slime mold fruiting bodies

leocarpus fragilis

Description:

Leocarpus fragilis belongs to the supergroup Amoebozoa, phylum Mycetozoa, class Myxomycetes and order Physarales. Fruiting bodies are very small, 2 mm in diameter. The are ovoid shaped and their colour ranges from vivid yello to reddish-brown. The surface is very smooth and shinny. It is typically yellow in color, and eats fungal spores, bacteria, and other microbes. It is not a fungus. It is easy to confound with Fuligo septica, with yellow colour, but without visible fruiting bodies.

Habitat:

This Myxomycete is very common and wide extended. Can appear during any part of the year but more frequently during automn. Usually on grass rests, pine needles, wood, scats or plants twigs. I found it in an oen pine trees and Holm oaks forest

Notes:

Camera Model: Apple iPad 2 Exposure Time: 1/30 sec. Aperture Value: 2.53 EV (f/2.4) ISO Speed Rating: 500 Focal Length: 2.0 mm

Species ID Suggestions

4 Comments

arlanda 12 years ago

Added to Beauty of Decay mission

arlanda 12 years ago

thanks Clive!

arlanda 12 years ago

Thanks AlexKonig, I agree with you, it looks very much like leocarpus fragilis.
A couple of months ago I found a little forest in the outskirts of Madrid with mixed pine trees and Holm oaks that is full of slime molds, that I did not know until then, and lots of small mushrooms, most of them I am still trying to identify. And besides this has been a very bad year for mushrooms here!!

AlexKonig 12 years ago

hi arlanda, it seems that i should come into your area for slime mold hunt, you have found many nice specimen. I'm not sure, but i think, i already gave you this link ( http://www.google.nl/#hl=nl&cp=13&am... ), take a look at "leocarpus fragilis" in the pdf, (8 page/picture from behind). It looks similiar, from what i Can see?