Figure 6.

Force field of a large motile hybrid microplasmodium. The giant cell migrates fast (51 µm min⁻¹) towards the top right of the image at two different times. The force map presents initially a very narrow retracting tail (a) with strong retraction forces mostly perpendicular to the long tail axis (arrowhead). This tail disappeared 7 min later (b). Two posterior contractile units on the side symmetric to the anterior–posterior axis (dotted line in a) exert large contracting forces directed centripetally (b). These regions slowly shrink with time as the front expands (b). In the front, forces are small except at the very periphery where they are inwardly directed (arrowhead in b).