Some have a peculiar odour suggesting garlic.
Many species produce a white oily substance in large drops among the aerial hyphae.
One group of species, characterized by velvety, odourless colonies, is considered by some mycologists to represent a separate genus Micromucor . Mortierella species often fail to reproduce under normal laboratory conditions. Apparently cold and starvation triggers reproduction. These spores can be large in some species and may be variously roughened. Similar spores are produced by Histoplasma capsulatum , cause of a serious disease in humans, and by species of Sepedonium Common in soil and dung.