i wish so fucking bad that schools would teach even the most basic nature and wildlife literacy. bc what they teach now is how we get these godawful lawns and monocultures and an endlessly growing list of extinct animal species. like i can’t even count how many times i’ve been trying to explain to people why mosquitoes/moths/bats/flies/wasps/etc are so important and people have gone “but that’s what bees are for (pollination)” or “birds can just eat other things” or “things decompose on their own”. it has to be in the dozens. nothing makes me as upset as when people simply cannot wrap their heads around the fact (fact, fact, fact) that every single organism has its purpose in nature and there is *nothing* that is “pointless”. ignorance like this is what leads to barren monoculture lawns and deforestation and “pest control” and devastating invasive species and expanding extinction/endangerment lists. i just wish schools would teach that every animal and plant has its place, and *nothing* needs to be exterminated as a whole, *especially* native wildlife. but of course capitalism can’t thrive on proper environmentalism so i guess we’ll just have to deal with this.

Fairy dust

snoopy of the day

DISHONORED: DEATH OF THE OUTSIDER (2017) Dev. Arkane Studios.

Okay. This is a pretty big deal in the world of mycology. Historically fungi have been divided up into either parasites that siphon resources from plants, mutualists that cooperate with them, or saprotrophs that break down decaying organic matter (plant and otherwise.) The genus in question, Mycena, has traditionally been made of saprotrophic species feeding on decaying wood.

However, what scientists are observing is Mycena fungi displaying primitive mutualistic behaviors, specifically providing living plants with nitrogen and getting carbon in return from a living partner, or getting to chow down on the plant's remains once deceased. This shows a significant level of adaptability that hasn't been observed in fungi beforehand, though given how much we don't know about fungi there's a good possibility this isn't an unprecedented event.

It doesn't surprise me one bit that we're seeing this in Mycena. These fungi are especially opportunistic; in fact, that mushroom growing out of a frog's skin that we saw a while back was also a Mycena species. Perhaps we need to add bonnet mushrooms to raccoons, dandelions, and other hardy generalists as symbols of scrappy survival in spite of environmental pressures.

disaster strikes: bartolomêj was right all along

why does inaturalist only have an "agree" option when people suggest ids for your photo. I need a kill yourself option. because you've just clicked the top suggestion even though it's clearly incorrect. perish bartolomêj

haha!!!!

why does inaturalist only have an "agree" option when people suggest ids for your photo. I need a kill yourself option. because you've just clicked the top suggestion even though it's clearly incorrect. perish bartolomêj

Red rabbits. The Companion Book for Day In and Day Out. 1936. Processed image.

  Internet Archive

Noises, ranked.

Joy in the Morning, P.G. Wodehouse

Hologram moth, Diachrysia balluca, Noctuidae

Found in the Northeastern and Midwestern US and eastern Canada

Photos by diohio1

Mark Hoppus interviewed at Warped Tour 1999

We interrupt your regularly scheduled mushroom program to show you these pictures of bears that I snapped yesterday :-)

rallying the spirit today

Romain Tornay: "Elements".