A reader who is extremely knowledgeable about these critters tells me, amongst many other things in a fascinating email, that:

… the respectable term is now “social amoebae” rather than “slime mold” …

My bad. I shall steer clear of the s-m words in future.

This reader, who has worked with sl. . . — Sorry! Sorry! — with social amoebae at very close quarters, also let slip that among themselves, researchers refer to them as “Dicty,” which of course is a diminutive of dictyostelium discoideum, the most commonly studied sl. . . — Darn it! Sorry! — social amoeba. I think this is rather touching. Who said scientists are cold and unfeeling?