# Are these springtail eggs? Or something else?



## Mchub (Mar 19, 2018)

Any idea if this happen before... Any idea if these are springtail eggs?

They're sitting directly on top of my leaf litter. I've seen springtails congregating around them today but I'm not totally sure. It's a newer tank so I'm curious if maybe they're from fungus gnats or they're some sort of mushroom forming. I've definitely seen some type of fungus near that spot earlier today, which inexplicably disappeared (I figured the springtails ate it).

Also wondering if maybe it's some type of slime mold given the circumstances?


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## kimcmich (Jan 17, 2016)

Greetings,

This is a slime mold as you mentioned. They are a very cool aggregating organism that spends part of its life like an amoeba and part like a mushroom. There are forms whose multicellular/aggregate form congeals into a single cell with many nuclei. When not looking like small mushrooms they are invisible to the naked eye or look like a sinuous branching network of slimy strangs that slowly grows across the surface of damp objects.

Slime molds eat microorganisms and the biofilm that grows on moist surfaces. Your image is of the multicellular "fruiting" stage which will eventually begin producing powdery spores. I have populations in my viv with fruiting forms like tiny bunches of cigars and others that look like tiny yellow lollypops.

These will come in go in your viv on their own mysterious schedule. Enjoy them when they make their brief appearance.


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## Mchub (Mar 19, 2018)

kimcmich said:


> Greetings,
> 
> This is a slime mold as you mentioned. They are a very cool aggregating organism that spends part of its life like an amoeba and part like a mushroom. There are forms whose multicellular/aggregate form congeals into a single cell with many nuclei. When not looking like small mushrooms they are invisible to the naked eye or look like a sinuous branching network of slimy strangs that slowly grows across the surface of damp objects.
> 
> ...


Thank you!


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## Entomologist210 (Apr 24, 2014)

Super jealous! I have never been fortunate enough to have a slime mold in any of my vivs.


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## Mchub (Mar 19, 2018)

Entomologist210 said:


> Super jealous! I have never been fortunate enough to have a slime mold in any of my vivs.


Haha! And to think I was worried about it. Seems the general consensus is that people would love to have it too. I think it probably came out of the live sphagnum I got from a person who collects it from a bog in PA. I'm just glad it's not something dangerous to my frogs.


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