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Diachea leucopoda #3

Posted by
Johan Dierckx (Wijnegem, Belgium) on 4 December 2010 in Plant & Nature and Portfolio.

Diachea leucopoda (Witpootglinsterkopje (BE) / White-footed Slime (EN)) is a species of slime mold.
More info and general view: see 2 previous posts.

Only very recently (sept. 2010) a scientific article was published on how the different color bands of this species are formed. The color does not depend on pigments! The researchers found that the species' peridium - the protective layer that encloses the mass of spores - is basically a corrugated layer of a transparent (!) material, which produces a multicolored pointillistic effect, characteristic of this species due to the result of an interference effect. This is called "structural color" and it is a property found in many plant and animal species, as well as some minerals, which have iridescence due to interference effects of light. The effect is depending on the angle of the beholder...

Abstract and full version of this article (in english) are available on :
Marina Inchaussandague, Diana Skigin, Cecilia Carmaran, and Sonia Rosenfeldt, "Structural color in Myxomycetes," Opt. Express 18, 16055-16063 (2010)
http://www.opticsinfobase.org/oe/abstract.cfm?URI=oe-18-15-16055

Image taken with 150mm macro + 2x Extender + 1.4x Extender, natural sunlight. (An individual sporangium is max. 0.6mm in diameter and between 1 and 1.5mm in hight.)

Image: Wijnegem (BE) - 08/10/2010

Canon EOS 400D 8/5 seconds F/36.0 ISO 200 300 mm

© Johan Dierckx

The photos on this site are copyrighted, which prohibits anyone to use them to sell, give away, use in email or newsgroups, use in a homepage or otherwise showing to the public without my explicit, prior, written permission. Please feel free to use the "contact"-button below to contact me with any questions.

All species are photographed in their natural habitat, without cutting or capturing them, and with maximal respect and the least possible disturbance to the environment.

(To see species in the same taxonomic rank (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus), please use the tags provided with the image. The last tag is the Iso-code for the country where the image was taken. Image-date in DD/MM/YYYY format.)


Please feel free to visit my personal website http://www.diversitasnaturae.be/

Veronique from Sarrouilles, France

FABULOUS colors

4 Dec 2010 11:44am

Sylvie49 capture image from Anjou - Maine et Loire, France

Surprenant ! beautiful colors.

4 Dec 2010 3:12pm

Christine from Duns, United Kingdom

Wow, wonderful colours and thank you for the information on how the colour appears and also the technical details of how you achieved this image

5 Dec 2010 7:44am

KriKridesign from Cully, Switzerland

Hi Johan!
Long time I haven't pass by yours images...Looking through the thumbnail, I've seen poeples...And I've thought..Ohoh! changing style...Nature (and you...) full of surprises!
Hope you're fine!

8 Dec 2010 10:13am

Canon EOS 400D
8/5 seconds
F/36.0
ISO 200
300 mm

protozoa
amoebozoa
myxogastrea
stemonitida
stemonitidaceae
diachea
be