I have here what looks to be two different genera of lichen, one in the genus Parmelia the other maybe Tuckermannopsis, It appears as though the Tuckermannopsis (right) has tapped the thallus of the Parmelia (left) residing beside it (arrows), both share the same substrate, that of a twig from a Southern Yellow pine. Question, is this a common occurrence for lichens to do so? The reason I am asking is that I have never ran across this before or have not noticed it in observations past, to me it suggests a form of parasitism, maybe? If there are any lichenologists or maybe those aspiring to be, out there that could shed light on this, cool! If not, that’s okay. Thanks
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