Day 263: I'm always happy when I find something I haven't seen before, and of course since I'm new to the world of slime molds, the gateway to fresh discoveries is wide open. I do not profess to any skill at identifying any but the most common of them; my modus operandi is to get the best photo possible and refer it out to a group of slime mold experts from around the world. By doing so, I am learning the identification points for genera and species. These tiny creatures turned out to be a Cribraria of some sort, impossible to sort out any further without a microscope. My lesson for the day was to look for the fine net-like structure which contains the spores. Now it must be said that hunting slime molds can be a risky business. While I was photographing these little critters which, I hasten to add, measured something under 1 mm in height (much smaller than pinheads), I perched on their log, cushioned by a thick layer of moss thinking nothing of what might be living within its green micro-jungle. Suffice to say that I now know what the bite of a nymphal earwig looks like, and that the swelling/itching responds well to repeated applications of Benadryl cream.
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