Amplusphaeria sastria
Amplusphaeria abstractus experienced mortality from some amount of those dispersed by wind landing in inhospitable areas. Over time some colonies that released polysaccharides experienced lower mortality from wind dispersal. The polysaccharides acted as an adhesive letting them stick to substrate. This reduction of dispersal from the wind was complemented by an increase in dispersal by attached to muscals like Capilliarmus and Moraldubious species. Over time this led to the evolution of Amplusphaeria sastria.
Amplusphaeria sastria is photosynthetic using Bacteriorhodopsin giving it a purple coloration. It reproduces by mitosis every 25-30 minutes. Each cell is between 3μm and 5μm. The ability to generate heat energy is retained and used to uptake water. On top of using muscals for dispersal colonies may stay on the organism causing some of their hosts to have purple blotches. The host benefits due to the heat generated by A. sastria. During snow storms they rely on muscals to act as reservoirs for their colonies because they are far less likely to be blown out of a snowpack than A. abstractus was.
