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my local patch and wildlife - Ian McDonald
Vinny 123:
It all sounds remarkably unlikely - the fruiting body itself is effectively "dead" and very many are ephemeral, some very much so. The ones that are not ephemeral are woody, such as bracket fungi. Many fungi also very rapidly go mouldy. Fungi are really the mycelium.
The papers sound typical of science looking for an application where there has been no thought to anything beyond the initial science.
Melanins are generally browns and black (the red on a European robin is also a melanin). I would be interested to know what the pigments in various fungi actually are as very many are not colours classically associated with melanins (and more typical of carotenoids).
Jeffnz:
This topic does continue to be of interest to me.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/fungal-pigments#:~:text=Fungi%20are%20known%20to%20produce,violacein%2C%20indigo%2C%20and%20monascins.
Vinny 123:
By no means all fungi grow/irrupt in low light, or during short days, but many do. Fly agaric certainly does - often in woodland and in autumn.
What the paper has not done is suggest why protection from UV would be of benefit. I can't see any obvious ones. What we see as above-ground fungi are the, very frequently very ephemeral, equivalent to the seedcase of a broad bean or rose hip, the flesh of a blackberry or the husk of a conker or beech mast.
Fungi are not plants (they contain no cellulose, and something that the author appears not to realise/know, otherwise why would they mention "higher plants" as opposed to simply "plants"), but they are the nearest equivalent to fungi and the vast majority spend their entire lives in the sun. How many plants have sun-screen in their fruits?
This looks for all the world like an off-beat case of confusing correlation with causation.
I have skim read the link and UV protection is mentioned in respect of spores, not the fruiting body, but I have only skim read it.
ian mcdonald:
A change in the weather from dull, cold and wet, to sunny and warm for the last seven days. There are now many insects around, including butterflies, bees, hoverflies and bee look-alikes. I,m not an entomologist and don,t know the difference between bees and similar species. Although there are many invertebrates here the Summer flowering plants have mostly gone over and the food source is no longer available. The Butterflies are making the most of the fine weather, with Peacocks in good numbers. Also seen these last few days are Speckled Wood, Whites and a Comma. I don,t know how this change in the climate will affect wildlife in the long term but I expect there will be an effect. A couple of years ago a local resident (now deceased) told me of an old bridge in the hills above the village. He referred to it as a Wade bridge. General Wade was in the English army and was sent to Scotland to look into the un-rest among the Scots people. He reported that Military roads should be built in Scotland to allow the movement of troops in an emergency. Many miles of roads were built with bridges where necessary. I have visited the bridge and sent photos to Heritage Scotland to see if they can date the bridge from its construction. While looking round the bridge I saw a Badgers latrine. When I went to put the bins out last night I saw a small hedgehog walking in the road. I picked it up and put it in the back garden. It went under the garden gate and onto some spare land at the back. The runner beans are now doing well, with many pods as a result of the increase in pollinators.
ian mcdonald:
A bee or similar on michelmas daisies by the river. Although an alien plant in the UK they are a late Summer food source for insects.
A pink form of Yarrow, Achillea millefolium.
Bean galls on Willow leaves.
Spider, possibly a Metallina species, on creeping thistle.
A dark Elephant Hawk moth caterpillar.
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