#nature is weird

[injuries-in-dust]

Weird and wonderful compilation of strange bird noises.

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Carriola Tussock Moths: these moths have translucent patches (i.e. hyaline windows) on their wings, and their green-tinted veins are clearly visible within

Above: Carriola witti

Moths of the genus Carriola have a very unusual appearance, as their wings are covered in translucent patches that reveal a delicate network of greenish-yellow veins. The green coloration is caused by the haemolymph (the insect equivalent of blood) that passes through these veins when the moth's wings are initially unfurled.

Above: the male form of Carriola thyridophora, with a close-up of the hyaline windows and bright green veins on its wings

The males of this genus typically have brown or beige borders around their wings, while the females have pink or white borders instead. The hyaline windows in each wing also tend to be much clearer and more extensive in the females, which gives their wings a lacey appearance.

Above: the female form of Carriola seminsula

This article describes the adaptive benefits of wing transparency in moths:

The coevolutionary arms race between prey and predator has generated some of the most striking adaptations in the living world, including lures, mimicry and camouflage in prey. Transparency, by definition, constitutes the perfect background matching against virtually all types of backgrounds. Transparency is common in pelagic environments where there is no place to hide.

Above: genus Carriola

Carriola tussock moths can be found in many different countries throughout Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines and Malaysia. Some of these moths are also found in China, India and Sri Lanka.

Above: Carriola seminsula

This is one of my favorite moths, tbh. I love it when moths have hyaline windows on their wings, and this genus is especially beautiful and bizarre.

Sources & More Info:

Nota Lepidopterologica: Review of the Genus Carriola with Descriptions of Four New Species

Singapore Biodiversity: Carriola ecnomoda

iNaturalist: Genus Carriola

BioRxiv: How Transparent Wing Windows Reduce Detectability in Moths

Journal of Evolutionary Biology: Transparency Improves Concealment in Cryptically Colored Moths (PDF)

Moths of Borneo: Carriola Tussock Moths and Carriola ecnomoda

[2022dirt]

The morning frost created a unique pattern on the wood.

[randominteresting]

This is a 392 year old Greenland Shark that was recently discovered in the Arctic Ocean. He's been wandering the ocean since 1627!

[cobaltkiss]

i've never seen birds that hunt by jumping up and catching flying prey 0_0

[the-biologist-offical]

*hands you a choccy milk*

*drinks my choccy milk*

mmm

*tries to drink choccy milk but is a ghost*

Sorry, did I tell you I died from drinking a glue mocktail?

[theknightlywolfe]

Cannibalistic 'warty comb' creatures invade holiday hotspot and wreak havoc

A CANNIBALISTIC jellyfish has colonised the waters surrounding Venice, posing “major” problems for people. Carrying the peculiar nicknames “

What a time to be alive

[ms-scarletwings]

So it’s like a huge thing in Dredge that sometimes you pull up these lovecraftian type of mutant fish… like, they’re rarer and more valuable, albeit fucked up variants of the normal ones you catch. Kind of like shiny Pokémon if the shinies had many eyes where they shouldn’t or clumps of parasitic, Gigeresque cysts covering their malformed bodies.

Anyway the least disturbing and MOST funny one to me that I’ve encountered so far has to be this aberrant version of blackmouth salmon

Like, I’m sorry, devs?… that’s not some unholy divergence from the course of the natural order that’s just a normal ass chinook in the spawning season. No joke, they just casually rot alive exactly like that every single generation of fish.

Heads up: under this cut gets gross

Photos of real salmon during the spawn season that turn my stomach in a way this video game can only aspire to

In case you ever wondered, this is also the reason people don’t eat post-spawn adults.

Remember kids, as much as any of us try, it’s very hard to top the worldbuilding of the greatest horror author of all- Mother Nature.