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| Tuesday, 29-Jun-2004 00:00 |
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Critter Pics
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Notes: Though they are different shades, both of the Mantids in the pictures above are Carolina Mantises. They can be differentiated from the Praying (European Mantis) Mantis by the wings. In the Carolina, the wings do not extend all the way to the tip of the abdomen. In the European, the wings extends past the abdomen tip.
Are you glad you know that, now?
The hairstreak butterflies are so named for the thin (hair-like) projections that extend from then rear of the wing. If you look closely at this hairstreak (back edge of the lower wing, between the two black dots), it appears to have been parasitized.
The Black and Yellow Argiope is more commonly known as a Garden Spider. It's a member of the orb-weaver family, like Charlotte from Charlotte's Web.
Yes, that clear thing coming out of the Longhorn Beetle on top is a penis.
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| Monday, 28-Jun-2004 00:00 |
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Paper Plate People
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Notes: All artwork courtesy Ngnat.
Questions for the Artist:
Why am I the only one with bags under (and above!) his eyes?
'Cause i wanted to look like that. Those are eyelashes, daddy, like here.
Why doesn't anyone else have eyelashes?
'Cause i didn't wanna. Just you has eyelashes.
Why isn't daddy's nose a dot like everyone else's?
It's a twirly nose.
What are the extra dots on Scotty?
Those are cheeks, on our cheeks. Just Scotty has them.
Why does everyone have a unibrow?
Those are our hair.
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| Sunday, 27-Jun-2004 00:00 |
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Kid Pics
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Notes: When Ngnat first learned to walk, she would ensconce herself in the kitchen cabinets at the drop of a hat. Her brother obviously felt he needed to raise the ante.
It's a pretty laborious process to watch, but he can get into the dryer 9 times of 10. Once he gets a knee up it's all over save the head first slide into the drum.
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| Saturday, 26-Jun-2004 00:00 |
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Afternoon Critters
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Blue-Tipped Dancer on Impatiens Blossom
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Harnessed Tiger Moth Showing Underwing
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Marbled Salamander I
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Notes: The Blue-Tipped Dancer is a type of Damselfly, a family of insects closely related to the Dragonflies. The one above is a female, as the males of this species lack the blue area just behind the eyes.
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| Friday, 25-Jun-2004 00:00 |
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Ngnat's Vacation Bible School Crafts
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Notes: I like how the left and right heart ventricles are colored differently.
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| Thursday, 24-Jun-2004 00:00 |
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Morning Critters
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Assassin Bug Nymph: Probably a member of the Pselliopus genus
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Japanese Beetle In Sunflower Bud
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Green Lynx Spider & Prey
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Notes: During a more innocent time in America, Catholic schoolgirls were warned against wearing patent leather shoes and skirts, as the shoes were so shiny that boys could see the reflection of a girl's white cotton underpants in them. Many girls dealt with the problem by simply going commando.
No, not really.
Patent Leather beetles are so named because of thier similar shiny nature, obviously. The species is also known for the frenzied squeaks they produce when handled. Should you run into one with a child in tow, shake the poor arthropod about a bit, then hold it up to the kid's ear. Their expression upon hearing the beetle screams is a wonder to behold.
Lynx spiders do not spin webs, but instead chase down their prey or leap upon them in ambush, like a cat attempting to catch a bird in the air--hence the name. That's almost certainly how the specimen above caught the blowfly that it is feeding on.
The Green Lynx spider is one of the more common species in the South, but not often seen due to its coloration. This one was on a butterfly bush.
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| Wednesday, 23-Jun-2004 00:00 |
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Front Porch Critters
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Notes: The Giant Root Borer beetle is quite willing to take on a creature many times its own size. I bear the scars to prove it. Not only was he a mean bastard, he was quite agile. I eventually stuck him in the freezer for a few minutes--stunning him just long enough for me to get a few shots off. He recovered after a couple of minutes, which is when he bit me.
Can't say as I blame him, really.
The first pic is the most natural-looking--also the most boring. Not a lot of contrast there, even if he is a big damn bug. The others are the result of me trying to highlight the differences in his admittedly muted coloring by using a flash. I don't normally care for the results I get that way either, but I thought these were interesting.
I especially like the last one.
The Giant Root Borers are the largest American species in the long-horned beetle family, a number of which seem to be showing up lately. The GRBs are clumsy beasts for all their attitude,and are extremely attracted to light. Keep a front porch light on long enough,and one will almost certainly show up eventually.
Just make sure you know where his pincers are.
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| Tuesday, 22-Jun-2004 00:00 |
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Walking In The Rain
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Ngnat And Her Birthday Umbrella
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A Rather Fuzzy Scotty
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Something exciting must have been going on, but I didn't see it
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| Monday, 21-Jun-2004 00:00 |
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Morning Critters
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Notes: I've given up on learning the species name of the Spider Wasp that appears today and on 6/18. It's a large family, and there are no resources that I can find listing the species found in North Carolina.
The shed skin below is almost certainly not from one of the periodical cicadas--they're not really in this area--that are making the news this summer, but rather from one of the Dog-day cicada species that appear every year. Dog-day cicadas are classified by their song, and this one is obviously not going to be singing ever, so there's no way to tell for sure which species shed it originally.
The purple coneflower is better known to the public at large as echinacea, an over-the-counter herbal remedy for colds that not only doesn't do anything for the sufferer, but may actually make things worse.
http://www.dietfraud.com/HerbalNews/herbal_echinacea.html
Grasshopper nymphs resemble the adults, but are smaller and have no wings. Coloration is also iffy, especialy if the nymph in question is newly hatched. Were I to guess, I'd say it's a three-striped grasshopper nymph, but I'd almost certainly be incorrect.
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| Sunday, 20-Jun-2004 00:00 |
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Dressed for church
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