“The Lacrymaria's hunting style is incredibly successful, but it's build in part on chaos. Instead of lying in wait for food to come by, the Lacrymaria plays the odds. It zaps its neck out incredibly fast, sub-second movements to whip around and randomly sample the area around it for food. This strategy helps the Lacrymaria capture all sorts of prey.”

Journey to the Microcosmos- Lacrymaria: Vicious Long-Necked Predators

Images Originally Captured by Jam’s Germs

cc: "Organisms pass and pass, but nothing tempts the hunter until a specific prey comes along: the unsuspecting ciliate called Halteria. The Actinobolina stabs it with a tentacle, which is loaded with a toxicyst at the end to immobilize the prey. And then the tentacle draws the food in, to its inevitable end. The acctinobolina digests its mean, but as Calkin himself said, it is insatiable. So it retracts its tentacles and leaves, seeking out a new spot to stretch out and ensnare its next meal."

Journey to the Microcosmos- Actinobolina: A Tiny Predatory Porcupine

“When the Lacrymaria finds its target, it fires off a set of organelles called extrusomes to release toxins into their prey. And you can see that the flexiblity of the Lacrymaria's neck comes in handy not just for hunting, but also for eating, expanding as it does here to contain the entire meal.”

Journey to the Microcosmos- Lacrymaria: Vicious Long-Necked Predators

6to tema - Halteria

Del álbum: Factor irreal.