Collembola being devoured by hyphae

Images made through a microscope. All subject types.

Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau

Ken Ramos
Posts: 7208
Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:12 pm
Location: lat=35.4005&lon=-81.9841

Collembola being devoured by hyphae

Post by Ken Ramos »

Indeed not the most clear or detailed image but one that I have never seen, though often I have read of fungi preying on microorganisms and small insects. Maybe if I had some stacking software but then again, if a grasshopper had a tail gunner, crows would leave it alone, ya think?

Image

Omano OM2300S-V3 dissecting microscope with Sony DSC-W5 1/30 sec. @ f/2.8 ISO 100 Illumination daylight LED 60W equiv.

The Springtail struggled for a bit of time before giving in to the, I can only suppose or imagine, digestive enzymes being produced by the fungi. The only thing I could think of being worse would be that of being digested alive by a land planarian.

kit1980
Posts: 124
Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2016 11:14 pm
Location: Bellevue, WA, USA

Post by kit1980 »

Interesting, but maybe the springtail was already dying or something?
It seems unlikely to me that the fungus killed it considering the collembola's size and protective cuticle.

I think Frans Janssens, the guy behind http://www.collembola.org/ , might be interested to see this.
Omax microscope with Nikon CF objectives
Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II camera
http://sdymphoto.com/

grgh
Posts: 372
Joined: Sat Mar 09, 2013 4:55 am
Location: Lancashire. UK

Post by grgh »

interesting picture,

Just followed the link.http://www.collembola.org/
what an interesting site on collembola.
used to do astronomy.
and photography.
Zeiss Universal Phase contrast.
Zeiss PMII
B&L stereo zoom.

Ken Ramos
Posts: 7208
Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:12 pm
Location: lat=35.4005&lon=-81.9841

Post by Ken Ramos »

kit1980 wrote:Interesting, but maybe the springtail was already dying or something?
It seems unlikely to me that the fungus killed it considering the collembola's size and protective cuticle.

I think Frans Janssens, the guy behind http://www.collembola.org/ , might be interested to see this.
It is hard to see in the photograph but the hyphae have began forming a cocoon so to speak, around the struggling springtail. However, you may also be right in saying that the springtail may be suffering from something entirely different from the fungus. I can only speculate on what I have read about some fungi being able to digest small insects and protists by means of a haustorium.

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic