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Hi, Our survey at Longshaw does have a downside – we pick, inevitably, to identify. I got handed this Scarlet Caterpillarclub rather unnecessarily so I took it home to photograph it. The Nikon macro set-up crashed, so I had to put everything under the stereo microscope and use the Fukifilm. I was gob-smacked to see spores flying out, some making a parabolic turn and others flying off into the room. I did a video and managed to get some stills. There are some much better videos on You-tube e.g.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsSCnLrbVG8 If my specimen stays OK I’ll take it back and “replant” it so it can shoot its spores where it really wants to!
Steve
Steve wrote:Hi,
Our survey at Longshaw does have a downside – we pick, inevitably, to identify. I got handed this Scarlet Caterpillarclub rather unnecessarily so I took it home to photograph it. The Nikon macro set-up crashed, so I had to put everything under the stereo microscope and use the Fukifilm. I was gob-smacked to see spores flying out, some making a parabolic turn and others flying off into the room. I did a video and managed to get some stills. There are some much better videos on You-tube e.g.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsSCnLrbVG8 If my specimen stays OK I’ll take it back and “replant” it so it can shoot its spores where it really wants to!
Steve
Great video clip! I’ve posted this as a link on Glamorgan Fungus Group Facebook page. Glamorgan VC41 has plenty of C.militaris and still being found in January 2016. This one doesn’t seem to be so picky with host as most ‘Cordyceps’ seem to be. In VC41 it has been found on Crane Fly (possibly Tipula paludosa) pupae. Project ongoing to try and id hosts but this can be difficult as they are often too far digested to id! I think it is Nottingham University that has research project investigating anti cancer properties. Commercial ‘Cordyceps’ products are widely promoted for a big range of ‘therapeutic’ properties – originally Ophiocordyceps (?) sinensis mainly from Tibet but a lot of raw material is now from Peru – a different genus/species I think.Mark
Hi Mark, The turf at Longshaw is often so compacted it’s impossible to dissect the Cordyceps “prey”. I didn’t bother with my specimen, although it looked as though it might be on a leatherjacket, and I replanted it on Thursday. Here’s a nice one we found last year -Ophiocordyceps ditmarii, on a wasp inside what looks like a hazelnut shell.
Cheers,
Steve
[attachment=1]Ophiocordyceps ditmarii – Copysnip2.JPG[/attachment] 
[attachment=0]Ophiocordyceps ditmarii under stereo microscope – Copysnip.jpg[/attachment]
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