Fungi Friday - RED MUSHROOMS LATE IN THE SUMMER

It happened in 2024. At the end of September, when the last days of summer feel like a gentle overture to the fall that will follow very soon.

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I had to do some work in the small town of Zminj, in the central part of Istria, about fifty kilometers north of where I live, and then, a couple of hours later, on the way back ...

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... I felt a sudden and strong desire to stop by the side of the road in the wooded area only about ten kilometers from the aforementioned town and take a walk in search of something worth photographing for one of the future posts that may or may not be written & published, depending on the level of my inspiration to write about pretty insignificant stuff that happened some time ago.

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In the place where I parked my car, there was a relatively large belt of meadow between the forest and the road. It took me only a few steps in that area to come across a bunch of beautiful, highly photogenic red mushrooms that ended up in today's post. In the following photograph ...

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... you can see them scattered among the green blades of fresh grass and the brown decay of the rotting leaves fallen from the nearby oaks.

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This is the russula sanguine. I mean, that's the scientific name of the species. Well, probably. It could also be the russula rhodocephala. Or the Russula cremoricolor. It's a russula, that's for sure. And it's a showy, eye-catching one, too.
Identifying a Russula is very easy; they have a distinct look as a genus, but determining the exact species can be a bit confusing due to the many similar ones around. Furthermore, the color can vary considerably in many Russulas.

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Not far from the Russulas, I found another good-looking mushroom. The color here isn't the attraction, the beauty lies in the elegance of the shape.
This is the Amanita crocea, commonly known as the saffron ringless amanita.
A better look at the top of the cap, or more exactly, a more up-close look at that same upper part of the fruiting body ...

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... revealed an ant.

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It was a winged male released with other winged males and females from the underground city of ants during the big festivity of the nuptial flight.
These winged ones are the caste in charge of reproduction and establishing new colonies.
The males die soon after the mating, while the females proceed to give birth to workers who will create a new underground city.
I can't tell you the scientific or common name of the ant species shown in today's post. A few similar ones can be seen running around these woods and meadows. If I have to take a guess, I'd say it's a Messor wasmanni.

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The ant was slowly walking toward the edge of the cap while I was taking these photographs. At some point, still there on the ribbed edge ...

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... the ant started cleaning its eyes and antennae, allowing me to get this shot, my favorite one of this series.
A second or two later, the winged male flew away.

A bit later, not far from the mushroom, I came across this scene on a relatively long blade of grass.

A juvenile spider, Micrommata virescens, from the Sparassidae family, has caught an ant. A winged male.

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And that's it. This contribution to #FungiFriday by @ewkaw started with red mushrooms, and so, since I like to end things the way they started, it will end in the same vivid tone.

AS ALWAYS HERE ON HIVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE MY WORK - THE END.