The digital image presented below illustrates the slime mold fungus Dictydium cancellatum under brightfield illumination, captured at high magnification (at the top end of the zoom range) with the MIC-D inverted microscope.

Mycologists commonly study slime molds because their fruiting body parts have many similarities in appearance to common fungi. These tiny creatures are usually found in rotted logs and decaying plant matter, where there is an abundant supply of moisture and bacteria. Slime molds produce spores, which germinate to form myxamoebae, a flagellated swarm cell that eventually fuses to generate the plasmodium intermediate, and ultimately, the fruiting body.