The slime mould, Physarum polycephalum, 'Daywalker', is very easy to keep, harmless and undemanding just requiring oats for food. Making maps and mazes for them to solve and explore is easy to do. Despite its name it is not a mould but a protist species, and moves similarly to other protists, such as amoebae, by extending fan-shaped pseudopodia to forage for food.

We now offer 2 options, dried or active. The most cost effective option is 'dried', but if you are short on time we also offer an 'active' option, where by the Darwin lab team have already 'woken up' your dried sample on an agar plate. This is produced to order so please allow a few days.

The slime mould is normally sent out in a dried format called a 'sclerotia', and can be kept like this for years, provided it is stored in a dark and dry location. The piece supplied is approximately 10x20mm, this can be kept as your stock culture and used for at least 6 practicals as you only need a 3-5mm square piece.

Once you are ready to wake your sclerotia sample please follow the below instructions:

• Put some sterile filter paper in a petri dish and dampen it; alternatively use a sterile agar plate (agar-agar or technical agar, not nutrient agar)
• Using a sterile scalpel, cut a 3-5mm square off your dried sample and place orange side up in the middle of the petri dish, then put a single sterile oat flake next to it
• Leave it somewhere dark overnight; keep the temperature 20-25°C.
• The slime will wake up and start to eat the oat, once it's fully covered the oat, add a couple more
• Keep it in the dark and gradually increase the amount of oats at each feed
• Once it is the size of a 10p, you are ready to use it!

For information on how to keep them, how to find them in the wild and what amazing tricks these strange organisms can do please have a look at Warwick University's School of Life Sciences Slime Mould Guides.

CLEAPSS also have some great resources for slime moulds including GL471 Slime mould Introduction and GL472 Activities Using Slime Moulds

A portion of the sales of this product are given to charity annually.

Mainland Britain

Our UK mainland delivery charges are as follows: (All figures are exc. VAT)

For next day delivery, please order by 1pm, item must be in stock. All stock levels are shown on the web, if showing as out of stock or prepared to order and required urgently, please contact us as we may have stock! Next day orders are sent by Royal Mail Special Delivery which is a signed for service, please ensure someone is available.

Drosophila are always dispatched on a Monday, please advise when ordering your preferred delivery week.

Our working hours are 9am - 3pm Monday - Thursday, 9am - 12pm Friday. Orders received outside these hours will be processed the next working day; orders are only dispatched Monday-Thursday (Monday-Wednesday for perishable items). Hours vary during school holidays but we are usually available via email.

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Northern Ireland

Sadly, due to the UK leaving the EU, we can no longer supply Northern Irish customers with any products the have codes starting with an 'L' or 'P'. This is due to the requirement for all live or preserved products to have an import licence specific to the customer purchasing and the product being purchased. As each licence takes 2 weeks to obtain, and involves a considerable amount of paperwork, we have made the difficult decision to stop offering these products to Northern Irish customers. We can still offer equipment, i.e. products with an 'E' code, as these simply require customs documentation.

We apologise for the inconvenience and if the legislation changes we will happily review our decision.

British Islands

Delivery charges to the Isle of Man, Channel Islands (including Jersey & Guernsey), Shetland, Orkney and all the other islands we've missed, are the same as to mainland Britain (see above). The main difference is that delivery is likely to take a little longer, and for this reason we cannot guarantee next day delivery.

In addition, we cannot ship any liquids, so any 'wet' specimen ordered will be sent vacuum packed rather than in a jar.

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