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Project Noah Nature School
Pilobolus sp.
These truly tiny fungi form heads like glass spheres on a stem topped with a black spot. Their presence might be detected initially by feeling small wet specs on bare skin like tiny rain. A single body is about 0.3 mm tall.
In a local state park eucalyptus forest. These appeared all over some herbivore dung (almost certain to be kangaroo).
The head of this structure includes a clear glass-like ball which uses sunlight to ‘focus’ on as it grows. When internal pressure is sufficient the black spore mass, or sporangiophore, is shot out at a fantastic speed. It is one of the fastest actions known in nature. The spores are shot up to 3 metres away from the source and are spread over surrounding vegetation to be consumed by another herbivore.
http://bugs.bio.usyd.edu.au/learning/res...
These are small enough to be beyond the capabilities of my camera.
phylum: Zygomycota
order: Mucorales
family: Pilobolaceae
http://bie.ala.org.au/species/a4fb96d0-c...
Spotted on May 26, 2014
Submitted on May 27, 2014
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