# Lichen or mold?



## darlingi (Apr 28, 2022)

I spotted some green flakes on pieces of cork bark in my moist enclosures. I’m not worried about mold (thanks to the ever so famous thread), but I’d lie if I said this didn’t make me a little nervous, since it looks so different to the usual fuzzy white mold I encounter occasionally.

Appearance-wise it looks more like a lichen to me. However, from my understanding, lichens grow really slow and, as seen in the picture, the green flakes were also found on a dead leaf. Maybe it’s just a coincidence and it fell off from the bark and somehow stuck to the leaf.
However, I’m curious as to what these might be. Any ideas?


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## Wolfram1 (Apr 28, 2022)

Mold. not sure of the type.

Check out this :





						All you need to know about mold
					

Well, I made a similar post about mites and it seemed quite popular, and since questions about mold pop up again and again I thought maybe I can shed some light on this topic, too.  The thing is: with mites it was easy. They are harmless, period. With mold it’s not that easy, because there are...



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## caedus511 (Apr 28, 2022)

Might be worthwhile to consider introducing springtails to eat any mold.


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## Tarantuland (Apr 29, 2022)

Mold….did you put these leaves in from outside? If so you might wanna bake them next time. It’s the moisture in them that lets mold grow 


caedus511 said:


> Might be worthwhile to consider introducing springtails to eat any mold.


I’m not sure if springtails actually eat mold, or just prevent the conditions that allow mold. I’ve actually been wondering that lately

Reactions: Thinking 1


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## darlingi (Apr 29, 2022)

Tarantuland said:


> Mold….did you put these leaves in from outside? If so you might wanna bake them next time. It’s the moisture in them that lets mold grow


No, it’s leaf litter I bought and it’s absolutely dry. The leaves are actually  crunchy and crumble when I deal with them.


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## darlingi (Apr 29, 2022)

Wolfram1 said:


> Mold. not sure of the type.
> 
> Check out this :
> 
> ...


Yeah that’s the famous post I was referring too. It’s reason why I usually don’t sweat over mold, but as I said, this looks so different to the usual fuzzy white growth. 
It will probably just die off though and become a non-issue. I found it in enclosures I just set up, so the microbial life + springtails will probably balance itself out.


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## viper69 (Apr 29, 2022)

Mold


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## The Snark (Apr 29, 2022)

Green flakes. @robkas You do have a reason to suspect lichen. The best way to tell is a Q-tip. Take a swab from a dry area.. Powder comes off = spores = mold. No powder, chance it's a lichen.
Of course, under a microscope you can usually tell quite easily. The composite of lichen is notably different from mycellium.


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## darlingi (Apr 30, 2022)

The Snark said:


> Green flakes. @robkas You do have a reason to suspect lichen. The best way to tell is a Q-tip. Take a swab from a dry area.. Powder comes off = spores = mold. No powder, chance it's a lichen.
> Of course, under a microscope you can usually tell quite easily. The composite of lichen is notably different from mycellium.


Yeah that’s what I was thinking, they are kind of flakey and somewhat look like the lichen I see on the bigger pieces of cork bark (from the same source). I’ll try to check under the microscope when I get home!


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