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18 Jul 2017.
Tyler State Park, Bucks Co, PA.
Gall.
Found on Impatiens pallida in a woods.
ID courtesy of Charley Eiseman:
bugguide.net/node/view/1476741.

The cap was only 17mm in diameter.
The spore print is salmon. Basidiospores are ellipsoid, measured
(7) 7.2 - 8.5 (9) × (5.4) 5.5 - 6.6 (6.7) µm
Q = (1.2) 1.22 - 1.4 (1.5) ; N = 26
Me = 8 × 6.1 µm ; Qe = 1.3

This little mantis afforded me a perfect opportunity to examine it in detail and take ventral images...it was reclining backward in an almost horizontal position, the head continually moving and scanning for prey. (It was not exhibiting a defensive posture).

5 cm length

Fungal-fly "artwork" so colorfully pretty, I give you 27 versions of a leaf featuring the midge fly – fungus duo!

Photos 2 - 5 are of the goldenrod (Solidago) leaf underside, the rest of the topside.

It can be useful or interesting to see Observations that belong together taxonomically, to be arranged ecologically, physiologically, or belonging to an ecosystem: for example, goldenrod galls (abnormal plant growths a variety of organisms cause, providing shelter for the insect, and – being nutritious – serving as the insect’s food supply).

About two thirds of the gall makers are midges, family Cecidomyiidae: midges are small two-winged flies often seen in swarms near water or marshy areas where they breed, whose larvae can be pests of plants, typically damaging leaves, or producing galls, as is the case here.

Some gall makers are specialists on certain species of goldenrod; others attack a range of goldenrod species, and goldenrods flower and grow with galls on their leaves, also one or even two galls on their center stem: the galls form because the feeding larva’s saliva mimics plant growth hormones, stimulating growth in the irritated area of the stem, forming the gall around the larva.

The “Galls of Goldenrod” include round stem galls, elliptical stem galls (spindle galls), bunch galls (rosette galls), leaf-cluster galls, pedicellate galls, ”blister” galls, leaf galls, flower galls, root galls, and then there is the stem borer moth that does not make a gall, but it is close. Gall makers for goldenrod leaf galls include Asteromyia carbonifera and Asteromyia euthamiae (and maybe Rhopalomyia inquisitor).

Certain interesting plant galls look so much like fungal structures that they were misidentified as being a fungal plant disease, which was the case with goldenrod leaf galls associated with the goldenrod midge fly, Asteromyia carbonifera. These goldenrod galls house a fungus, Botryosphaeria dothidea (formerly Sclerotium asteris) as well as the midge fly in an obligate mutualistic symbiotic relationship: the two live for the mutual benefit of each other, the relationship so strong that without the fungus, the flies could not develop on goldenrod, and vice versa.

As the galls mature, the white, circular to elongate slightly raised structures on both the upper and lower leaf surfaces develop a faint black ring near the outer edge, making the galls look target-like.

The goldenrod midge female flies carry spores of the Botryosphaeria dothidea fungus in specialized structures (mycangium) in their terminal abdominal segment and when the flies insert eggs into the goldenrod leaf tissue, also inoculate the plant with the fungus.

Most gall-making midge flies belonging to the family Cecidomyiidae directly orchestrate the growth of their associated galls; however, it appears the gall growth on goldenrod is directed by the fungus rather than the midge fly, not the only "service" the fungus provides.

The midge-fungus symbiotic relationship keeps on giving; the midge fly has multiple generations per season, each new generation entirely dependent upon the fungus, and vice versa, the fly-fungal galls causing little harm to their goldenrod host plants.

Goldenrod (Solidago), cf. my www.inaturalist.org/observations/65261323
Carbonifera Goldenrod Gall Midge (Asteromyia carbonifera), cf. my inaturalist.org/observations/65260897

I found two plants growing in a deciduous forest with lots of oak, tulip poplar, beech, etc. They were smaller than Trillium grandiflorum, which I regularly see in spring. Also, the flowers had recurved petals, were nodding, and pink.

I am looking at the white mass under the wing of the planthopper. Although I see no record of this moth in California, it is the only possibility that I could find that looks like this and that infects planthoppers.

Parasitized millipede found on a forested trail. I kept it in a plastic baggie and it bloomed into this.

See the original observation (where it was found in situ):
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/108790617