Sagehen (ffnisus)
*Nostoc parmeliodes: "Star Jelly"
This odd cyanobacteria begins as a surface slime on the stream substrate; it is triggered to grow “ears” by the presence of Cricotopus midge larvae. The larvae live safely inside the ears until they emerge to float to the surface, sprout wings and take to the air. The cyanobacteria also benefits from this arrangement, since the ears dramatically increase the photosynthetic surface area available to make its food.
Some Nostoc species have been known as “Star Jelly” since antiquity. Ancient naturalists (and Age-of-Enlightenment comet hunters) noticed the slimy stuff in wet meadows during meteor showers. Perhaps because that was the only time that the ancient naturalists were out in wet meadows at night?
They hypothesized that the slime came in on the meteors, a rather creepy notion that eventually took hold in 1950’s paranoid sci-fi literature and film during the first phase of the Cold War and the dawn of the Space Age. The idea is expressed in the now well-worn trope of alien parasites drifting in from space, usually on meteors, to the detriment of humans who never decisively win against these relentless and incomprehensible invaders.
Examples include: The Puppet Masters (Heinlein, 1951); The Meteor/It Came From Outer Space (Bradbury, 1952); The Body Snatchers/Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Finney, 1954); The Blob (Linaker & Simonson, 1958); and The Dark Brotherhood (Lovecraft & Derleth, 1966).
*Nostoc parmeliodes: "Star Jelly"
This odd cyanobacteria begins as a surface slime on the stream substrate; it is triggered to grow “ears” by the presence of Cricotopus midge larvae. The larvae live safely inside the ears until they emerge to float to the surface, sprout wings and take to the air. The cyanobacteria also benefits from this arrangement, since the ears dramatically increase the photosynthetic surface area available to make its food.
Some Nostoc species have been known as “Star Jelly” since antiquity. Ancient naturalists (and Age-of-Enlightenment comet hunters) noticed the slimy stuff in wet meadows during meteor showers. Perhaps because that was the only time that the ancient naturalists were out in wet meadows at night?
They hypothesized that the slime came in on the meteors, a rather creepy notion that eventually took hold in 1950’s paranoid sci-fi literature and film during the first phase of the Cold War and the dawn of the Space Age. The idea is expressed in the now well-worn trope of alien parasites drifting in from space, usually on meteors, to the detriment of humans who never decisively win against these relentless and incomprehensible invaders.
Examples include: The Puppet Masters (Heinlein, 1951); The Meteor/It Came From Outer Space (Bradbury, 1952); The Body Snatchers/Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Finney, 1954); The Blob (Linaker & Simonson, 1958); and The Dark Brotherhood (Lovecraft & Derleth, 1966).