M. J. Richardson

“ The sexual spores (zygospores) are rarely seen without culturing; oatmeal agar is one which favours their production. The key includes one member of the Entomophthorales, which also produces single-spored sporangia. Other members of this order may be found parasitising the various animals which live in dung; many other predacious fungi may also be seen, e.g. parasites of amoebae (Acaulopage) . The key is of necessity far from complete, and omits members of the Dimargaritales, which have been found frequently on dung of small mammals in America. ”

“ Key 3 (RW, p. 52) is to the basidiomycetes of dung and associated debris. The part of the key dealing with the agarics attempts to be as complete as possible. Since the toadstools have always been thought of as the best known of the coprophilous fungi, attention to their taxonomy has often been careless. In this key the opportunity has been taken to adopt a rather narrow species concept, and to provide in certain places indications of where distinct taxa, even autonomous species, may be found after further laboratory work. ”

“ Keys 1 and 2 (MJR) are to the coprophilous ascomycetes, a very diverse group which, although not covering all the possible types of reproductive structure found in the class, contains many of the important types. The information for the identification of these fungi is dispersed throughout the literature, and many new species are still being discovered and described. Some appear to be world-wide in their distribution, others more restricted, with a prevalence of reports from either arctic, temperate or tropical regions. ”

“ If they cannot be set to incubate soon after collection they can be gently air dried, as most dung fungi will remain alive after such treatment and grow out when the sample is eventually moistened. The absorbent material should be kept moist. Although free water will not allow the best development of ascomycetes, the succession of basidiomycetes appears to vary with the wetness of the dung. Earthworms and insect larvae should be excluded from the samples as far as possible, for they break up the dung too much ”

“ They do, however, include most genera, and the commoner or well known species of temperate regions. Specific (and even generic) limits in some cases (e.g. Coprotus / Ascophanus / Ryparobius / Thelebolus) are still the subject of debate and the choice of names to use in the key for a few taxa has been a compromise. Key 2 includes the original 'plectomycete' key (RW) , which contains fungi which may not be strictly coprophilous in the normal sense, but fungi which occur on hair, horn, bone and cadavers, and may thus be found on carnivore dung or pellets of owls and other birds of prey. ”

“ Many of these types have been cultured and appear to differ vegetatively in ways which support observations of gross morphology. Coprophilous agarics are popular material for genetic studies and additional information on veil structure, spore number etc. of individual species is given, even when these are not 'key characters'.
Key 4 (MJR, p. 63) is to the Zygomycota (phycomycetes) which are characteristic of dung and amongst the first to appear when freshly dropped dung is incubated. ”

“ The top third cut from a plastic lemonade or mineral water bottle fits neatly in a Petri dish, and replacing the screw cap with a cotton wool plug allows aeration and gives adequate height for developing basidiomycetes. Samples should not be kept in airtight containers for any length of time after collection, as in such conditions insects and nematodes tend to break down the dung, and anaerobic conditions which do not favour the fungi rapidly develop. ”

“ Fungi are best sought with a stereoscopic binocular microscope, when their full beauty will be seen, but a hand lens or simple magnifier, although less convenient, is sufficient for all but the smallest forms. ”

“ If space is limited and cultures are kept nearby, it is very important to prevent mite infestation. Containers can be isolated by placing on glass plates lightly smeared with Vaseline, to which an acaricide (e.g. methyl benzoate) can be added. ”

“ As practical keys, rather than a taxonomic treatment, taxonomic authorities have not been cited. For ascomycetes, Cannon, Hawksworth & Sherwood-Pike (1985) have been followed, unless there is a more recent treatment of a group. For the basidiomycetes the 'New Checklist of British Agarics and Boleti' (Dennis, Orton & Hora, 1960, Supplement to the Transactions of the British Mycological Society 43) has been followed, and The British Fungus Flora (Orton & Watling, 1979 and Watling, 1982) .
ASCOMYCETE REFERENCES
Ahmed, S. I. & Cain, R. F. (1972) . Revision of the genera Sporormia and Sporormiella. ”

“ Fig. 64. Veil cells with structural (l) and superficial crystalline (r) ornamentation.
Fig. 65. Habit sketch of Typhula sp. Note attachment to sclerotium.
Fig. 66. Sphaerobolus stellatus, habit.
Fig. 67. Clitopilus passackerianus, a sessile agaric—habit sketch and section.
Key 4. Zygomycota
Fig. 68. Mucor, habit and detail of sporangium before and after dehiscence.
Fig. 69. Rhizopus, habit.
Fig. 70. Thamnidium elegans, habit and detail of sporangioles.
Fig. 71. Absidia, habit.
Fig. 72. Mortierella, habit and sporangiophore tip after sporangial dehiscence. ”

“ Holden, M. (ed) (1982) . Guide to the literature for the identification of British fungi, 4th Edition. Bulletin of the British Mycological Society 16, 36-55; 92-112.
Massee, G., & Salmon, E. S. (1901) . Researches on coprophilous fungi. Annals of Botany, London 15, 313-357.
Seifert, K. A., Kendrick, W. B. & Murase, G. (1983) . A key to hyphomycetes on dung. University of Waterloo Biology Series No. 27.
Webster, J. (1970) . Coprophilous Fungi. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 54, 161-180.
Key 1. Ascomycota
Fig. ”

“ Ascospores of, clockwise from left, A. immersus, A. stictoideus, A. albidus, A. brassicae and A. crenulatus.
Fig. 10. Spore clusters of, from left, Saccobolus versicolor, S. glaber and S. truncatus
Fig. 11. Trichobolus sphaerosporus, apothecium.
Fig. 12. Thelebolus stercoreus, apothecium.
Fig. 13. T. nanus, mature and immature apothecia, and detail of ascus dehiscence.
Fig. 14. Ascozonus woolhopensis, apothecium and apothecial hair.
Fig. 15. A. woolhopensis, ascus with spores and detail of dehiscence.
Key 2. Perithecial, pseudothecial, cleistothecial and gymnothecial fungi
Fig. ”

“ Cano, J. & Guarro, J. (1990) . The genus Aphanoascus. Mycological Research 94, 355-377. (Key to species) .
Currah, R. S. (1988) . An annotated key to the genera of the Onygenales. Systema Ascomycetum 7, 1-12.
Dennis, R. W. G. (1978) . British Ascomycetes. J. Cramer, Lehre. (or earlier edition, 1968 and 1960 (as British Cup Fungi and their allies) , The Ray Society, London) . (All groups) .
Dissing, H. (1987) . Three 4-spored Saccobolus species from north east Greenland. In Arctic and Alpine Mycology II (ed. G. A. Laursen, J. F. Ammirati & S. A. Redhead) , pp. ”

“ Arx, J. A. von (1971) . On Arachniotus and related genera of the Gymnoascaceae. Persoonia 6, 371-380.
Arx, J. A. von (1975) . Revision of Microascus with the description of a new species. Persoonia 8, 191-197. ”