Secret life of a cramp ball

[rich59]

Wayne recently noted that cramp balls are a habitat for some rare bugs. Anyone got more info on that?

I found http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-8790%28197102%2940%3A1%3C17%3ATAFDCA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-X&size=LARGE&origin=JSTOR-enlargePage that described 4-5 bugs that are probably only found in cramp balls.

Also I have noted that in May fresh, live cramp balls show another side of their characters. They go hairy and dusty.

I presume this when it spreads it spore? The rest of the year it seems fairly innert.

I guess the message of this, like all other stuff we collect in the wild, is that we should only take what we need and always leave plenty at the sight of collection.

 

[Fenlander]

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=12707

 

[rich59]

Thanks for that Fenlander.

A quick search suggests a typo on the cramp ball weevil name. Probably should be - Anthribidae Platyrhinus, or Platyrhinus resinosus

 

[xylaria]

Here is a list of other fungus weevils
http://www.bioimages.org.uk/HTML/T33807.HTM

The relationships between fungi and insects are fascinating. Most of the maggots that are found in macro fungi are drosophila larvae. They land on the underneath eat some the spores then lay their eggs into the trama. There is nearly an hundred percent germination of the spore they consume into primary mycelium. Which is far higher than just air dispersal.

Ecosystems are complicated things but you can see why I don't like commercial foraging of any kind. Buying fungi of E-bay or eating in london restaurant means you never meet a weevil or learn why drysophila are important. and therefore never have an idea what you are doing to the environment you choosing to consume.

 

[dommyracer]

Interesting stuff. Not only about the bugs, but this also caught my eye:-

"The area studied was in High Woods, Bexhill on Sea. This piece of woodland had been burnt previously and the fungus was growing on burnt oak, birch and gorse"

 

[xylaria]

There is a species than only grows on burnt wood called Daldinia vernicosa, it is porous on the outside rather than shiny. some anti cancer chemicals have been found in it too,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10715842&dopt=Abstract

http://nifg.proboards54.com/index.cgi?board=identity&action=display&thread=1175697944&page=1

I don't fully understand why some fungi require fire to germinate or fruit. Most of the daldinias I see are on burnt gorse but they quite abit smaller than the ones than I find on fallen trees. The concentric rings that are found inside d.concentrica are like growth rings. The outer most ring is the current years perithecia (reproductive surface).

 

[rich59]

The concentric rings that are found inside d.concentrica are like growth rings. The outer most ring is the current years perithecia (reproductive surface).

Have I got the life history of cramp balls right? My casual observation of them growing in various spots locally suggests that they grow rapidly to their full size from nothing over a couple of months. At this stage they are brown in colour. Then I think they actively shed black spores from the surface in about May. After that I think they are dormant or dead and are of a black colour.

 

[xylaria]

Have I got the life history of cramp balls right? My casual observation of them growing in various spots locally suggests that they grow rapidly to their full size from nothing over a couple of months. At this stage they are brown in colour. Then I think they actively shed black spores from the surface in about May. After that I think they are dormant or dead and are of a black colour.

I got that 'fact' from Courtecuisse collins field guide. He is a cited mycologist who advises the EU on fungi. But there is things in the guide which i think are wrong. Notably the essay on toxicology contains some blatantly incorrect information. My personal experience is closer to yours in that it appears to grow to certain size quickly.