'Alien vs predator' 😮
Comparative photos, both with a tripod. First photo with camera flash. Second photo, fluorescing under 365 nanometer ultraviolet light with ZWB2 bandpass filter centered on 365 nm.
Baby rattlesnake eating a western side-blotched lizard
An extremely rare event to witness in the wild - a young adult Pine Barrens Timber Rattlesnake giving birth. Talk about being in the "right place at the right time"! This female's activities were closely monitored for over 18 months as part of a NJDEP-sanctioned long-term study on this particular population. She had been observed in the company of a larger male the previous Fall, and in April -May of 1993. Though actual mating was not witnessed, the pair obviously "got busy" making little snakelings! 2 days after this photo, she was again observed in the same exact location - with a total of 7 beautiful babies coiled up beside their proud "Mom".
Pisgah National Forest
Aracnido perteneciente al orden Opilión de la familia Gonyleptidae. Sadocus Ingens, macho.
On liatris ohlingerae buds!
Magnificent encounter at low tide on the salt marsh flats at Marion Bay.
I find same bee in end of August in same place, same flower almost every year.
japanese name: ルリモンハナバチ.
may parasite to Amegilla florea florea(スジボソコシブトハナバチ).
Detail of the upper surface of a Firebrick Sea Star (Asterodiscides truncatus)
A juvenile Immaculate Damsel (Mecaenichthys immaculatus)
A Pygmy Leatherjacket (Brachaluteres jacksonianus) anchors itself at night by biting onto a plant (Halophila sp.)
Humbugs (Dascyllus aruanus), Three-spot Dascyllus (Dascyllus trimaculatus), and Fiji Anemonefish (Amphiprion barberi) in shallow water in front of Fiji Hideaway Resort
Taken 04/24/2016 by NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas. Ex1605L1 DIVE04
Video: https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/video_playlist/start/invertebrates.html#/?playlistId=0&videoId=6
Found beached and returned to water; date is close but probably not exact
Happy face spider (Theridion grallator)
Deep, small
30 to 40m approx, looking better than the shallower cloud sponges
Deep (40m approx)
On a briefly soaked light bucket around ~5 metres depth
This small (~16mm?) thing was swimming like mad at night in a tidal current near a sandy/gravelly/kelpy bottom. It seemed possibly attracted to my light bucket
This is a photograph of the first specimen of Postodius sanguineus discovered in the world.
Observed by Grant Callegari
Munching on a sea urchin!
Part of the tuna crab invasion of the 2015 El Niño!
Aumentos Reef, Monterey, CA
The Mola was moving - eyes looking around, gills and mouth were cycling.
Shown fluorescing under 365nm UV light.
Note the much smaller, translucent individuals nearby--juveniles?
Beach isopod Sphaeromatidae, Taroona, Tasmania, February 2016
Clung to the beak of a Whimbrel that was foraging in the seaweed, the bird could not dislodge it, after a couple of minutes the isopod dropped off. The Whimbrel continued to feed with the isopod on board.
I feel like I should post one of those warnings you see on some TV shows...."Viewer Discretion is Advised; some images may be disturbing to some viewers". After some of the road kill images that are posted on iNat perhaps this is not too bad. At least it was completely natural, unlike the slaughter caused by vehicles on our wildlife.
Between 1996-2005, I was a bird guide on 13 trips to Antarctica. During those trips I saw lots of Leopard Seal attacks on penguins, but none stands out in my mind more than this one. This adult Chinstrap Penguin had somehow escaped from the jaws of a Leopard Seal, but was mortally injured. The penguin was virtually "de-gloved" whereby its skin was almost removed from its body. The penguin struggled ashore where it stood still for 10 or 15 minutes, much to the distress of several tour participants I had with me. As the penguin stood there, several Brown Skuas began to gather about, waiting for the inevitable to happen. Slowly the penguin walked farther away and out of immediate view, with 4 or 5 skuas walking along behind it. I did not follow, but rather decided to allow the scene to unfold without my observation and intrusion. It was a reminder that nature can be tough and brutal.
Image 4 shows a small portion of the Chinstrap Penguin colony at this location.
image scanned from 35 mm slides
Bailey Head,
Deception Island,
Antarctica
29 January 2002
Substrate: dark of sappy downed tree, smell of pickles and yellow latex, same as others? 5-15 cm diam
Habitat: Northwest Andean montane forest (NT0145)
Collectors: D. Newman & R. Vandegrift
Collection #: RLC1241
Photomicrography and molecular data forthcoming
Dr. Priscila Chaverri and her teaching assistant, Efraín Escudero-Leyva of the Instituto Politécnico Nacional in Mexico, were the course’s resident ascomycetologists. As this initially resembled one of the green Hypocrea/Trichoderma spp., I passed it off to them, thinking light work would be made of the ID process. After some microscopy and reference checking, Efraín returns with the name Dactylospora, a (mostly) lichenicolous genus in the Lecanorales.
This is one of the most beautiful fungi I have ever seen, and I greatly look forward to discovering the rest of its name.
