DSC_0790 Candlesnuff fungus (Xylaria hypoxylon) a bioluminescent fungi, and one of the last fungi to attack rotting wood. Growing here around the base of the trunk of a Peppermint gum. Although it is bioluminescent, you almost need 'night vision goggles' to see the light, formed as the phosphorus accumulated within the mycelium reacts with oxygen and other chemicals in the fungus. Dunedin *
DSC_9159 Green muscardine fungus (Metarhizium frigidum) infecting a Wellington tree weta (Hemideina crassidens). These well-known entomopathogenic fungi are present in soils around the world, and have been be used as bio-control agents in agriculture, against soil dwelling insects. Denniston Plateau *
DSC_5584 The entomopathogenic fungus (Akanthomyces aranearum) - typically the host is a spider as seen here - in a decaying beech log in silver beech forest. The fungus was originally described from North America where it is found in association with Cordyceps thaxteri. However, in NZ the Cordyceps state associated with the Akanthomyces has not been found. Waikaia River *
