Beech Mushroom vs Coastal Silver-stiletto

Hypsizygus tessulatus compared with Acrosathe annulata

Key Differences

Beech Mushroom is Data Deficient while Coastal Silver-stiletto is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Beech Mushroom	Coastal Silver-stiletto
Kingdom	Fungi (Fungi)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)	Diptera (Diptera)
Family	Lyophyllaceae	Therevidae
Genus	Hypsizygus	Acrosathe
Species	Hypsizygus tessulatus	Acrosathe annulata

Conservation Status

Beech Mushroom

DD — Data Deficient

Coastal Silver-stiletto

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Beech Mushroom	Coastal Silver-stiletto
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Beech Mushroom

Habitat

Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, and United States.

Coastal Silver-stiletto

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Beech Mushroom

The Beech Mushroom (Hypsizygus tessulatus) is a species in the genus Hypsizygus. Its conservation status is listed as Data Deficient, indicating insufficient data for assessment. Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Coastal Silver-stiletto

Coastal silver stiletto (Acrosathe annulata) is a slender robber fly in the family Therevidae, native to northwestern Europe, including the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Scandinavia. Adults are found on coastal sand dunes and sandy heathland, where they perch on bare sand to ambush small flying insects. Stiletto flies in the family Therevidae are characterised by a slender body, long pointed abdomen, and predatory habits; adults prey on a variety of small dipterans and other flying insects during warm, sunny periods. Larvae develop in sandy soil, where they are also predatory, feeding on other invertebrate larvae. Acrosathe annulata is a habitat specialist restricted to open, sandy coastal habitats with sparse vegetation—environments that have declined substantially across northwestern Europe due to dune stabilisation, recreational disturbance, and the cessation of traditional dune management. The IUCN lists it as Least Concern, though regional conservation bodies in the United Kingdom have flagged population declines. It is considered an indicator of high-quality coastal sand dune habitats and is monitored through national invertebrate surveys.