A Black Widow and other things I’ve seen in June

Black widows are one of those species whose name travels far ahead of their actual presence, so it was neat to actually see with my own eyes something I’d heard so much about. After seeing one I did some research and learned that though highly poisonous, a bite from a black widow is not so lethal as I had thought. Black widows do not inject poison every time they bite, and even when they do, more often than not, a bite leads to nothing more that localized pain. About 25% of cases involve more severe symptoms, but even these usually self-resolve over the course of hours to several days. It has been decades since someone died of a black widow bite in the United States¹.

Speaking of widows, a common May/June mushroom is Lacrymaria lacrymabunda the weeping widow. This mushroom has beautifully rich and mottled gills.

Another very common June mushroom is Ductifera pululahuana (the “White Jelly Fungus”) whose long melodious scientific name comes from the town in Equator where it was first described².

The “white jelly fungus” is not to be confused with the “white jelly mushroom” or Tremella fuciformis, which is more translucent and deserves it’s own post another time. It is also common in June, and to keep it distinct from the White Jelly Fungus, I prefer the name “Snow Fungus,” which I’ve also seen used.

Another recent find is pictured below. Full disclosure, I’m not sure what this is, but my best guess is that it is a slime mold belonging to the genus Ceratiomyxa. If you know, let me know!

Another exciting find (totally unrelated to the above) has been pawpaw fruit. I’ve seen more pawpaw trees than I can count, but this is the first time I’ve seen the famous fruit. It seems like it has a month or so to go before edibility. What are the chances I’ll get there before the squirrels?

Lastly, I’ve seen a lot of eastern box turtles, which is probably a good thing as they are considered vulnerable. By “a lot” I mean five or six in the past three weeks, one of which I had to slam on the breaks to avoid killing. When they don’t get run over by cars, or killed by diseases, box turtles can live to be a hundred years old…