Mixed bag of mushrooms

We’ve got a bit of a mixed bag this week. Just some things that I’ve come across on my wanderings around the village, which haven’t been too adventurous since the arrival of little Dusty, mainly sticking to the paved areas. That’s not to say there’s nothing interesting to see! Others have been sent to me..

I didn’t need to go any further than my drive to see two weird looking mushrooms. Now I am in no way a mushroom expert and have consulted Roger Phillips ‘Mushrooms’ book on this but I’m pretty sure they are: a wavy dark brown one - bay cup Peziza badia - the Peziza part of the name means that it has no foot and badia describes the colour ‘bay’ reddish brown. They have quite a clever method of propagation, waiting for particles of dry sand or other debris to blow across them in a breeze, some of which will land in the cup, triggering the release of tiny spores that are then widely distributed.

The other ‘shrooms on my drive are, and I’m not at all confident about this identification, I think pear-shaped or stump puffball Apioperdon pyriforme until recently, this mushroom’s latin name was Lycoperdon which literally means 'wolf's flatulence', I guess by the scope of reference required for the role, this is the downside of a taxonomist’s job..

I had to venture as far as the Village Hall sports field to find the slightly more characteristic scarlet waxcap Hygrocybe coccinea - Hygrocybe means ‘watery head’, much like I have had for most of this summer, and coccinea as in the food colouring from the cochineal insect, means ‘bright red’.

I’m pretty sure that I saw a giant puffball in the village driving back from Wesbury station one morning at about 7.30am, by the time I went to check it out at about 9am it was gone! Hot property amongst foragers the puffball!! You know who you are!!

Moving on to some flies, don’t say that I don’t spoil you..

First up, the yellow swarming fly Thaumatomyia notata, a species of grass fly, they feed on nectar, so act as a pollinator; go through a couple of generations in summer, then overwinter as adults, this answers the question I was asked by a neighbour “why are there so many flies swarming at the moment?” Fly numbers build up over the summer, then the overwintering flies tend to swarm or congregate in (or when looking for) suitable spots for hibernating. Often these are warm places like your house. Sorry.. Come spring / summer, their larvae though live in the roots of grasses and are carnivorous, feeding on root aphids.

Next, the short-horned fly Anthomyia procellaris, these flies are mainly found in wooded habitats and hedgerows, their larvae are associated with birds nests and feed on bird droppings.

And the bonus this month is a pair of red-legged shield bugs having sex on our wheelie bin. Who said romance is dead!