#microscope gif

[caterpillar-gifs]

Mystery slug caterpillar! Who is this?! Stay tuned! Updates will be incoming in my @nanonaturalist blog Microscope shots magnified 20x May 20, 2019

[nanonaturalist]

Leafhopper assassin bug eggs hatching. The eggs are cylindrical and look like they are encased in a Jello mold. As with other true bugs, you can see them developing inside of the eggs (it’s very faint but visible in the second photo—look for little red marks, those are their eyes and legs!).

When you have to squeeze out of a tiny tube to be born, it takes a bit of time! The newborn babies will stick by the egg mass as they wait for their exoskeletons to harden, but after that they will leave their siblings behind so they don’t accidentally eat them! Assassin bugs are predators, and the newborns eat small insects such as fruit flies.

August 25, 2018

[nanonaturalist]

A beautiful wiggly sawfly pupa Seen July 13 / posted July 30, 2018

[nanonaturalist]

Parasitic wasps get a bad wrap considering how CUTE AND ADORABLE THEY ARE 😩 This bab stopped by to check out the Monarch/Queen eggs but was happy enough to pose for a nice and long microscope photography session. Ultimately, she climbed onto my finger and rested there until we went outside. At Zilker Botanical Garden, Austin, Tx August 27, 2018

[nanonaturalist]

Fetal moths. Vine Sphinx eggs in the microscope today. They had started changing colors so I know I needed a closer look. Good thing I did! Both were green striped this morning. By afternoon, one had turned yellow (the color of the developing caterpillar!), and the one that was still green had developed a visible heartbeat. The yellow one tested out his chompers!!! These caterpillars are the ones with the tails (aka “hornworms”), and you can see the yellow baby’s little tail curled up by his face. By evening, the yellow one had hatched. So precious! July 8, 2018