Rhagodima cf. nigrocincta

Cincta (cinctus, cinctum) in latin means "surrounded by". So the portmanteau "nigrocincta" can mean "surrounding by black color". This might refer to colors and patterns on the abdomen of this species. Or it may not refer to black patches on some legs which does not form full circle/ring as in R. Annulata.

But these informations are not clear to me as per the description by Henry Meyners Bernard who described the species as Rhax nigrocincta along with Rhax Howesii (currently assigned as Rhagodes melanopygus). Another information I can find is that as per Simon's 1885 description R. annulata has body length of 18mm and as per Bernard's description of R. nigrocincta is around 1.25 to 2 inches. T̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶p̶e̶c̶i̶m̶e̶n̶ ̶w̶e̶ ̶s̶a̶w̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶a̶r̶o̶u̶n̶d̶ ̶1̶.̶2̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶1̶.̶5̶ ̶i̶n̶c̶h̶e̶s̶ ̶l̶o̶n̶g̶.̶ (The specimen was just 2 cms long after I re-checked the video where it climbed to my friend's hand. Videograb is attached as last photo.)

Henry Meyners Bernard's 1894 article on the species called "On two new species of Rhax. Journal of Linnean Soicety London" can be read here: https://ww.rcin.org.pl/dlibra/publication/88759/edition/67942/content?ref=struct

The illustrations on the book has been digitized and uploaded to Wiki Commons over here:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rhagodima_nigrocincta.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rhagodima_nigrocincta_cutted.jpg

Comparing the images above I can see similar black patches on the legs. Also the white moustache pattern has good resemblance on the individual. But I don't see the spurs specified in illustrations.

Note: I am not conforming on the species level identification here. I have just added my notes here for future reference for anybody who wants to take this subject for research.

Featured links:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_IRP2ZA02t/

https://twitter.com/inaturalist/status/1251551116027805698

https://www.facebook.com/inaturalist/posts/pfbid02Fja8b97GMMmc4V5FAbNAoccbEETKiDDF59KX7BzdsWV3rqReRq1x4HJa4T9m41cFl

While doing homework on a bench, this chipmunk jumped on to see what I was doing. I let her take a look but she only got to the search bar and gave up. So I put on some of my chipmunk pictures for her to see. Posed for observation https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/129984459

In wood chip landscaping. Mild mushroom odor and flavor. Cap extremely viscid!

Spores measure

(6.9) 7.2 - 8 (9) × (3.8) 4.1 - 4.7 (4.8) x (3.6) 3.9 - 4.4 (4.5) µm
Q = (1.6) 1.64 - 1.87 (1.9) ; N = 30
Me = 7.7 × 4.4 µm ; Qe = 1.7

Drama. These guys all normally get along pretty well, but here a squirrel decided to start something and nearly got kicked in the head as reward. Moments later they were back to munching sunflower seeds side-by-side again.

Uploaded on behalf of the collector, Kym Brennan

Small, fragile, 10cm tall. In leaf mould in heavy shade, lowland spring-fed monsoon forest, on drier part towards margin.

This is a normal gilled mushroom that has a very thin cap flesh, which splits radially (between the gills). Further drying lifts and twists the gill-segments into the flower shape in the image. The type specimen from Vanauatu had the same form on all fruitbodies, but the author was unsure whether this was an oddity, or the normal condition. The find of this Australian specimen shows that it is the norm, but it would be great to find young fruitbodies to understand exactly of the final form develops – at what point in development does it depart from a mushroom shape?

The species is Hausknechtia floriformis, a monotypic genus only described in 2020, with a single species described (by Anton Hausknecht) in 2003, previously only known from Vanuatu. I have been on the lookout for it, great to know it occurs in Australia too.

A link to the genus description: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11557-020-01606-3

A link to the original species description: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjwh767wJD0AhWQXisKHV56AnkQFnoECAgQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zobodat.at%2Fpdf%2FOestZPilz_12_0031-0040.pdf&usg=AOvVaw2rG4jlSDVwwBUmwAkpRYGM

been trying to figure out where this bird was for two years... persistence, a hunch and a tip put this one on my life list after I shed a few tears, did a jig, and gave out a loud yelp later in the day

hunting from nearby tree, about 10:30am, looking intently down at snow, then landed and mantled for a couple of minutes, burying its head into the snow several times before flying off in the opposite direction

Raríssima e pouco conhecida, essa planta parasita fungos micorrízicos. São conhecidos apenas dois indivíduos que estão depositados em uma coleção cientifica do Rio. Essa é a primeira foto na natureza dessa espécie.

I'm always on the look out for this and usually manage to find it once a year, always at a different site.
You can see the stem of the Cystoderma amianthinum which is swollen as the parasite pushes up through it. And the remain can also be seen on the cap.

3340 meters elevation. On the mossy side of a ravine.

Lamellar trama interwoven. Pileipellis interwoven.

Spores hyaline, 8 × 4 μm, shaped like a comma. No germ pore, hilar appendage conspicuous.

I counted about thirty fruitbodies of this species at this spot today, many thanks to Carol Selter for the tip on where to find them!

Spores inamyloid, smooth, tapered-ellipsoid to pip-shaped. Basidia clamped at base. Some basidia 2-spored. Pileipellis a cutis of inflated, minutely incrusted hyphae with small clamps; occasionally with small, diverticulae or "anastomosing with "H" connections"/fusions between hyphae.

Spores:
L x W= 9 x 5 µm Q= 1.8
L x W=8 x 6 µm Q= 1.3
L x W=9.5 x 6 µm Q= 1.6
L x W= 9 x 5.5 µm Q= 1.6
L x W= 8 x 5.5 µm Q= 1.5
L x W= 11 x 7 µm Q= 1.6

Average:
L x W: 9.1 x 5.8 Q = 1.6