Serpula (fungus) cover the surface they are growing on (known as the substrate). The hymenophore, or spore-forming surface, generally has a wrinkled appearance. The species grow on, and digest, mainly coniferous wood, causing a process known as brown rot. One species, dry rot ("S. lacrymans"), is a highly destructive agent of houses. Damp structural timber is an ideal substrate for the germination of "Serpula" spores. The fungal hyphae penetrate the wood and release enzymes that break down structural polysaccharides such as cellulose. There may be no external indications that the fungus is present until the rot is far advanced and fruit bodies
Nemapogon granella are uniformly greyish-brown and surrounded by a fringe of long hairs. On the head, the adults have a tuft of yellowish-white hairs. The caterpillar larvae eat rotting wood in the wild, though they prefer bracket fungi, usually Polyporales. Their mainstay food included Polyporaceae such as sulphur polypore ("Laetiporus sulphureus"), dryad's saddle ("Polyporus squamosus") or turkey tail ("Trametes versicolor"), as well as Fomitopsidaceae, e.g. birch polypore ("Piptoporus betulinus"). But they have also been found on "Serpula lacrymans" of the quite unrelated Boletales. Larvae in association with humans will feed on a variety of dry organic material, such as dried fruit (e.g.bilberries,