Iridescence

Iridescence is a widespread phenomenon in the natural world. It is common in invertebrates including in the eyes, wings and other parts of insects such as flies, wasps, bees, beetles, butterflies and bugs; the setae and other parts of crustaceans; in squid, octopus and cuttlefish; and in arachnids, especially the jumping spiders. Iridescence is also …

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Lindbladia tubulina

13 December 2018: A large - 100 mm x 100 mm - mass of dark matter appeared on sawdust-like material at the base of a large eucalypt stump not far from the house. It was unlike any slime mould I'd ever seen. Many are white, yellow, bright pink or orange when they first appear and …

Time lapse: Arcyria affinis

On 30 September 2017 a patch of newly forming white sporangia caught my eye so I set up the camera on tripod in order to photograph the maturing fruiting bodies. By the following day the white had turned a pale pink characteristic of a developing Arcyria sp. By 9 October its capillitium had lost its …

Time lapse: Paradiachea caespitosa

On 15 November 2017 I saw a large white plasmodium at the base of a living stringybark (Eucalyptus obliqua) and started to monitor its changing shape and colour as it matured. This species - Paradiachea caespitosa - has appeared in the same location in previous years, i.e. close to the big tree on 'big tree track'. There …

Time lapse: Stemonitis axifera

In October 2017 a cluster of white 'beads', the early stage of a Stemonitis sp., appeared on a dead Bedfordia salicina. I monitored the colour change as it matured; its bright rusty red colour suggested Stemonitis axifera and the characteristics of the internal and surface net confirmed this identification (see below). The internal net of S. …