Entoloma

Entoloma
Algonquin Provincial Park, Bat Lake
25 June 2006

Entoloma are very difficult to identify to species. The stain on the gills is indicative of the pink spore colour indicative of Entoloma. It looks something like Entoloma clypeatum in George Barron's "Mushrooms of Ontario and Eastern Canada," but it would only be guessing to label it as this species. For a description of the Rove Beetle in this picture, see under insects.

Fungus Rove Beetle

Oxyporus quinquemaculatus
Algonquin Provincial Park (Bat Lake)
25 June, 2006

These beetles are from the family Staphylinidae (Rove Beetles), subfamily Oxyporinae, genus Oxyporus. Stephen Marshall indicates that the family Staphylinidae "constitutes one of the last great frontiers in North American beetle taxonomy." Staphylinidae is the largest family of beetles in North America and it is possible that less than half of the species have been identified yet. Marshall says that "Rove beetles are usually predacious, but some feed on fungal spores or tissue..." If you look at the first picture, above, you can see that these beetles have been doing a pretty good job of eating this Entoloma fungus.

Forked Fungus Beetle

Bolitotherus cornutus
Bat Lake, Algonquin Provincial Park
June 25, 2006
(Found on Shelf Fungus, Fomitopsis pinicola)

The Forked Fungus Beetle is a member of the Superfamily Tenebrionoidea, family Zopheridae (Ironclad Beetles). The Tenebrionidae are referred to as "darkling beetles" because most of the are black or brown. Stephen Marshall (Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity, Firefly, 2006) says of this species that they "stay close to hard shelf fungi or bracket fungi, rarely moving between fungi on different trees in the same forest." They are mostly nocturnal and produce a brown stain of defensive chemicals that burn or discolor skin. The pictures above are of a female.

Fomitopsis pinicola

Algonquin Provincial Park, Bat Lake
25 June, 2006

I believe that these are three different examples of the same species. All growing on dead stumps and commonly called the Red-belted Polypore. Roger Phillips (Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America) says that this is the most commonly collected Polypore in North America.

Frosted Whiteface

Algonquin Provincial Park, Bat Lake
25 June, 2006

White Admiral

Algonquin Provincial Park, Bat Lake
25 June, 2006

Whatever was in this scat, the butterflies really seemed to be enjoying. Being in shit doesn't always mean you're in trouble.

Check out this posting at Bootstrap Analysis for more on Lepidoptera and scat. Thanks to Norene for the link!

Suillus granulatus

Algonquin Park, Bat Lake
25 June, 2006

This was growing beside the path in some moss. The roots were anchored to the rootlet of a coniferous tree. The cap was 7.5 cm. The stem was 8 cm. The flesh inside the cap is white. The brown skin peels off easily to reveal the white flesh.
Identifying almost any mushroom can be very difficult. In this case one look at the pore surface tells you that it is a Bolete. The two subgroups, Boletus and Tylopilus usually have stalks that are covered with a network of veins (i.e. are reticulate). In the subgroup Leccinum the stalk is always Scabrous. In the subgroup Suillus the stalk frequently has these speckled, glabrous, dots. All of this I determined from looking at "Mushrooms Demystified" by David Arora. I then went to the key in "Mushrooms of Northeastern North America" by Bessette, Bessette, and Fischer and looked at the key for Suillus. This guide is my first choice because it deals only with mushrooms of the Northeastern area. The description and picture of S. granulatus best met the mushroom that I was looking at.

Crimson-Ringed Whiteface

Leucorrhinia glacialis
Algonquin Park, Bat Lake
25 June, 2006

Dunkle says that it is impossible to tell the male Crimson-Ringed Whiteface from the male red form Red-Waisted Whiteface. I have opted for my identification on the basis of some circumstantial evidence. Dunkle says that males from Ontario eastward are mostly White Form. Crimson-Ringed and Red-Waisted both frequent boggy, marshy, habitat and from May to August or September.

Algonquin Provincial Park: Bat Lake

A view from the Bat Lake hiking trail
25 June, 2006

I took my son back to Algonquin for his second summer working as a Park Naturalist. After I dropped him off I hiked the 5.6 km Bat Lake trail. It was overcast most of the time so not the best for odes. I photographed a few interesting mushrooms and some insects. Because the brush was so dense most of the time there was little to see. I understand Bat Lake is a good spot for odeing because there are no fish in the Lake. I did see a few different species: the ubiquitous Chalk-fronted Corporal, a couple of Widow Skimmers, and many White-face.

Xerula furfuracea

Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario
10 August, 2005

Dacrymyces palmatus

Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario
10 August, 2005

Christiansenia mycetophila, Gymnopus dryophilus

Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario

10 August, 2005

Christiansenia mycetophila (Collybia Jelly) attacks the gilled mushroom, Gymnopus dryophilus.

Pyncoporus cinnabarinus

Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario
10 August, 2005

Bunchberry

Cornus canadensis L.

Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario
August 10, 2005

If you come to Algonquin in June you'll find this common plant in beautiful white flower but by summer the flower is gone and these red berries take their place. The booklet "Wildflowers of Algonquin Park" explains that this plant is a member of the dogwood family. Many of these plants are connected by roots that are parts of one larger plant that may cover many square metres.

Fireweed

Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario
August 10, 2005

This colourful weed occurs throughout North America and Asia and is the national flower of Russia (One person's weed is another person's flower). It grows prolifically in areas that have been disturbed either by people or by nature. I found this one (in the company of many others) along Highway 60 in Algonquin Park.

Pitcher Plant

Spruce Bog Trail, Algonquin Park, Ontario
11 August, 2005

Richard Dawkins has a wonderful description of how this plant works in "Climbing Mount Improbable." This is an insect eating plant. The plant produces a perfume attractive to insects, the sides of the cups are slippery, there are downward facing hairs that impede a climb to safety, and a little pool of water in which to drown. The plant can't chew them up so it gets a little help from some other life forms. Maggots and other creatures find a home in this liquid which is unusually rich in oxygen to provide a good environment for them. The maggots consume the drowned insects and turn them into a form that can be absorbed through the lining of the pitcher. Dawkins is at his best describing the science behind the diversity of biological life around us, he also shows considerable creativity in developing a scientific mythology of the origin of life.