[julianerui]

falling in love with comics again. these are so good. look at the floating heads

[a-quietdream]

Evening light.

[julianerui]

[gloriouslyscentedwizard]

Thought some bug nerds might appreciate this:

Aren't they beautiful? Is this not one of the prettiest cicadas you've ever seen. Specifically it is a swamp cicada (Neotibicen tibicen).

The blue-ish teal green is just absolutely enchanting. And lookit how cute those beady little eyes are💕✨

[todaysbird]

cicadas are more Creature than bug to me. if you’ve ever lived in the american south they are also a nonstop shriek everywhere you go for a full summer

[palaeoplushies]

Honestly there's something to be said for just getting your hands dirty sometimes. Forget touching grass, go dig around in some mud. Find some sand and feel it. Pick up some stones. Look at some worms, maybe some bugs and frogs are there too. Re-pot some plants. Clean out a fish tank, or whatever critter. Touch that substrate. Make something out of clay. Paint something.

[palaeoplushies]

I'm glad this resonated with so many people it makes me realise I'm not alone in my mud based antics.

Here's a small toad I found (I washed my hands before this so I wouldn't hurt it)

[enochianprayerbook]

[cyberxbattalion]

[corviiids]

meditations on the odyssey

[jumy-m]

Jumy-M Sora / 光を内包する

[xphaiea]

Cicada emerging

[koshigurajumy]

Jumy-M Self Portrait / 月のビームが邪魔をするのね

[swampwizards]

Found this handsome fella this morning!

Hyalophora cecropia

[textless]

Behold the amazing mesquite moth caterpillar! 

Inlandwest found two of them when he was trimming mesquite trees in the yard, and was nice enough to put them in a plastic tub of leaves until I got home.

Apparently they are somewhat common, but neither of us had seen one before (and I have spent an absurd amount of time looking at mesquite trees over the last five years).  Anyway, my goal for 2022 is to find some and get better photos, because they are incredibly fancy.

Cochise County, Arizona, September 2021.

[textless]

I never did find any mesquite moth caterpillars in 2022, or 2023 for that matter. Still looking, though, and maybe this will be the year.

[textless]

This tiny fluff ball is a woolly aphid.  Apparently they’re pretty common, but I’ve never seen them before.  Grouped on branches, they look like mold or spiderweb clumps.  Floating through the air, they look like cottonwood or willow fluff.

[weird-ecologies]

Life imitates art 🌿

[imactuallyagiraffe]

hey don’t cry. trees grow out of the ground.

[imactuallyagiraffe]

the night sky has sparkles on it

[imactuallyagiraffe]

the creatures live in the grass.

[heartnosekid]

lots of african peach moths (egybolis vaillantina) | source