Scarlet Caterpillarclub - Cordyceps militaris
A bright orange-red club, parasitic on a buried moth larva or pupa. The fertile head is wider than the paler orange stem. The head is covered in raised pores.
Good photograph taken in the field or from a specimen
Grassland or woodland edge, attached to a moth pupa or larva below ground.
Summer and autumn.
Widespread but occasional; commonest in south (ref.: Sterry and Hughes, 2009)
Occasional
Margaret McLoughlin
Charnwood Lodge NNR
17 November 2025
sue
Ibstock Cemetery
23 October 2025
fertile head
Melinda Bell
Whitwick,Forest Rock
24 December 2022
sue
Ibstock Cemetery
23 October 2025
Margaret McLoughlin
Charnwood Lodge NNR
17 November 2025
Raised spore surface
David Nicholls
Beacon Hill
07 December 2019
Melinda Bell
Whitwick,Forest Rock
24 December 2022
granular surface at tips
David Nicholls
Beacon Hill
07 December 2019
Melinda Bell
Whitwick,Forest Rock
24 December 2022
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Species profile
- Common names
- Scarlet Caterpillar Fungus, Scarlet Caterpillarclub
- Species group:
- fungus
- Kingdom:
- Fungi
- Order:
- Hypocreales
- Family:
- Cordycipitaceae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 4
- First record:
- 07/12/2019 (Nicholls, David)
- Last record:
- 17/11/2025 (McLoughlin, Margaret)
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