe there is an association between Collembola and Xylaria spp or with the places that Xylaria spp grow?]

Springtails are arthropods but are not classed as insects.

Specimens collected in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK on 2012-12-09.

Reddish Crust Fungus

A reddish crust fungus, probably Eichleriella deglubans, growing on a horse-chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum).

The spores (prepared by the method given here) look like this at x600:

From the image width of 86um, the spores are about 16 x 6um which agrees well with the size range 12-18 x 6-7um for the European form given here at MycoBank.

First photo taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading, UK, on 2012-12-18.