Microscopic menu of a Midge larva - by Wim van Egmond, The Netherlands

Microscopic menu á la carte

as a starter - a small plate with water fleas

the main dish - a bowl with 2 species of shelled amoebae, Arcella sp. and Lesquereusia spiralis, a real delicacy we can compare with eating escargots.

as a dessert - a light salad (yes, in the micro world things tend to be quite different than in our macroscopic world) made of several algae, not just green algae but conjugating green algae, again showing the fine taste of the consumer. We can clearly see the desmid Netrium digitum and a nice filamentous alga, perhaps a Spirogyra but the chloroplast has already been digested.


the desmid Netrium digitum before digestion

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comments to the author Wim van Egmond are welcomed.

All photographs © Wim van Egmond 2003

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Published in September 2003 Micscape Magazine.

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