Fruiting body small to medium, 3–20 cm in height. Pileus 2.5–6 cm in diam., campanulate at first when fruiting body is young becoming conical at maturity, becoming applanate; with prominent umbo, broad, reddish brown to pale brown to brown; slightly pinkish when young, surface viscid, smooth, fragile, margin irregular, pellucid, striate, splitting at maturity; flesh thin; Lamellae free, unequal, crowded, narrow to moderately broad, at first white to pale yellow, grayish brown to brown at maturity, fragile; lamella edges curled with age. Stipe central, 3–18 X 0.4–0.6 cm tubular, with slightly swollen base, broad, hollow, surface pale yellow, with pinkish excludes on surface when mature, pruinose–fibrillose, delicate, shiny, silky. Basidiospores 10.5–16 × 8–10 mm, ellipsoidal to ovate, truncated by a broad germ pore, thick–walled, smooth, yellowish brown. Basidia 18–30 × 9.5–14.8 mm, clavate to cylindrico–clavate, thin walled, 2-4 spored; Lamella edges sterile. Cheilocystidia 25–35.5 × 7.6–18.5 mm, cylindrical, clavate–vesiculose, thin–walled, hyaline. Pleurocystidia not observed. Pileipellis hymeniform, 18–45 × 8–12 mm, inflated, clavate, thin walled, hyaline; Clamp connections absent.
Specimens examined
India, Maharashtra, Kolhapur, Karveer, Parite, Kolhapur-Radhanagari road, (16°32ʹ34ʺN-74°06ʹ57ʺE), on rice husk, alone, solitary, scattered, 16.07.2023, Bornak, S. I. (Y23V6C3).
Remarks
B. coprophilus is characterized by a broad pileus which is pale with a distinct pinkish tinge and a shape that usually varies from convex or campanulate when young and flat at maturity; the gills are free and non-deliquescent, and the basidiospores are ellipsoid to ovoid. This species prefers to grow on organic substrates that are rich in nutrients, such as dung or compost (Usman, et al., 2022).
B. coprophilus was originally described from North America by Hongo (1959). After that several investigations were made from various regions of the world viz. dung heaps in New York; wheat fields in England; horse and deer dung mixed with straw in Denmark, Italy; scattered on cow dung, compost, and rice straw in Singapore; compost and wheat straw in Argentina, Europe and Poland; horse dung in France and Austria; straw, dung, and compost in Russia. (Usman, et al., 2022).
B. coprophilus has been previously reported from India which growing on elephant dung in Kerala (Thomas, et al. 2001; Manimohan, et al. 2007) and from Punjab by Amandeep, et al. (2013). There is no report of this species from Maharashtra state. Thus, this is a first report from Maharashtra state.
References:
Usman, M., Awan, A.N., Yousaf, N., Murtaza, G., Hanif, M. and Khalid, A.N. (2022). First records of Bolbitius coprophilus (Agaricales, Bolbitiaceae) from Pakistan. Check List, 18(3): 525–533. https://doi.org/10.15560/18.3.525
Hongo, T. (1959) Agaricales of Japan (1) 1. Memoirs of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Education, Shiga University, Natural Science 9: 47–94.
Thomas, K.A., Hausknecht, A. and Manimohan, P. (2001). Bolbitiaceae of Kerala State, India: new species and new and noteworthy records. Österreichische Zeitschrift für Pilzkunde, 10: 87–114.
Manimohan, P., Thomas, K.A. and Nisha, V.S. (2007). Agarics on elephant dung in Kerala State, India. Mycotaxon, 99 (1): 147–158 Amandeep, K., Atri, N.S. and Munruchi, K. (2013). Diversity of species of the genus Bolbitius (Bolbitiaceae, Agaricales) collected on dung from Punjab, India. Mycosphere,4 (6): 1053–1064. https://doi. org/10.5943/mycosphere/4/6/3
