Contents
Dung beetle mushrooms, or koprinus, have been known for three centuries. During this time, they were isolated in a separate genus, but researchers are still revising their conclusions regarding their edibility. Of the 25 species, the most popular are common, gray and white dung beetles.
Harvested at a young age, they are edible, can be beneficial, and when properly cooked are a delicacy. It will be useful to study the properties and characteristics of each species before using it for food or as a medicine.
Where does the common dung beetle grow?
The places where mushrooms grow correspond to the name of their genus, since these representatives love well-manured soil rich in humus and organic matter.
They are widespread in the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. Especially often they can be found after warm rains in vegetable gardens, in fields, along roads, on garbage heaps, in low grass or forest litter. Common dung beetles grow most often one at a time or in small groups. The season starts in May and ends with the onset of frost, in October.
What does a common dung beetle look like
If you look at the photo, the common dung beetle has an appearance that is very different from its relatives.
Its gray hat with a brown crown up to 3 cm in diameter, elliptical or bell-shaped, with a white felt coating. It never fully opens and becomes flat. Its edges are uneven, torn, crack with age, become dark. The plates on the bottom of the cap are freely arranged, often. Their color gradually changes from white-gray to yellow and later to black.
The white, fibrous leg has a height of up to 8 cm, a diameter of about 5 mm. It is cylindrical, hollow inside, expanded towards the base.
The pulp of the fungus is tender, fragile, without any special taste and smell, at first light, later it turns gray, and after autolysis (self-decomposition) it turns black and blurs.
Spore powder black.
Is it possible to eat common dung beetle
It is believed that the mushroom is edible at a young age, when the plates are white. The common dung beetle ages very quickly, it takes only a few hours, after which its appearance becomes rather unsightly.
You can eat only the caps of young mushrooms, which have a delicate structure and a number of useful elements in their composition:
- vitamins;
- trace elements – phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium;
- amino acids;
- silk;
- fatty and organic acids;
- Sahara;
- fructose.
Similar species
The common dung beetle differs from its fellows in its size. Its leg is never higher than 10 cm and thicker than 5 mm, and the hat never fully opens.
He does not have false poisonous twins, but the most similar to this species is the flickering dung beetle, which also has an egg-shaped cap that never fully opens.
Its diameter is about 4 cm, the color is yellow, and on the surface there are grooves from the plates. It is called shimmering because of the shiny scales that cover the surface of the cap. They can easily be washed away by rain. The plates of the fungus are initially light, and later, under the influence of autolysis, darken and decompose. Spore powder brown or black. The leg is dense, white, hollow, without a ring. From spring to late autumn, mushrooms living in large colonies can be found on decaying trees (except conifers), on the litter.
Collection and consumption
You can use young fruiting bodies of the common dung beetle, before the staining of the plates begins. Collection is carried out from spring to autumn. After the mushrooms are delivered home, they must be urgently subjected to heat treatment.
Powder from fruiting bodies, previously peeled and dried, is widely used. Before grinding, they are fried without oil in a pan. The finished powder is stored in a glass container. It can be used as a spice to give the dish the taste of champignons.
Fruiting bodies can be frozen only after boiling.
Conclusion
Common dung beetle is a type of fungus commonly found in urban environments and other places associated with human activities. This variety is not of great culinary value, it is quite difficult to collect fruiting bodies, caution is required. However, knowledge of the species broadens the horizons of the mushroom picker and gives him new interesting information about the diversity of representatives of the mushroom kingdom.
