Last summer, while hiking Oregon’s misty forests, I discovered mushrooms that hunt. These fungi don’t just grow—they trap, lasso, and paralyze insects. It’s wild realizing how calculated and ruthless they are.
The Pacific Northwest’s cool, wet climate makes it the perfect arena. From coastal groves to high-altitude slopes, I photographed these stealthy predators in action. Damp soil and buzzing insect life fuel their success.
Each species has its own tactic, from chemical paralysis to microscopic loops that snare nematodes. They quietly maintain balance in these ecosystems, proving nature’s fiercest hunters sometimes hide underground.
1. Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus)
Beneath its innocent appearance, the oyster mushroom harbors a deadly secret for tiny nematodes. When food becomes scarce, it produces specialized cells that release a toxin, paralyzing any nematode that touches them.
These beautiful white to grayish mushrooms grow abundantly on dead logs throughout Oregon’s coastal forests, especially in fall and winter. Their hunting ability is a survival adaptation, providing nitrogen when decomposing wood lacks sufficient nutrients.
2. Zombie-Maker Cordyceps (Cordyceps militaris)
Bright orange club-shaped fruiting bodies signal the final stage of this fungus’s gruesome lifecycle. Its spores infect living insects, growing through their bodies and eventually controlling their behavior before erupting from their corpses.
During a hike near Mount Hood, I spotted these striking orange stalks emerging from what remained of a beetle. They thrive in Oregon’s higher elevation forests, particularly in areas with abundant insect populations and consistent moisture.
3. Wood Ear Predator (Hohenbuehelia spp.)
Resembling flattened, gelatinous ears growing from dead wood, these mushrooms have a surprising appetite for nematodes. Their mycelium produces specialized cells with tiny droplets that paralyze prey on contact.
I’ve found these unusual hunters throughout Oregon’s Coast Range, particularly on alder and maple logs. The fungus creates a two-part attack: first immobilizing prey with toxins, then penetrating with digestive hyphae that extract nutrients from the helpless victim.
4. Lion’s Mane Hunter (Hericium erinaceus)
Looking like a waterfall of white icicles, Lion’s Mane has recently been discovered to supplement its diet by trapping and digesting springtails and other microarthropods. Its dangling spines secrete a sticky substance that ensnares tiny insects that venture too close.
These spectacular mushrooms grow on hardwood trees throughout Oregon’s mixed forests. While primarily a decomposer, research suggests this fungus evolved its predatory abilities to obtain nitrogen from insect bodies when this nutrient becomes limited.
5. Cascade Coral Slime (Tremellodendropsis tuberosa)
Rising from forest soil like miniature coral reefs, these branched fungi employ a clever hunting strategy. Their branches exude a sticky mucilage that traps passing springtails and soil mites.
During mushroom surveys in the Cascade foothills, I’ve found these delicate predators thriving in mossy areas after autumn rains. The trapped insects struggle against the adhesive coating, eventually becoming exhausted while the fungus slowly penetrates their exoskeletons with digestive hyphae.
6. Candy Cap Carnivore (Lactarius rubidus)
Famous for its maple syrup scent when dried, this rusty-orange mushroom harbors a surprising secret. Its mycelium produces specialized trap cells that paralyze soil-dwelling springtails and mites.
Common in Oregon’s oak woodlands and mixed forests, particularly in the fall after first rains. While foraging near Eugene, I discovered these sweet-smelling hunters emerging from leaf litter, their underground network already busy capturing tiny arthropods to supplement the nitrogen available from decomposing plant matter.
7. Pacific Golden Thread (Phycomyces blakesleeanus)
These golden, thread-like fungi rise from forest dung and release a volatile compound that attracts and immobilizes passing fruit flies. The stunned insects fall onto the sticky mycelium and are slowly digested.
Throughout Oregon’s coastal forests, these hunters appear after summer rains on deer and elk droppings. Their tall, golden sporangiophores reach toward light, creating a shimmering effect that earned them their poetic name while disguising their predatory nature.
8. Mossy Maze Polypore (Cerrena unicolor)
This bracket fungus with concentric zones of gray, brown, and white harbors a surprising secret in its maze-like pores. The mycelium produces specialized sticky traps that capture passing springtails and mites.
Growing abundantly on hardwood trees throughout Oregon’s forests, particularly in the Coast Range. When examining specimens near Tillamook, I discovered tiny arthropods trapped in the sticky substances produced by this seemingly ordinary fungus, revealing its dual life as both decomposer and predator.