Collection #: 13
Scientific Name: Metatrichia Vesparium
Phylum: Myxomycete
Order: Trichiales
Family: Trichiaceae
Common Name: N/A
Location: Hiram College Field station
Habitat: surface of a log
Date of collecting: October 8th
Collector: Cornelia
Notes: Dark red in color; tiny for both individual and group.
How did I key this out:
Fig.1 Specimen in the field
Fig.2 Side view under a dissecting scope (with some fungi growing on it)
Fig.3 Top view under a dissecting scope (with some fungi growing on it)
Key to the orders of myxomycetes:
1. (B) Fruiting bodies not as above; spores occurring in a mass within the fruiting body and enclosed (at least during the early stages of development) by a peridium (Fig.2) (2)
2. (B) True capillitium present, composed of more or less uniform elements and usually readily apparent (occasionally considerably reduced or lacking) (3)
3. (B) Fruiting bodies larger (usually more than 0.3 millimeter in diameter or more than 0.5 millimeter tall), more robust, stalked or sessile (4)
4. (A) Spore mass more or less brightly colored (rarely pallid or light brown); capillitium usually comspicuously sculptured and sometimes highly ornate (Order Trichiales)
Key to selected species within the order trichiales:
1. (B) Fruiting body a stalk or sessile sporangium (2)
2. (B) Sporangia with a well-developed stalk (Fig.2) (6)
6. (A) Sporangia red, maroon or red-brown (Fig.3) (7)
7. (A) Sporangia with a distinct, preformed operculum, ofter firmly united into clusters of several to many (Metatrichia vesparium)
Description of the species:
Fruiting body usually developed on well-decayed wood. With clustered spore cases on fused stalks (Fig.2); most sporangia have their dome-shaped lid still intact and unopened (Fig.3), other partially open with circumscissile dehiscence and tangled masses of capillitial threads in the same picture (actually I opened them with a pair of tweezers in order to key it out and study the spore mass during the keying process).
Description: Fruiting body a stalked (or rarely sessile) sporangium, gregarious to clustered, 1.0–1.5 mm tall. Sporotheca obovate, usually firmly united into clusters, erect, wine-red to dark maroon or sometimes nearly black, individual units 0.4–0.7 mm in diameter. Hypothallus membranous, contiguous for a group of sporangia, colourless to dark red. Peridium opaque, firm, shining, often with metallic reflections, dehiscence by a preformed dome-shaped operculum. Stalk solid, rather thick when supporting several sporothecae, brick red. Capillitium consisting of numerous long, free, rarely branched elaters, most of which are bent 180 degrees in the middle with the two halves coiled about one another, bearing three to five spiral bands and numerous spines 1–2 µm long, bright red to deep crimson, the tips blunt. Spores brownish red in mass, reddish orange by transmitted light, minutely warted, 9–11 µm in diameter. Plasmodium black but becoming deep red just prior to fruiting.
Habitat: Decaying wood or bark, particularly that from broadleaf trees; occasionally on dead leaves.
Distribution: Common and widely distributed in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphre and apparently less common in tropical regions and in the Southern Hemisphere. The first report of this species from New Zealand appears to have been that of Colenso (1891), which was based on a specimen (reported as ‘Hemiarcyria rubiginosa’) from Hawkes Bay. This name can not be applied with certainty to any taxon currently recognized (Lado & Pando 2001) but is likely to represent a corrupted version of Hemiarcyria rubiformis, an earlier name known to have been applied to what is now recognized as M. vesparium. The species also was reported from New Zealand (as Arcyria rubiformis) by Massee (1892), without giving a specific locality, and (as Hemitrichia vesparium) by Cheesman & Lister (1915), based on a specimen collected in Bay of Plenty.
Notes: The clustered sporangia of Metatrichia vesparium, which resemble miniature paper wasp nests, are distinctive. However, the lack of any recent collections suggests that the species is uncommon in New Zealand.
