Day 234: How does that old song go? "What a difference a day makes! 24 little hours..." When you're a specimen of Tubifera ferruginosa (Raspberry Tube slime mold), this is the time frame for your reproductive phase. Once Tubifera had depleted the tasty bacterial food source on this rotten log, it began to sporulate. Its plasmodium extended sporocarps, closely packed together to form the pinkish-orange mounds we filmed on Wednesday. Within 24 hours, many of the aethalia had ripened and had turned black, indicating that they were ready to release their spores. These photos show the difference, and emphasize the great good fortune the film crew had in being in the right place at the right time. In another few days, Tubifera will have literally gone to dust, its days as a film star over.
