More Autumn Fungi

 As I said in my last post, this Autumn has been an excellent season for fungi and I have had plenty of opportunities to continue to hone my fungi identification skills, such as they are.

I am still very much a beginner and I have long since realised that it is not enough just to take photographs of your finds and expect to be able to make a positive identification from books when you get home. 

Some species are easy to identify but the vast majority are tricky to pin down to species level. I am learning to use bruise and peel tests when helpful but I still get home to check the books and read about another test that would have proved diagnostic.

Of the following images, I am fairly confident that most are correctly labelled but a few have been more tricky.

Orange Grisette (Amanita crocea)

Honey Fungus (Armillaria mellea)

White Saddle (Helvella crispa)

Penny Bun (Boletus edulis)

Bay Bolete (Imleria badia)

Orange Birch Bolete (Leccinum versipelle)

Beefsteak Fungus (Fistulina hepatica)

Blue Cheese Polypore (Postia caesia)

Giant Polypore (Meripilus giganteus)

Yellow Stagshorn (Calocera viscosa)

Blackening Waxcap (Hygrocybe conica)

This species changes colour and form as it ages and the following four images were taken of the same specimen over a two week period.

Rosy Bonnet (Mycena rosea)

The Russula group can be very confusing to identify to species level.

I think the following three are right, or maybe not!

Beechwood Sickener (Russula nobilis)

Dawn Brittlegill (Russula aurora)

Charcoal Burner (Russula cyanoxantha)

Stinkhorn Bonanza

 Autumn 2022 has been an excellent season for fungi in general and Devil's Fingers (also known as Octopus Stinkhorn) (Clathrus archeri) has produced a bumper crop of specimens at a favourite site in East Sussex.

Bob, David and I had spent the previous two or three seasons searching for this bizarre species of fungus but with only meagre finds.

This year, they have appeared in such density that you had to take care not to tread on them.

I also happened upon a small group of Dog Stinkhorn (Mutinus caninus), a species that I had not come across before.

Devil's Fingers (Clathrus archeri)

Dog Stinkhorn (Mutinus caninus)

Some Moths during October

 Whilst some interesting migrant moths are still being reported from coastal areas, my moth trapping season, 16 miles inland, seems to be petering out. Even with some mild overcast nights during October, my catches have been small but with a few seasonal favourites turning up.

Merveille du Jour (Dichonia aprilina)

Black Rustic (Aporophyla nigra)

Brindled Green (Dryobotodes eremita)

L-album Wainscot (Mythimna l-album)

Feathered Thorn (Colotois pennaria) (male)

Red-green Carpet (Chloroclysta siterata)

Boxworm (Cydalima perspectalis)

(normal and dark forms)

Riband Wave (Idaea aversata) (form remutata) 

(partial second brood)

Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata)

(partial third brood)