10
WOOLLY WOOD-CHIP FUNGUS
You won't find this fungus in the popular guides to mushrooms and toadstools as it was
only described in 1984. It grows typically on wood chips, which is a common habitat in
the Hanningfield reserve. Its woolly veil on the cap and stipe, and its strong, distinctive
smell make it a conspicuous specimen, so it is surprising that this find was only the third
British record. Its scientific name is Psathyrella sacchariolens. I found it during a
Spring foray with Claire Cadman, the Warden, on 24th April 1998. Later I identified it
and sent it to Nick Legon who is the member of the British Mycological Society who
specialises in the genus. Much to Claire's delite its rarity was confirmed. I look forward
to more forays with Claire; perhaps next time will set a new British record. You never
can tell with fungi.
MAGNIFICENT MORELS
Stan Hudgell turned up trumps with some morels in his reserve at Elms Spinney on 23rd
April 1998. He brought one to me, and we went off hot-foot to photograph them. At
least 17 fruiting bodies were present during this very wet April. I identified it as
Mitrophora semilibera, the Half-free Morel, so called because its cap spreads out like a
little skirt, and does not fuse at the rim with the stipe. It is the most frquently found
morel in this country, but as a group they are not very common. This find goes to show
that fungi can be found most of the year when it is wet and warm. Some can even sui'vive
the frost - so keep your eyes open for fungi.
Tony Boniface
A RARE BEE FLY REDISCOVERED IN ESSEX
During a visit to Star Lane Brick Pits at Little Wakering in south-east Essex on the 20th
May I took a single female of the bee-fly Bombylius discolor flying along the side of a
path. This is the first record of this Nationally Scarce fly in Essex since the late 1960s
when the species was taken at Don Down's garden at Thundersley. There are three other
records for Essex: an undated 1962 record, again at Thundersley, from the Biological
Records Centre at Monks Wood, a specimen taken on the 24th April 1962 at Colchester
and a specimen taken on the 27th March 1948 at Leigh-on-Sea both in the Natural
History Museum. I am grateful to Colin Plant for providing me with this information.
The insect looks rather similar to the widespread and common species Bombylius major
which can be seen hovering and darting around woodlands and gardens in Spring using
its long proboscis to feed on nectar from long-tubed flowers. Bee flies are so-called
because of their furry, bee-like appearance caused by the dense erect body hairs. In both
species the wings have a bold and distinctive pattern of brown along the front, a dark
chocolate brown in B. major, paler in B. discolor. The easiest diagnostic feature is the
spotting present on the wings of B. discolor but absent in B. major.
The larvae of Bombylius species live in association with solitary bees, as parasites,
carnivores or inquilines but little is known about their detailed biology. Apparently the
female drops or flicks her egg on to the ground, often some distance from the burrow of
the host bee, and the behaviour of'sanding' to add grains of sand to the eggs to make
them heavier is described by Roger Payne in Newsletter No. 20 p.7-8.
Several visits to Star Lane Brick Pits have turned up an important assemblage of species
including a number of rarities. I hope to summarise these findings in a later Newsletter.
Peter Harvey
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 26, August 1998'