Crown Coral - Artomyces pyxidatus

White branches with pink hues; the tips are crowned with a shallow depression and 3-6 points.

Habitat: Growing on rotting wood

comments (6)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Beautiful specimen! Posted 5 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  I forgot to mention in the comments that there were 3 ants on this one fruiting body. They were doing something, but I'm not sure what. I think they were carpenter ants, which eat protein and sugar. I didn't think they ate mushrooms, but now I'm not so sure. Posted 5 years ago
2. 1. Ferdy Christant
    
    Lion
    
    Who knows what ants are doing, the only thing we can be sure about is that they are always doing something. Posted 5 years ago
  2. 1. Christine Young
      
      Lion
      
      Weellllll, actually, up to 50% of an ant colony is inactive. Their job is literally to be lazy and do nothing. Weird, right?! Especially considering ant colonies are so highly specialized and optimized. Ants are not generally associated with being wasteful. The lazy ants just hang out in the colony. The may occasionally do a small task, but they mostly just are inactive. They might be a reserve labor force that would be employed if the colony suddenly has more work to do. Or, maybe they don't know what to do, maybe they have some unknown sedentary purpose (like serving as a food reserve), or maybe they are just lazy? Or, could there be waste in the ant society after all? Perhaps they have a hard time figuring out how many workers to produce and thus they have too many workers and not enough work. Who knows, but it's really fascinating. My point is that all ants are NOT always doing something, unless nothing counts as something ;). Posted 5 years ago
    2. 1. Ferdy Christant
        
        Lion
        
        I stand corrected. But...are you sure those ants aren't just boss ants? Posted 5 years ago
      2. Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        You just solved the mystery plaguing entomologists forever. They must be boss ants. Posted 5 years ago

The Crown-Tipped Coral Fungus

''Artomyces pyxidatus'' is a coral fungus that is commonly called crown coral or crown-tipped coral fungus. Its most characteristic feature is the crown-like shape of the tips of its branches. The epithet ''pyxidatus'' means "box-like"—a reference to this shape.

Info 19 0

Similar species: Russulales

Species identified by Christine Young