I noticed some teensy grasshoppers on the basil plant, and learned they are first-instar nymphs of a Schistocerca species, commonly called bird grasshoppers, many of which swarm as locusts. It’s probably the Gray Bird Grasshopper, Schistocerca nitens; I have observed adults here in the yard.
At first we thought it was a dead tarantula, high and dry on a rock. The others hiked on ahead while I stopped to examine it more closely. All the parts were hollow and feather light, in fact they started blowing away in the slight breeze once I poked at them. Pretty sure I was looking at a recent molt. The pedipalps are especially cool. I brought them home with me 😁
I thought I was familiar with elderberry’s thin, soft leaves, so it was a real surprise to feel the thick, leathery leaves on this shrub. I don’t know if this is an outlier, or I have simply been unobservant till now. More data needed.
I’m in a group chat called Bug Group; we post photos of any cool arthropods that we come across. One of our members just came back from Guyana with many dozens of amazing macro shots. We asked him to do a Zoom session where he talked about the trip and the critters he saw, and he was happy to oblige.
Petals and sepals, the flower’s outermost parts, are usually the most leaflike. They’re often broad and flat, and many sepals are green enough to photosynthesize, even containing stomata. As flowers evolved, petals became specialized to attract pollinators. Today, most petals have little to no chlorophyll and instead rely on many other pigments for their color.
I didn’t know that turkeys made gentle squeaks or clucks until I spent some time observing a group of them today. I just watched a video on turkey vocalisations, and learned that this is a general communication sound used to get attention or signal that everything is normal. They have at least 8 other vocalizations besides the famous gobble-gobble. Learn something new every day!
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