Cinnabar Webcap vs Lǎohǔ

Cortinarius cinnabarinus compared with Panthera tigris

Key Differences

Cinnabar Webcap is Vulnerable while Lǎohǔ is Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Cinnabar Webcap	Lǎohǔ
Kingdom	Fungi (真菌界)	Animalia (动物界)
Phylum	Basidiomycota (担子菌门)	Chordata (脊索动物门)
Class	Agaricomycetes (傘菌綱)	Mammalia (哺乳動物)
Order	Agaricales (伞菌目)	Carnivora (食肉目)
Family	Cortinariaceae	Felidae (Cats)
Genus	Cortinarius	Panthera (Big Cats)
Species	Cortinarius cinnabarinus	Panthera tigris

Conservation Status

Cinnabar Webcap

VU — Vulnerable

Lǎohǔ

EN — Endangered

Population: ~4.5K

Trend: Increasing ↑

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Cinnabar Webcap	Lǎohǔ
Diet	—	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	—	20 years
Average Length	—	3.0 m
Average Weight	—	220.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Cinnabar Webcap

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Taiwan. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Lǎohǔ

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, among 6 distinct biome types spanning the Neotropic and Oceanian realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Colombia and Ecuador. Currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Cinnabar Webcap

Cinnabar webcap (Cortinarius cinnabarinus) is a brightly colored mushroom in the family Cortinariaceae, found in deciduous and mixed woodland across Europe. It produces vivid cinnabar-red to orange-red fruiting bodies with a conical to broadly convex cap, red gills that turn cinnamon-brown with age, and a red stipe with a cobwebby cortina (partial veil) characteristic of the genus Cortinarius. The species grows in mycorrhizal association with broadleaf trees, particularly beech (Fagus) and oak (Quercus), fruiting in late summer and autumn. The cinnabar webcap is classified as Vulnerable in European red lists, reflecting population declines associated with loss of mycorrhizal host trees, changes in forest management, soil acidification, and nitrogen deposition. The genus Cortinarius is the largest genus of agaric fungi in the Northern Hemisphere, with thousands of species, many of which are poorly studied. Like other webcaps, Cortinarius cinnabarinus is inedible and some Cortinarius species are highly toxic. Its striking red coloration is unusual within the genus and makes it relatively easy to identify in the field. Conservation of old-growth and mature beech forest in Europe is critical for sustaining populations of this and many other mycorrhizal fungi. Ectomycorrhizal fungi like webcaps provide essential nutrient exchange services to forest trees.