The Unstartled Steppes of Dream
I am Ashley.
This is my personal blog. If you want just marine biology, go here.
I love the world; I really don't like people.
I balance all this animosity towards the human race with being an almost always kind and gentle being to all creatures.
I'm highly introverted and nature is my primary escape from humanity.
Creepy-crawly-slimy things are my favorites. Dinosaurs are fantastic.
Future marine biologist; presently an amateur entomologist, ichthyologist, artist, biologist, and writer.
Literature, video game, and music connoisseur.
I'm so full of passion for the world that it hurts.
I think a lot, I laugh a lot, I love a lot.
Almost none of the photos are mine and only some of the drawings are mine.
Listen in.
This whitebanded crab spider (Misumenoides formosipes) caught itself a tasty fly meal. Most species of spider crabs choose to live on flowers with which they can easily be camouflaged against so their jobs as predators are that much easier.
In honor of Earth Day, I went nature hunting in this gorgeous weather. Because I love you all so much, I’m going to share some of my findings. Which will mostly end up being spiders and dead things. :)
Creobotra elegans is a species of flower mantid, all of which belong to the family Hymenopodidae. The family (almost 300 species) is characterized by bright, contrasting colors that often allow the insects to be camouflaged on flowers.
The nymphs of flower mantids are able to hunt their own prey immediately after their cuticles have hardened.
These mantids have an ultrasonic ear that they use to detect predators, and some species have a second ear that can hear much lower frequencies. The exact purpose of this second ear is unknown, but it is probably useful for hunting or avoiding predation.
(Source)
Glass sculpture of a weevil species, family Curculionidae
Photo © Vittorio Costantini
It might be alluring, but a rare flower hat jelly’s lilac-tipped fringe can deliver a painful sting. Found off Brazil, Argentina, and southern Japan, the jelly’s tentacles can coil and uncoil and are used to capture small fish and other food.
Photograph by e-Photography/Chijimatsu/SeaPics.com
Flowers on Moon Lake.
Passion Flower Feather Star (Ptilometra australis)
Diameter: 12cm
Location: Temperate southern Australian waters
Flower Urchin (Toxopneustes pileolus)
Diameter: 15cm
Location: Tropical Indian and central/western Pacific oceans
