In one of my pond water jars I have a healthy population of Stylonichia going, at least until the present. The culture was full of what I believe are Stylonichia and a huge, perhaps larger number of much smaller unidentified ciliates. Well those smaller ciliates are now nowhere to be found but the larger Stylonychia are still evident in large numbers, seemingly actively looking for their next meal. What I found interesting is their behavior towards this lone Coleps I found; each Stylonychia that came near checked it out and rapidly retreated. I wonder what avoidance mechanisms are at work here.
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