Yesterday we had earthworm cocoons, today I bring you springtail spermatophores!

Springtails, like many other soil invertebrates, reproduce by a male leaving these structures (a blob of sperm-rich fluid on a stalk), which the female will sniff out, collect and use to fertilise her eggs. Very romantic!

#SoilBiodiversity #SoilEcology #Entomology #Macrophotography #Nature #NaturePhotography #Collembola #Soil

Powerful new #antibiotic that can kill #superbugs discovered in #soil #bacteria
Surprise discovery could pave the way for new treatments against #drugresistant #infections.
They discovered an intermediate compound — called premethylenomycin C lactone — whose #antimicrobial activity was 100 times stronger than that of the final product. Tiny doses killed strains of bacteria known to cause hard-to-treat infections.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03595-3

Powerful new #antibiotic that can kill #superbugs discovered in #soil #bacteria
Surprise discovery could pave the way for new treatments against #drugresistant #infections.
They discovered an intermediate compound — called premethylenomycin C lactone — whose #antimicrobial activity was 100 times stronger than that of the final product. Tiny doses killed strains of bacteria known to cause hard-to-treat infections.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03595-3

Another day in our #garden trying to put #new #plants in the #soil

Another day in our #garden trying to put #new #plants in the #soil

These are the beautiful spore-producing structures of plasmodial slime molds. Which is your favourite colour?

Originally considered Fungi, these Myxomycetes are now classed as Amoebozoans - single celled organisms with thousands of nuclei... not animals or fungi but something else entirely!

#SoilBiodiversity#SoilEcology#Fungi#MacroPhotography#Nature#MoldMonday#Soil

These are the beautiful spore-producing structures of plasmodial slime molds. Which is your favourite colour?

Originally considered Fungi, these Myxomycetes are now classed as Amoebozoans - single celled organisms with thousands of nuclei... not animals or fungi but something else entirely!

#SoilBiodiversity#SoilEcology#Fungi#MacroPhotography#Nature#MoldMonday#Soil

Yesterday we had earthworm cocoons, today I bring you springtail spermatophores!

Springtails, like many other soil invertebrates, reproduce by a male leaving these structures (a blob of sperm-rich fluid on a stalk), which the female will sniff out, collect and use to fertilise her eggs. Very romantic!

#SoilBiodiversity #SoilEcology #Entomology #Macrophotography #Nature #NaturePhotography #Collembola #Soil