Eggs of Salmon (Trichia decipiens). The fruiting bodies of this slime mould adorn a moss-covered oak limb. This slime mould spends most of the year as a single-celled form. Individual amoeba-like cells move around and feed on bacteria, yeasts and other organic matter in damp woodland. When food resources become low, the individual cells give out a chemical signal and aggregate, fusing to form a single larger body. This eventually becomes a gelatinous, creeping mass known as the plasmodium. Numerous small warty protrusions then appear, giving rise to the fruiting bodies (sporocarps) we see in this picture. These ripen to release spores that spread freely through the air. Each orange sphere seen here is approximately 0.7mm across. Location: Padley Gorge, Derbyshire. November.