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Identification Challenge #2 Reveal

What was this?

September 5, 2010 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

As revealed in the comments, it is the rear end of a saddleback caterpillar, Sibine stimulea.

I neglected to take a good dorsolateral shot, but here’s a couple more shots of this individual.

More complete view

Front view -- head is tucked underneath

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Pentatomid

January 27, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

I really like the flashy colors on this large stink bug.

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Crypsis Challenge #2 Reveal

January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

I suspect most people didn’t have too much difficulty finding the caterpillar in the image above (upper right, in the middle of a fern leaflet). Here’s another shot.

Caterpillar Closeup

I like how the white bands help break up the body and coincide nicely with the gaps on the little fern leaves. Looking up from below, it just sort of disappears against the light filtering from above.

I first spotted this caterpillar the previous night by the light of a headlamp. It stood out under those lighting conditions, but I resolved to return the next day and try to take some photos under natural lighting. read more

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Globular Stink Bug Invasive

This post’s featured creature is Megacopta Cribraria.

August 5, 2010 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA | ~5mm

Just outside the entrance to my subdivision, there’s a stand of kudzu, Pueraria montana var. lobata, at the border of a city park. If you’re not familiar with kudzu, it’s a major invasive here in the Southeast that pretty much takes over wherever it manages to take root. Many of the volunteer outings with the local nature conservancy are focused on eliminating this invasive from conservancy lands. Here are a few photos of the area to give you an idea. read more

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Late Summer Luna Moth

Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA | August 22, 2010

I spotted this luna moth while returning from a walk in a nearby park. It was at the base of some landscape timbers, maybe having just eclosed. I coaxed it onto a finger and brought it home. I picked these grass blades as a perch and took a variety of photos.

After dark I found a spot where I could get the nearly full moon in the photo. There’s no way to get both the moth and the moon in focus at the same time, so I simply took one photo with the moon in focus and another with the moth in focus, and then combined them digitally. read more

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Patterns in Beech Leaves

Looking up from a forest trail at a nearby nature center, I saw the leaves of a beech tree backlit by the afternoon sun. I picked off a few of the interesting ones and held them by hand so as to take some closeups. I find the patterns interesting in the same way ink blots are interesting.

What do you see in these abstract images?

Flames? | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA | September 5, 2010

Mandelbrot Fractal Set?

Stained glass window?

Leaf within a leaf?

What do you see?

Can anyone explain what’s going on here? Is this how leaves start to turn in the fall? A disease of some sort?

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Treehopper with Eggs

January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

This treehopper appears to have deposited eggs in this twig.  I’m not sure if she’s still ovipositing or perhaps just guarding the eggs.

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Snobbish Fulgorid

January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Like many fulgorids, the front of the head of this one is oddly shaped. With what looks like an upturned nose, you could call this one downright snobbish.

Closeup of head

Take a close look at the base of the antenna below the eye.

Antenna Closeup

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