This Mushroom Fakes Its Own Death To Trick Flies | Deep Look

The cage fungus looks and smells like decaying meat — on purpose. Its goopy lattice gives off a rotten odor that attracts flies, which help spread its spores far and wide. It's like a bee to a flower, but way more macabre and putrid. SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! Please join our community on Patreon! DEEP LOOK is an ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small. --- Cage fungus gets its name from the shape of its spongy lattice-shaped mushroom. “It's this kind of red-orange geodesic dome,” says naturalist Damon Tighe. “They can get up to the size of a softball and they're open on the inside where they've got this sticky, gooey substance called gleba.” The gleba contains the fungus’ reproductive spores and it’s the gleba that gives the mushroom its fetid aroma. “It reeks of death,” says Tighe. “If you get up close to it, there are these sharp notes that hit your nose that just make you recoil immediately.” Flies that normally feed on stinky things like carrion and feces are drawn to the smell. They lap up the gleba, inadvertently downing millions of the spores and spreading them far and wide. --- What is red cage fungus? Clathrus ruber is a type of stinkhorn mushroom. Like most mushrooms, what you see above ground is only a small percent of the entire organism. Most of it is made up of a network of thin threads called the mycelium. When the conditions are right, the mycelium produces an “egg” that pops up above ground. When it's mature, the lattice structure called a receptacle bursts out from the “egg.” --- Why do cage fungus smell so bad? The gleba found on the inside surfaces of the cage fungus fruiting body contains compounds like dimethyl sulfide, which smells like rotten eggs. The foul smell attracts flies that spread the fungus’ spores. --- What do cage fungus eat? Cage fungus is saprobic, feeding on dead and dying wood. The fungus’ mycelium digest the cellulose in the wood, returning nutrients to the soil. --- Find additional resources and a transcript on KQED Science: --- More great Deep Look episodes: This Killer Fungus Turns Flies into Zombies | Deep Look This Mushroom Starts Killing You Before You Even Realize It | Deep Look Here’s How That Annoying Fly Dodges Your Swatter | Deep Look --- Shoutout! 🏆Congratulations🏆 to the following 5 fans on our Deep Look Community Tab for identifying why the female oak moth is fanning her wings ― to spread her pheromones to attract males! Norwyn Kenzo Hofmeister Hèctor Bonnin Obach Tu fon Kin MeEeDo --- Thank you to our Top Patreon Supporters ($10 per month)! Jessica Chris B Emrick Burt Humburg Karen Reynolds David Deshpande Daisuke Goto Allison & Maka Masuda Adam Kurtz Tianxing Wang Companion Cube Josh Kuroda Wild Turkey Germán Botón García Mark Jobes Blanca Vides Kevin Judge Jana Brenning Aurora monoirre Titania Juang Roberta K Wright Anastasia Grinkevic Syniurge Supernovabetty Carrie Mukaida KW El Samuels Jellyman Nicky O. Cristen Rasmussen Mehdi Kristy Freeman Scott Faunce SueEllen McCann Kelly Hong Sonia Tanlimco Noreen Herrington Cindy McGill Louis O'Neill Misia Clive Laurel Przybylski Shelley Pearson Cranshaw Jeremiah Sullivan Joshua Murallon Robertson Nicolette Ray Caitlin McDonough Wade Tregaskis 吳怡彰 Levi Cai Shonara Rivas kenneth nguyen ! Silvan Delphine Tseng TierZoo Elizabeth Ann Ditz Corvus Crudus rafael pirondi --- Follow KQED Science and Deep Look: Instagram: Twitter: --- About KQED KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, California, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, radio and web media. Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, the largest science and environment reporting unit in California. KQED Science is supported by The National Science Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Campaign 21 and the members of KQED.