Natural History Photographs


Interactions among fungi and animals
Animal-assisted dispersal


Phallus impudicus
Amsterdamse Waterleidingduinen, the Netherlands; 1 November 2015.
Smilde, the Netherlands; 4 October 2015.

The fruiting body of this mushroom emits a strong smell of putrification. The smell obviously is very attractive to flies, which gorge on the slimy mucus layer which contains the spores. Meanwhile, their feet get covered with spores and once they fly to another location, the spores get dispersed.