Clik here to view.
Bog killers
Sphagnum ground cricket (Neonemobius palustris) from Ponakpoag Bog, MA. The one thing about plants that we take for granted is that they cannot really hurt you. Sure, some are full of toxic compounds...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hugewings
The enormous mandibles of a male dobsonfly (Corydalus) look like formidable weapons, but they are not. The males use them only in ritualized combat with other males, and are too weak to use them to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tough as nails
Vernal pools are unique aquatic ecosystems, fleeting and unpredictable, but rich in animal life. Last night I finally managed to see the movie “Gravity”, which proves to me incontrovertibly that humans...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A new voice in the chorus
A pair of Jumping Bush Crickets (Orocharis saltator) from Massachusetts. Females have long, needle-like ovipositors, which they use to lay eggs deep into the stems of plants. Yesterday evening, right...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lungless and happy about it
It is rather amazing that a terrestrial animal as big as this Ringtail salamander (Bolitoglossa robusta) from Costa Rica can spend its entire life without taking a single breath and instead relies...
View Article
