Slime Mold Fruiting Bodies

Yesterday (Jan 30th) I noticed that the lower parts of the yellow slime mould (probably Badhamia utricularis), that I found a week ago, is now covered in small black fruiting bodies, or sporangia.  I cannot remember seeing these on my previous visit the day before (Jan 29th), but it is possible that they were there and I missed them because they were just on the lower part of one log.  I had to bend down quite low to get a clear view of them.  Looking back at the photos I took on Jan 29th, in one of them there does seem to be lots of little yellow lumps which might be the first signs of the developing sporangia:

The following sequence of photos by Kim Fleming (myriorama) shows that slime moulds can transform from yellow plasmodium to all black sporangia in the space of a single day: 1, 2, 3, 4.

Most of the photos of B. urticularis sporangia out on the web show them as an ashy light grey colour, but this is probably only their colour when they are relatively mature and nearly ready to release their spores.  Some photos show B. utricularis with bright yellow sporangia.  I suppose that it is possible that yellow is the natural colour of the new sporangia, and that the black colour in the above photo is just a result of a frost (-2C) that occurred on the previous night.

I will try to keep an eye on how this slime mould develops over the next few days.

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Readng University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-01-30.

Buttercup

From a sunny evening last spring: a buttercup flower (Ranunculus sp.).

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, Uk, on 2009-05-29.

Hoverfly

A male hoverfly of species Scaeva pyrastri (Diptera: Syrphidae).  Photo taken in my father's garden in Guisborough, North Yorkshire, UK, on 2009-08-05.

Yellow Slime Mould

A yellow slime mould, possibly Badhamia utricularis (based on comparison with photos here, here and here). 

At this stage of its life cycle, the slime mould is in effect a single giant multinucleate cell called a plasmodium.  In this form it spreads out to feed and, later on, it moves off to a drier location where it develops fruiting bodies and releases spores.

The slime mould in these pictures seemed to be attacted to the orange fungus that was growing on the same decaying log.

Photos taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-01-23.

Mirid Bug

Dryophilocoris flavoquadrimaculatus (Hemiptera: Miridae).  Probably the longest name of any species I have photographed (14 + 20 = 34 letters).

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2009-05-17.