This species is very close to my heart, having studied it for three happy years in my PhD under the excellent supervision of Cornelia de Moor at the University of Nottingham - whom I first met almost exactly 5 years ago.
It is an insect pathogenic fungus, infecting predominantly caterpillars, with a cosmopolitan distribution. Part of a very...

[Also in the picture is Andricus quercuscalicis, the knopper gall - top left corner; both on oak.]

IP: patents are essential for protecting intellectual property underlying inventions. As such, at Really Clever we have filed patents; but have also developed separate proprietary fermentation technology, relevant for future inventions. Having a (mostly self-collected) culture collection of over 80 strains and counting, in-house strain improvement...

Possibly the most poisonous species of mushroom found in Europe, the pleasant-tasting death cap is responsible for the majority of deaths caused by mushroom consumption. Early symptoms include abdominal pain and diarrhoea which pass after 2-3 days. Death occurs at least 6 days after ingestion, often by liver failure.

Female parasitoid wasps lay their eggs inside host species; developing larvae consequently consume the host from the inside. With this species, a koinobiont parasitoid, the ladybird host continues to survive during this process. It is trapped guarding the subsequent silk pupa (cocoon), paralysed. Some biochemical mechanisms for the parasitism are...

A mushroom growing on another mushroom (hyperparasitic mushroom)! This is a highly unusual fungus, with an exceptionally adapted reproductive strategy - for good reason: due to its niche substrate - growing on only a select few species of host mushrooms. Whereas most agarics (cap and stem mushrooms) reproduce by releasing sexual spores from basidia...

We made a material from fungi, extracts from plants and algae (seaweed), and natural minerals (no petrochemical-derived plastics). A year since we set foot in the lab aiming to make a sustainable replacement of the cow hide - I'm proud of what I have invented with my material scientist colleague Mihael Jelečević. Thank you co-founders Patrick...