Ileodictyon gracile

1 Smooth Cage at Wallaroo, NSW

Ileodictyon gracile at Wallaroo, NSW - 25 Aug 2019
Ileodictyon gracile at Wallaroo, NSW - 25 Aug 2019
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Identification history

Ileodictyon gracile 27 Aug 2019 Heino1
Ileodictyon gracile 26 Aug 2019 DonFletcher
Unidentified 26 Aug 2019 maura

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User's notes

A friend found the egg while gardening on the weekend. She describes the item as follows:" I found a spongy white egg shaped object and when I carefully pulled it apart this amazing structure unfolded." She went on to say " I cannot find anything like it on the net {ie Internet}. The egg shaped object was soft and cool to touch. I thought it was some kind of reptilian egg also [ I had suggested it might be a reptile egg] and was so surprised when the amazing structure unfolded before my eyes as I tore the casing open. The original casing was a bit over an inch long. Once opened it retained the hexagonal imprints on the inner side".

2 comments

DonFletcher wrote:
   27 Aug 2019
I'm no expert on fungi but I suspect this may be a fungus.
Heino1 wrote:
   27 Aug 2019
When close to maturity the egg becomes fairly soft. I've had one open very quickly, almost explosively, and another very slowly - so much so that I had to prod it a bit. The first was on a very warm day, the other much cooler. That's suggestive, but from my sample of two I'd not dare claim the opening would always be faster with warmth.

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Location information

Sighting information

  • 1 Abundance
  • 25 Aug 2019 05:00 PM Recorded on
  • maura Recorded by

Species information

  • Ileodictyon gracile Scientific name
  • Smooth Cage Common name
  • Not Sensitive
  • Local native
  • Non-invasive or negligible
  • Up to 814.63m Recorded at altitude
  • Machine learning
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