tdwrsa-2
an explosive story...
This is the Hat Thrower (Pilobolus kleinii) fungus growing on grazing animals dung (horse in this case).
The little black dots are about 0,5mm diameter and contain 30-90.000 spores. Pressure builds up in the little "balloons" and an explosion follows, sending the spores up to 3 meters away from the dung, so that the next horse will swallow them and the cycle can repeat itself. This is harmless for the animal, but some infective lungwurm larvae heard about these free rides and sometimes settles on the spore enclosures so that they too get dispersed far from the dung to be eaten and causing lung diseases. Amazing stuff!
See for example: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilobolus
Wishing you a happy 2022 on this explosive note!
an explosive story...
This is the Hat Thrower (Pilobolus kleinii) fungus growing on grazing animals dung (horse in this case).
The little black dots are about 0,5mm diameter and contain 30-90.000 spores. Pressure builds up in the little "balloons" and an explosion follows, sending the spores up to 3 meters away from the dung, so that the next horse will swallow them and the cycle can repeat itself. This is harmless for the animal, but some infective lungwurm larvae heard about these free rides and sometimes settles on the spore enclosures so that they too get dispersed far from the dung to be eaten and causing lung diseases. Amazing stuff!
See for example: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilobolus
Wishing you a happy 2022 on this explosive note!