UPDATE 8/28/16: Believed to be a member of the genus Abrothallus by multiple members of the “Ascomycetes of the World” Facebook group. Name updated accordingly.
Substrate: unk. foliose lichen (Observation 249900)
Habitat: Costa Rican Páramo
Ecoregion: Talamanca Montane Forests (NA0167)
Collector(s): D. Newman
Collection #: n/a
Collected for the 2016 Organization for Tropical Studies “Fungi and Fungus-Like Organisms” Course
This tiny, striking Xylaria species, with its nearly naked perithecia, has become the poster child for Xylariaceae research in Los Cedros. Roo and I thought they looked a bit like these in cross section:
These are Kodama, the forest spirits of Japanese folklore, as portrayed by Hayao Miyazaki in his epic 1997 film, Princess Mononoke.
This is likely the first record of X. tucumanensis from anywhere outside Argentina, and as such, significantly extends the species’ known range.
Read more about this enigmatic Xylaria and check out an extensive key to the genus for northern Argentina in the following paper:
Substrate: corticate standing dead wood (post), ~3 cm diam (same as Observation 264296)
Habitat: Northwest Andean montane forest (NT0145)
Collector(s): D. Newman & R. Vandegrift
Collection #: RLC1378
Photomicrography and molecular data forthcoming
abundant in and beside ravines in mixed hardwood and pine forest, primarily associated with oak. white/albino morph saved (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/219418996)
NOTE
There are possibly two collections here. Online references are very ambiguous about which is which, to the extent that they are separate collections from separate parts of Chiapas at all. The two locations I’ve been able to find are
Soconusco, Chiapas, Mexico (http://www2.tap-ecosur.edu.mx/hongos/)
and
Las Cabañas, Cantón Providencia, Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico (article below)
I’m pretty sure the man with the mustache is Rene Andrade. The other two are, for the moment, unknown. I’m posting below what has proven to be the most comprehensive article on these possibly identical, possibly separate Chiapan Macrocybe finds from June 2007, as well as all the images I’ve been able to find of both men with both/the same mushroom(s). All photo credits are tentatively listed as belonging to El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (Ecosur):
from http://www.cronica.com.mx/notas/2007/311305.html:
Hallan hongo gigante en Chiapas
Notimex en San Cristóbal de Las Casas | Academia | Fecha: 11-jul-07
El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (Ecosur) reportó el hallazgo de un hongo gigante con diámetro y altura de 70 centímetros en ambas escalas, y 20 kilogramos de peso, lo que lo haría el más grande de su especie encontrado en Chiapas. En un comunicado, la institución reportó que el mes pasado personal del Ecosur halló un hongo gigante en Las Cabañas, Cantón Providencia, municipio de Tapachula, a unos kilómetros de la frontera con Guatemala. Trabajadores de la línea Manejo Integrado de Plagas, que realizaban una práctica de campo en el lugar, fueron informados por pobladores de la región sobre la existencia del hongo gigante. Al acudir y ver sus dimensiones, reportaron el hallazgo al personal de la línea Hongos Tropicales de la misma institución. El curador de la colección micológica del Ecosur, René Andrade, viajó con otras personas al lugar para colectar el hongo, particularmente sobresaliente por su tamaño y su poca frecuencia en México. Según el informe, el hongo pesa más de 20 kilogramos, tiene una altura y diámetro de 70 centímetros en ambos casos. El hongo fue trasladado a la sede del Ecosur en Tapachula para ser estudiado; los especialistas determinaron que se trata de una especie que ya había sido encontrada anteriormente en Chiapas. Agregó al respecto que ya tienen dos ejemplares más de esa especie vegetal, uno de ellos de 50 centímetros de diámetro (colectado en fragmentos). El otro espécimen fresco medía 25 centímetros de diámetro. Su nombre científico es Macrocybe Titans Pegler, Lodge y Nakasone y es sinónimo de Tricholoma cistidiosa Cifuentes y Guzmán. Dicha especie fue reportada como nueva para México en 1981, dentro del Parque Educativo Laguna de Bélgica, municipio de Ocozocuautla, también en Chiapas. De acuerdo con el Ecosur, hay reportes que indican la presencia de este hongo también en áreas de Guatemala, Costa Rica y Brasil. La institución añadió que no hay informes que refieran que la especie encontrada sea comestible o nociva. Aparentemente su función en la naturaleza es reciclar la materia orgánica de la misma forma que los demás organismos de su reino. El hongo gigante pasó a formar parte de la Colección Micológica de Ecosur, la cual está integrada por más de cinco mil ejemplares de hongos de diferentes partes del estado de Chiapas, especialmente del Soconusco. Integra ya también los registros del padrón de colecciones de la Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO). La Colección Micológica del Ecosur, que resalta por su ubicación en una zona tropical húmeda, se mantiene con fines de investigación y de docencia y como un apoyo importante para el conocimiento de la biodiversidad de México.
Dates inferred from time-stamps, though this may only pertain to one of the two collections, provided they are, in fact, distinct.
Berberine fluorescent yellow in 365 nanometer UV light