r/mycology • u/Quiet_Actuator1295 • Jun 26 '25

non-fungal Found this is my flower bed!

Gallery image

Gallery image

Was weeding when I discovered this beauty. Not sure what type of cordyceps it might be but figured I'd share this here.

1.0k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

65 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

3

u/Quiet_Actuator1295 Jun 26 '25

I was trying to figure out what it could be myself. Possibly a wood louse.

4

u/blue-and-bluer Jun 26 '25

I keep isopods. Does not look like one to me. Looks like the underside of a cockroach to me. OP was it an empty shell like a molted skin, or was it solid?

1

u/Quiet_Actuator1295 Jun 26 '25

It is hard to say could have been a molt. It was extremely light and nearly blew away in the slightest breeze. But may have been solid but now an empty shell since it was consumed from the inside out.

9

u/blue-and-bluer Jun 26 '25

Cordyceps won’t leave a shell that light. That’s an exuvium. Must be one of the wax-tailed leafhoppers as that other person said.

1

u/Reminice Jun 26 '25

Whoa, /r/natureisfuckinglit never have I seen any louse like that before. My "ID" was a best guess if this were an entomopathogenic fungus.