Physarum polycephalum as springtail food

[Ben Gruver]

I recently got some Physarum from Ian (thanks!!), and it has been doing amazingly well for me. I'm highly enjoying keeping and observing the slime mold so far, but my actual goal was to try using it as springtail food for a species of picky eaters - Vitronura giselae. Other species in the Neanuridae family are known to feed on slime mold, and my initial experiments with these springtails showed some promise -- I just didn't have much luck trying to culture a random wild slime I found, or some Fuligo septica.

But the Physarum seems very easy to keep, and has already grown a lot, so I went ahead and introduced a small bit of plasmodium into one of my V. giselae cultures. And as hoped, they are showing some interest in it.

These springtails have a conical mouth that is specialized for sucking up food, and in this one you can see the mouth stuck into the plasmodium.

[Ben Gruver]

They really seem to be taking to the slime mold as food. They have really started perking back up - looking much better, being more active, and even putting on fat stores that are visible under their skin.

And most excitingly, I saw the first eggs in there today!