BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, UK
You’d be forgiven for thinking this image was taken on the seafloor. The common woodlouse is a crustacean – just like lobsters and crabs – and the strange organism it is feasting on could be mistaken for an unusual jellyfish. It is, in fact, not just one creature, but many. These slime moulds, of the Stemonitis genus, are single cells who’ve all come together to reproduce. Seen here is Stemonitis’s fruiting body, called a sporangia, which will release spores into the air that can go on to become new, single-celled moulds.
For the woodlouse, the slime mould is a delicious dinner. It contains the carbohydrate cellulose, and is a nice change from the fallen leaves, faeces and wood that the species commonly eat.