Hat Thrower Fungus
The hat thrower fungus (Pilobolus crystallinus) grows on the dung of grazing animals and fires its spore packet up to two meters away, with one of the fastest accelerations in the living world.
The hat thrower fungus (Pilobolus crystallinus) grows on the dung of grazing animals and fires its spore packet up to two meters away, with one of the fastest accelerations in the living world.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Hat Thrower Fungus in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Opisthokonta lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
A Water Cannon: How Does It Shoot?
Pressure builds in the stalk's swollen cell below the black spore cap until the cell bursts and the stored fluid squirts out, flinging the cap at speeds of around 10 meters per second. The cap accelerates at tens of thousands of times gravity.
Aiming at the Light
The swollen cell works as a lens that focuses light onto the pigment at its base. The fungus bends to line up with the brightest light, usually the open sky, so the cap flies clear of the dung.
A Spore's Journey
The caps stick to grass, which herbivores eat, and the spores pass through the gut to grow again on the dung. See Phycomyces.
Hat Thrower Fungus at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Pilobolus crystallinus |
| Kingdom | Fungi |
| Phylum | Mucoromycota |
| Class | Mucoromycetes |
| Order | Mucorales |
| Family | Pilobolaceae |
| Field Guide group | Opisthokonta: Fungi (True Fungi & Lichens) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Tiny clear stalks on dung, each with a lens-like swollen bulb that aims at light and blasts its black spore cap up to 2.5 m away, one of the fastest accelerations in nature. |
| Order | Mucorales |
| Launch distance | Up to about 2 meters |
See Also
- Phycomyces — another sensing mold
- Black Bread Mold — a relative