sp. nov., an Amoeba That Dissolves Entire Algal Cells at a Remarkable Speed.

The vampyrellid amoebae (Order Vampyrellida, Rhizaria) comprise predatory microeukaryotes that inhabit freshwater, marine, and terrestrial habitats. They are known to consume a wide array of prey, which includes microalgae, fungi, and even microscopic animals such as nematodes. Members of the popular genus phagocytize the cell contents of filamentous green algae after localized perforation of the cell wall.

The vampyrellid amoeba gen. et sp. nov. and its remarkable strategy to acquire algal cell contents.

The vampire amoebae (Vampyrellida, Rhizaria) inhabit freshwater, marine, and terrestrial ecosystems and consume a wide range of eukaryotic prey. This includes diverse microalgae, fungi, and microscopic animals. One of the most captivating aspects of the vampyrellids is their ability to extract the cell contents of other eukaryotes after local dissolution of the prey cell wall, a feeding strategy that occurs in several vampyrellid families, but is best studied in species that attack zygnematophyte green algae.

Army ant middens - Home and nursery of a diverse beetle fauna.

Army ants provide nourishment to a large variety of animals. This includes birds that feed on animals flushed out by army ant raids, symbiotic arthropods that consume the ants' prey or their brood, and other arthropods that scavenge on army ant refuse deposits. The latter have not received much attention, and the few published studies lack detailed species identifications.