304/366 Wild word: deliquesce

30 Friday Oct 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, fungi, molluscs

Tags

British fungi, Coprinus comatus, deliquesce, deliquescence, inkcap fungus, inkcaps, Shaggy inkcap, slug, slug eating fungus

Deliquesce: verb; (of organic matter) become liquid, typically during decomposition. Mid 18th century from Latin deliquescere ‘dissolve’, from de- ‘down’ + liquescere ‘become liquid’ (Oxford Dictionary).

201030 shaggy inkcap (1)

These Shaggy inkcaps (Coprinus comatus) may look sturdy and robust but, like all inkcaps and many other species of fungi, they only last a few days, sometimes as little as 24 hours, before turning into a rather disgusting-looking liquid mush, as shown by the specimen below. If you want to read more about the how and why of that process, about the inkcaps’ ‘habit of destroying themselves with their own enzymes’, check out The Dish on Deliquescence in Coprinus Species by Jonathan Landsman on the Cornell Mushroom blog.

Many humans may not know that inkcaps quickly deliquesce but slugs do. This slimy beastie was digging in to a Shaggy inkcap delicacy before the fungus had a chance to digest itself.

201030 shaggy inkcap (6)

291/365 Good weather for slugs

18 Friday Oct 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, molluscs, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Arion ater agg, Black slug, British molluscs, British slugs, slug

191018 Black slug (1)

I know Wales has a reputation for being a wet country but the past couple of weeks have been much wetter than any I’ve known in my four years here. Still, it’s good weather for slugs, which is why this large and colourful beastie was to be found sliding its way across my path today. It was about 3 inches long and I presume, despite its colour – they vary a lot, that it’s a Black slug (Arion ater agg.), a species that can only be positively identified by examination of its genitals. I’m not going there!

191018 Black slug (2)

Hello, hello, hello!

17 Sunday Sep 2017

Posted by sconzani in insects, molluscs, nature

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

critters say hello, slug, Speckled wood, Swollen-thighed beetle

The critters say hello!

170917 Hello from a slug 170917 Hello from a Speckled wood 170917 Hello from a Swollen-thighed beetle

Feeling sluggish

11 Friday Dec 2015

Posted by sconzani in fungi, nature, nature photography, slugs

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

cemetery, fungi, fungus, gastropod mollusc, Leopard slug, slug

Once the rain stopped this afternoon, I went out for a wander, looking to see if there were any new fungi after the dampness of recent days. What I found were shell-less terrestrial gastropod molluscs, big fat slippery slimy slugs that had at least partially devoured many of the tasty-to-them, newly sprouted mushrooms.

151211 slugs (2)

Isn’t it interesting that we use a lot of ‘slug’ idioms and expressions in the English language? If we are fighting, we are also slugging it out. If we’re working hard at a task, we’re slugging away at it. If we’re having a shot of alcohol, we’re having a slug of the drink. Well, today I saw many literal illustrations of the word sluggish: all those terrestrial gastropod molluscs, like the Leopard slug (Limax maximus) in my photos, were looking decidedly sluggish as they sleepily digested the hefty portions of fungi they’d consumed for their lunch.

151211 slugs (1)

In case you’re a gardener and think I should have killed this creature, this slug is actually one of the good guys. It won’t damage healthy living plants, preferring fungi, rotting plants and even other slugs, and it recycles nutrients, helping to fertilise the soil.

151211 slugs (3)