Table Of ContentNaturalistNotes
tectonic plate neared the islands to the north Acknowledgements
about 20 million years ago. Some Helmet Or- ThankstoCamBeardsellforthiswonderfultale.
chid relatives are epiphytes on the branches of
tropical trees. How did our Helmet Orchids’ References
exploitationoftheFungusGnatevolve? lonFer.es,ncDl.ils..FNoraetsitv,eNOSrcWh)idsofAustralia(1988).(ReedBooks:
This isjust one example ofhowvery complex (ones,D.L.Thepolliiialioii ofCorybasdiemenicus(H.M.R.)
ecosystems are. The threat to these and many RuppandW.tt.NicholisexH.M.R.Rupp(1970). The Vic-
other native orchids is obtdous. Iftheirpollina- GrtgourriiannoNvaitcuraCiiAst.(18979(72)),L3a7r2g-e3r74.Fungi ofSouth Australia.
tors are wiped out, the orchids are doomed. In (StateGovernmentof.SouthAustralia:Adelaide)
thiscase,theHelmetOrchids,GnatOrchidsand Cleland JB (1976) Toadstools and Mushrooms and Other
Greenhoodsdependonthesurvivalofthe Fun- ALdaerlgaeirdFeu)ngiofSouth Australia (GovernmentPrinter,SA:
gus Gnat,which dependson the survival ofthe
mmuusshhrroooomm,, bDyerimtsocmyycboerrchlielzaanldiia.ssIonciattuironn,,tehni-s GrahamPatterson,PatGreyandEdGrey
suresthehealthoftheeucalypts...andsoon. POBox175,LowerPlenty,Victoria3093
Springtail eats slime mould!
On 5 July 2009, the Fungi Group ofthe Field This stunningly beautiful little beastie (it was
Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV) made a onlyabout3-4mmlong) (Fig. 1) hadthemost
fascinating discovery while foraying on the remarkable colours and features. It had a pur-
Lerderderg Heritage River Trail from the plebodywithtworowsofpinkprocessesdown
Jack Gann Reserve, in the Wombat State For- each flank (the outer ones were quite long). I
est, near Blackwood, Victoria. (37°28'35.4"S had never seen anything like it before, so I
144°17T3.2”E; I can give the location with sent an image to Ian Endersby who suspected
confidence because it was right next to a rare it was a type ofspringtail and forwarded it on
‘toothpick’ fungus that we were recording and toPennyGreenslade(aworld-renownedexpert
wetookaGPSreadingofthat). on the taxonomy and ecology ofCollembola).
The trail passes through dry box and Sheconfirmedthatitwas indeedaspringtail—
stringybark heathy woodland and on the side an uchidCollembolaofthegenusAcanthanura
of the track we found a bright yellow slime (subfamilyUchidanurinae). Thespeciesofthis
mould (Myxomycete) ona patch ofleafyliver- subfamily are the largest and most spectacular
wort. This was notespecially unusual in itself, ofthe springtails, and unlike most springtails,
but I am intere.sted in slime moulds and was lack ajumping organ. Greenslade co-authored
keentorecordit. Thespecimenwasstilltrans- an article in The Victorian Naturalist (Green-
formingfromtheplasmodialstage,butthevery slade et al. 2002), describing log-inhabiting
weakstrand-like stalks and pendant sporangia Uchidanurinae. The article recorded two ob-
suggesteditwasBadhamia sp. However, while servations of these creatures feeding on the
photographing the slime mould, I noticed that plasmodial stage of slime moulds in Victoria
some ofthe sporangia had been disturbed and and Tasmania, and suggested that this may be
seemed to be reverting back to plasmodial more common than previously thought. She
slime— something they easily do when physi- suggestedthat theirspecialised mouthparts in-
cally disturbed at this stage of their develop- dicate that they have a preference for, or even
ment. Upon closer inspection ofmy photos, I feedexclusivelyon,slimemoulds.
wassurprised,anddelighted,toseethecauseof Penny was quite excited by this find and
—
this disturbance a tiny creature was feasting pointed out that these creatures are quite rare
ontheslime mould!
206 TheVictorianNaturalist
NaturalistNotes
that colonise slime moulds.
Myxomycetes typicallyfeed
onbacteriafoundin decay-
ing wood and litter; how-
ever, there is evidence that
some slime moulds prefer
growing amongst mosses
—
and liverworts presum-
ably these provide a suit-
ablehabitatforsporulation.
Someslimemoulds also are
known to feed on fungal
spores.
Unfortunately, I did not
collect the Collembola (it
didn’t occur to me to do so
at the time, and I wouldn’t
have known how to handle
itanyway). Ididcollectthe
slimemouldbuttheanimal
appearedtohavefledpretty
Springtailonslimemould. quickly(althoughitseemed
unperturbed bypeopletaking photographs for
and endangered by fire and logging. Large about 15minutes).
partsoftheareawevisitedwererecentlyburnt, Tobehonest,Iwasgladitdeparted,becauseI
and the Wombat State Forest does have pro- didnotwantittoeatalltheslimemouldbefore
posedloggingcoupes(although notinthearea I had a chance to examine it. As it happened,
around the Heritage Walk where we were), so much ofthe slime mould disintegrated on the
the threats mayhavebeen quitecloseforthese journeyhome.
particular individuals. The weat—her was cold, I believe the slime mould was Badhamia sp.,
overcast and tending to drizzle ideal condi- but my microscopical examination was con-
tions for uchid springtails (and many slime strainedbytheveryfewsporangiathathadma-
moulds),whichlikelowtemperaturesandhigh tured. It had darkbrown,wartyspores, mean
humidity. size 12.1 by 11.0 pm. with large limey plates
The FNCV Fungi Group often finds spring- (capillitiawerenotobserved).
tailsamongstthegillsoffungi. Pennyhasfound
that some endemic species and even genera of References
Collembolaspecialise on fungi, andsome feed Greenslade P, Moore S and Farrow R (2002) Observations
exclusivelyonthefungalspores. onthefeedingbehaviourofUchidanaurinae(Collembola:
Neanuridae) in Australia. The Victorian Naturalist 119,
The ecology offungi, slime moulds and in- 221-223.
sects is fascinating. Stephenson and Stempen GreensladeP(2002)Collembolaassociatedwithfungalfruit-
(2000) describe beetles that are commonly StbeopdhieenssoinnASuLstarnadliSa.tePmedpoebnioHlo(g2i0a0046),M3y4x5o-m3y5c2e.tes:AHand-
foundfeedingonthesporangiaorplasmodium bookontheSlimeMolds(TimberPress:Portland,Oregon)
of slime moulds and suggests that some are
obligate myxomycete specialists. Certain spe- PaulGeorge
cies offlies are also known tolayeggs in slime 238CanterburyRoad
mould plasmodium and the larvae feed on the Canterbury,Victoria3126
plasmodium. Therearealsoanumberoffungi
Vol 127 (5) 2010 207