Collecting and keying story:
Fruiting body usually developed on well-decayed wood. With clustered spore cases on fused stalks (Fig.2); most sporangia have their dome-shaped lid still intact and unopened (Fig.3), other partially open with circumscissile dehiscence and tangled masses of capillitial threads in the same picture (actually I opened them with a pair of tweezers in order to key it out and study the spore mass during the keying process).
Description: Fruiting body a stalked (or rarely sessile) sporangium, gregarious to clustered, 1.0–1.5 mm tall. Sporotheca obovate, usually firmly united into clusters, erect, wine-red to dark maroon or sometimes nearly black, individual units 0.4–0.7 mm in diameter. Hypothallus membranous, contiguous for a group of sporangia, colourless to dark red. Peridium opaque, firm, shining, often with metallic reflections, dehiscence by a preformed dome-shaped operculum. Stalk solid, rather thick when supporting several sporothecae, brick red. Capillitium consisting of numerous long, free, rarely branched elaters, most of which are bent 180 degrees in the middle with the two halves coiled about one another, bearing three to five spiral bands and numerous spines 1–2 µm long, bright red to deep crimson, the tips blunt. Spores brownish red in mass, reddish orange by transmitted light, minutely warted, 9–11 µm in diameter. Plasmodium black but becoming deep red just prior to fruiting.
Habitat: Decaying wood or bark, particularly that from broadleaf trees; occasionally on dead leaves.
Distribution: Common and widely distributed in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphre and apparently less common in tropical regions and in the Southern Hemisphere. The first report of this species from New Zealand appears to have been that of Colenso (1891), which was based on a specimen (reported as ‘Hemiarcyria rubiginosa’) from Hawkes Bay. This name can not be applied with certainty to any taxon currently recognized (Lado & Pando 2001) but is likely to represent a corrupted version of Hemiarcyria rubiformis, an earlier name known to have been applied to what is now recognized as M. vesparium. The species also was reported from New Zealand (as Arcyria rubiformis) by Massee (1892), without giving a specific locality, and (as Hemitrichia vesparium) by Cheesman & Lister (1915), based on a specimen collected in Bay of Plenty.
Notes: The clustered sporangia of Metatrichia vesparium, which resemble miniature paper wasp nests, are distinctive. However, the lack of any recent collections suggests that the species is uncommon in New Zealand.
Collecting and keying story:
This specimen was also collected from the Hiram College field station, from this log with all sorts of slime molds, lichens and mushrooms on it. At first we didn't quite see this specimen since it has a similar color with the log; but after we see it we started to find it everywhere.
When we got back on campus, Caroline found a picture in a book of the Cribraria purpurea and we thought that was the species for this guy since they look very similar. However, after we learnt about how to key out a slime mold, we figured that they were quite different--the shape of the sporangia were completely different. So I went through a real keying process with Willa's help, and finally keyed this guy out. ^_^
When we got back on campus, Caroline found a picture in a book of the Cribraria purpurea and we thought that was the species for this guy since they look very similar. However, after we learnt about how to key out a slime mold, we figured that they were quite different--the shape of the sporangia were completely different. So I went through a real keying process with Willa's help, and finally keyed this guy out. ^_^
Phylum, order and family name cited from:
http://www.mycobank.org/Biolomics.aspx?Table=Mycobank&MycoBankNr_=317607
http://www.mycobank.org/Biolomics.aspx?Table=Mycobank&MycoBankNr_=317607
Keys cited from:
Myxomycetes--a handbook of slime molds by Steven L. Stephenson and Henry Stempen
Description cited from:
http://virtualmycota.landcareresearch.co.nz/webforms/vM_Species_Details.aspx?pk=31599
Myxomycetes--a handbook of slime molds by Steven L. Stephenson and Henry Stempen
Description cited from:
http://virtualmycota.landcareresearch.co.nz/webforms/vM_Species_Details.aspx?pk=31599
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