tjalamont.bsky.social
Writer & nature photographer, especially macro photography of arthropods. Desert Tortoise conservation advocate. Fan of California, Montana, the rest of the planet. Photo website: https://www.tomastlephotography.com/
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Forgot to add this wider view of the katydid, showing how it rests with the legs and antennae extended like twigs: 🌿🐙
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Depending on where you are, contact your local chapter of the California Turtle and Tortoise Club - they are the official state-authorized issuers of captive tortoise permits.
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--to increased efforts to help these wonderful animals. On a federal level, science and nature are under assault on many fronts - but at least here in California - good, science-based, government conservation is still being done. 🐢
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--news for Desert Tortoise recovery efforts. I'm proud to be on the board of the Desert Tortoise Preserve Committee, one of three groups (the others being the Desert Tortoise Council and Defenders of Wildlife) who petitioned the Commission for this uplisting back in 2020. Hopefully it will lead 🐢 --
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It’s science
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Body length around 8-9 mm., thinner than a rice grain
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To correct myself - I had the right insect, but the wrong end! The thing embedded in the frog’s back is the abdomen and legless thorax of a Crematogaster ant. Thanks to @wizentrop.bsky.social for noticing and @alexwild.bsky.social for the ant genus ID!
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Thanks, Alex! 🐜
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Thanks - yes, I might have gotten some bounce off the leaves. Also I intentionally underexposed because of how shiny and vibrant the frog was, and to compensate for Lightroom’s yellow-orange issues. (And this is a 6-shot stack, to include the embedded bug, which was only sharp in one shot.)
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If you read to the end... :)
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Smaullg
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If you read to the end... :)
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-- this fantastic little lizard.
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--this amazing little lizard, also in pic 1 (juvenile Helmeted Iguana, Corytophanes cristatus, maybe 5 inches including tail; usually seen on trees, this one was in the leaf litter). Anyway, it was a gloriously abundant patch of rainforest, and I'm thankful to our Toad Guide. Follow your toad. 🐸
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--dozens of tiny colorful jumping spiders, and--
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--followed it. Immediately, we started seeing wonderful creatures, including several kinds of small frogs (this is a Striped Rocket Frog, Allobates talamancae)--
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I’m not sure, but I’ve only heard about it in jumping spiders. Wolf spiders also have pretty good vision but I don’t know if they can move their eyes internally.
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It’s definitely the organic origin of googly eyes 👀
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That’s a good question - I’m not sure which came first 🐔🥚
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When the levee slowly erodes
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Maybe? I wasn't sure what it was. Aphid-size, if so.
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--spider, I think a juvenile Lyssomanes sp., was spotted by a fellow photographer on my hat while we were walking along a path. It was quite reluctant to leave its Pantone 294C perch, which means we now have scientific proof that some jumping spiders are Dodgers fans. (Costa Rica)
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--windshield-wiper-like, with its palps. The reason the two largest eyes are two different colors in photo 1 is that they are looking in two different directions (the green one is green because the internal, moveable part of the eye is aimed sideways, reflecting nearby greenery). This--
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--spiders will prey on other spiders, but in this case the jumping spider had the upper fang. Btw, there are quite a few jumping spiders (and other spiders, true bugs, katydids, and other insects) that mimic ants, not least because ants bite and/or sting, and many predators avoid them. (Costa Rica)
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--a spitting spider, so named because they spit a sticky fluid, a mix of venom and liquid silk, to ensare prey. If you look closely in the upper right of this photo, you'll see a clear liquid stuck to the spitting spider's legs, which I'm guessing is some toxic spit it deployed in vain. Spitting--
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Amazing!🦡