Last day treat

My friend Kathy was the manager of the gift shop; this is her last day 6/26/15--she treated herself to a camel ride, why not?

280 days of Urbpandemonium #93

Remember the other day when I posted that "Russula" means "reddish?" Well, they aren't all red; here's a pair of nice green ones! These have been emerging from the mycelium hidden in the soil by the door to my workplace for at least 3 years that I've noticed. They will probably continue to do so for as long as the huge red oaks that loom overhead continue to live. The green russula's mycelium is all tangled up in the roots of the oaks, and with the mycelium of many other fungus species.



Since green russulas keep appearing in the same place, at the same time of year, year after year, I feel confident that its the same species each time. If you check my "crackle top" tag, you'll see them arriving from late June to mid July. You'll also see my evolving attempts to identify them to species. Apparently the right way to do it is to consult this key. Alas, that key loses me quickly when it asks for things only visible with a microscope. My preferred method is to consult people who know more than I do, and using that method (many thanks to Dianna Smith!) I have learned that the crackle top (or "green quilted") mushroom in our area is R. parvovirescens*.

* "Small becoming green"

280 days of Urbpandemonium #94

Forgive the blurry picture. I'd have discarded it but how often will I get a shot of an outdoor-living cockroach carrying her ootheca* in broad daylight? Well it wasn't so much broad daylight as underneath the picnic table that was hosting that day's AAZK meeting. Since we were all zookeepers numb to the sight of cockroaches, we didn't have the typical panic that many people do seeing this harmless little creature. Indoor cockroaches become pests because they are social animals (not eusocial insects with different castes performing different tasks, but animals that like to congregate together for other reasons). If you see one German cockroach, chances are there are dozens or hundreds more in hiding, breeding in cracks and feeding on your stuff. With this species, the spotted Mediterranean cockroach Ectobius pallidus** (I tend to just call them ectobius roaches), they prefer a solitary existence. If you find one ectobius roach in your house, well it just blew in, and it would rather not be there anyway.

* "egg case"

** "Pale one who lives outside"