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Umu otaota emoemo (Coprinellus micaceus)

• Agaricus micaceus povi
• Agaricus gathered Sowerby sense

Current name: Coprinellus micaceus (Bull.) Vilgalys, Hopple & Jacq. Johnson, Taxon 50 (1): 234 (2001)

Dung beetle is a fairly well-known and beautiful mushroom, it is widespread on all continents. Grows in groups on decaying wood, although the wood may be buried, making the fungus appear to be growing out of the ground. Flickering can be distinguished from other dung beetles by the small, mica-like granules that adorn the caps of young mushrooms (although rain often washes these granules). The color of the cap changes with age or weather conditions, but is usually a honey-brown or amber shade, with no grey.

Everything is not easy with the Flickering Dung beetle, about the same as with the Domestic Dung Bean and its “twin”, the Radiant Dung Bean (Coprinellus radians). The Twinkling Dung beetle also has a twin brother… at least some North American geneticists there believe. Free translation from Kuo:

The description of macroscopic characteristics below corresponds to several official species, all of which are commonly referred to as “Coprinus micaceus” in field guides. Officially, Coprinellus micaceus should have calocystidia (and thus a very finely hairy stem surface) and mitriform (bishop’s hat-shaped) spores. In contrast, Coprinellus truncorum has a smooth stem (hence no calocystidia) and more elliptical spores. Preliminary DNA results by Ko et al. (2001) indicate the possibility that Coprinellus micaceus and Coprinellus truncorum are genetically identical—although this only becomes apparent in Keirle et al. (2004), who show that two specimens of “Coprinellus micaceus” those tested by Ko et al. were initially identified as Coprinellus truncorum.

But while this is only a study, these species have not yet been officially synonymized (as of October 2021).

ulu: 2-5 cm, oval when young, widening to broadly domed or bell-shaped, sometimes with a slightly wavy and/or ragged edge. The color of the cap is honey brown, buff, amber or sometimes lighter, fading and paler with age, especially towards the edge. The edge of the cap is corrugated or ribbed, about half the radius or a little more.

The whole hat is abundantly covered with small scales-granules, similar to fragments of mica or pearl chips, they are white and iridescent in sunlight. They can be completely or partially washed away by rain or dew, therefore, in grown mushrooms, the hat often turns out to be “naked”.

papatusi: free or weakly adherent, frequent, narrow, light, whitish in young mushrooms, later gray, brownish, brown, then turn black and blur, turning into black “ink”, but usually not completely, but about half the height of the cap. In very dry and hot weather, the caps of the shimmering dung beetle can dry out without having time to melt into “ink”.

vae: 2-8 cm long and 3-6 mm thick. Central, even, smooth to very finely hairy. White throughout, fibrous, hollow.

Pulp: from white to whitish, thin, soft, brittle, fibrous in the stem.

Sogisogi ma tofo: Without features.

Vailaau: Ammonia stains the flesh of the shimmering dung beetle in a light purple or pinkish color.

Fa'ailoga o le pauta o le spore: black.

uiga mata'utia:

Feeseeseaiga 7-11 x 4-7 µm, subelliptical to mitriform (similar to a clergyman’s miter), smooth, flowing, with a central pore.

Bazidi 4-spored, surrounded by 3-6 brachybasidia.

Saprophyte, fruiting bodies are formed in groups, sometimes very large, on decaying wood. Note: Wood can be buried deep in the ground, say dead roots, making mushrooms appear above ground.

Spring, summer and autumn, until frost. Very common in cities, gardens, parks, yards and roadsides, but also found in forests. Widely distributed on all continents where there are forests or shrubs. After the rains, huge colonies “shoot out”, they can occupy an area of ​​​​up to several square meters.

The shimmering dung beetle, like all similar dung beetles, is quite edible at a young age, until the plates turn black. Only caps are eaten, since the legs, despite the fact that they are very thin, can be chewed badly due to the fibrous structure.

Pre-boiling is recommended, about 5 minutes of boiling.

Mushrooms need to be cooked as soon as possible after harvest, as the autolysis process will occur whether the mushrooms are harvested or continue to grow.

There are quite a lot of dung beetles in honey-brown tones, and they are all very similar. To determine by macro-features, it is necessary to look, first of all, at the presence or absence of brownish shaggy fibers on the substrate from which the mushrooms grow. This is the so-called “ozonium”. If it is, we have either a home dung beetle, or a species close to the Home dung beetle. The list of similar species will be supplemented and updated in the article “Domestic dung beetle”.

Pigi otaota (Coprinellus domesticus)

And species similar to it differ from those “similar to Flickering” by the presence of ozonium – a thin reddish coating in the form of intertwined hyphae, this “carpet” can occupy a fairly large area.

If there is no ozonium, then we probably have one of the species close to the flickering dung beetle, and then you need to look at the size of the mushrooms and the color of the granules with which the hat is “sprinkled”. But this is a very unreliable sign.

Umu otaota suka (Coprinellus saccharinus)

The hat is covered with the finest whitish, not shiny, fluffy scales. Microscopically, the differences in the size and shape of the spores are more ellipsoidal or ovoid, less pronounced miter than in Flickering.

Umu otaota (Coprinellus truncorum)

It differs in a more folded hat, on it, in addition to the “ribs” common for dung beetles, there are also larger “folds”. The coating on the cap is white, fine-grained, not shiny

Umu lapisi o le vaomatua (Coprinellus silvaticus)

Spores are ovoid and almond-shaped. The coating on the hat is in rusty brownish tones, the particles are very small and very short-lived.

It should be said that if the ozonium is not clearly expressed, the mushrooms are not young, and the coating (“granules”) on the hat has darkened or been washed away by rain, then identification by macro-features becomes impossible, since everything else is the size of the fruiting bodies, ecology, fruiting mass and color. caps – signs are rather unreliable and strongly intersect in these species.

Video about the mushroom Dung beetle flickering:

Ata: mai fesili i le "Qualifier".