User:MycoMutant/sandbox9

In Møller's 1893 study he described the mushrooms of Rozites gongylophorus growing from a nest removed from the wild as follows:

Cap: Up to 16cm in diameter. Stem and cap: Up to 24cm in height. Stem: Up to 4cm diameter at the base and 2cm at the annulus. Spore print: Tinted with a clear ochre colour (possibly due to discolouration with age since Leucoagaricus species typically have white spores).

Rolf Singer however later disagreed with the placement of this species arguing that it was probably an Agaricus species.

In the 1977 publication Studies on Fungi Cultivated by Ants attempts were made to culture numerous fungi samples obtained from the nests of fungus farming ants. The most successful culture grown on an oatmeal medium was obtained from the nest of Myrmicocrypta buenzlii from Trinidad producing mushrooms which were described as follows:

Cap: Starting globose, expanding to become campanulate and 2-3 (4)cm wide, sometimes with a central depression. The surface is velvety and reddish brown to blackish brown and with maturity breaks up into brown, tomentose (woolly) patches against a white to brownish fibrilose surface. The cap margins are rarely striate or sulcate. Stem: Up to 5cm long and 2-3mm thick tapering upwards from a 5mm wide bulbous base which often presents with caespitose growth. The surface is smooth to tomentose and starts white before turning greyish brown to deep brown and discolouring bright salmon pink to reddish brown when bruised. The inside of the stem is solid and white. The fragile, movable stem ring is white, discolouring to light brown with age and has a tomentose lower surface that becomes brown. Gills: Free, distant and white discolouring light brown with age or reddish brown to salmon when bruised. The gills are 1-2 (3) mm wide with crenate edges that display a dark brown tint. Spore print: White. Spores: Elliptic to ovate, smooth. Hyaline. Dextrinoid. 6-9 (10) x (3) 4-5 (7) μm. Smell: Pleasant. Taste: Not distinctive.

These were placed within the Leucocoprinus genus and said to be virtually identical to the mushrooms produced by three other cultivars in the study which were obtained from the nests of Mycetophylax conformis, Cyphomyrmex costatus and Apterostigma auriculatum ants from Trinidad or Panama. The study noted that these did broadly confer with the illustrations and description provided by Møller but that they differed in size and spore colour, potentially explained by wild mushrooms growing larger and spore colour tinting when dry.

However none of the samples from Atta or Acromyrmex produced mushrooms in culture and Apterostigma auriculatum has since been determined to farm a Lepiotaceous fungi in the G3 group. Myrmicocrypta, Mycetophylax and Cyphomyrmex are lower attine ants which farm a variety of Leucocoprineaceous fungi rather than Leucoagaricus gongylophorus which is farmed by higher attine ants. This description therefore seems likely to be for a different Leucocoprinus or Leucoagaricus species and as a result may call into question the description and illustration produced by Møller in 1893.