Gil Wizen

I really enjoyed this series!

let me share a little story about a remarkable wasp that I encountered yesterday in our local deserts

I stumbled across her, and scrambled to get a few crappy photos .... but then realized that she had a burrow, perhaps a better photo op was possible ??

here she is at her burrow entrance.

An ALIEN on earth!? 🤯👽
CHECK OUT this insane Treehopper from the Peruvian Amazon! 🌳
Membracids are known for their bizarre shapes and protrusions, but this genus goes to a whole new level! It is thought this crazy C shape is to aid in camouflage to avoid predation from birds! 🐦😳

The beautiful Titaea lemoulti from Ecuador. Titaea moths sit on leaves during the day, but if disturbed they display an interesting escape response: they fly high, then suddenly stop and slowly glide down to the ground like a falling dry leaf. It's very difficult to find the moth in the leaf litter!

I'm heading off to my next adventure in Ecuador so I will be quiet here for a while. In the meantime, I'm going to leave you with this video of a fringe tree frog (Cruziohyla craspedopus) I found on my previous visit to Ecuador. I never get tired of seeing them, such an iconic species!

I wish!

Notodontid moth caterpillar (Rhuda decepta) from the Ecuadorian Amazon. The spine is all for show, it's soft and squishy! This is one of the most visually striking caterpillars you can find in the rainforest, however you'd be disappointed to learn the adult moth is brown and quite boring looking.

Gives a fresh new meaning to "we are so, so screwed"

I agree, there is something fishy about that treehopper. That long tail fin...

Machaerota notoceras Machaerota notoceras from Admiralty Park on April 12, 2024 by Luke Ang

And just to pique your curiosity...
This is NOT a membracid treehopper. But I like what it's doing.
www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Notocera cruciata Notocera cruciata from Charlesburg, Paramaribo, Suriname on March 11, 2023 at 11:48 PM by Philipp Kraemer

Look how cute. like a bunny-shark. I ❤️ Notocera
www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Oh I have some good ones that would fit metalwork.
I would not suggest Cyphonia because I think it would be painful to make... But *some* Heteronotus, Notocera, Smerdalea. Cladonota is also a classic!

I totally agree
happy to brainstorm if you want to put together a list of candidates

🤣

I meant the horned treehopper, but for sure there are amazing katydids that would be suitable. Anything with some armor would look great

On the same note - have you seen my Hemikyptha marginata post? That one would look amazing in silver.

If you know me you know that I LOVE leaf-mimicking katydids. Here's Typophyllum morrisi, one of the smallest species from the Ecuadorian Amazon. The male looks like a rigid dried leaf. First pic shows an extremely rare color morph where the limbs are green. Second pic shows the typical color morph.

I’ve seen over 50 of these in August already but I love it every time I get at eye level with these laser beams. Oriental Whip Snake  -  Ahaetulla prasina

Photo of a native terrestrial orchid that has short petals and sepals that are mainly green and a broad central labellum that is red and green with a long fringe

Caladenia discoidea - Dancing Spider Orchid

Endemic to the southwest of Western Australia, this distinctive orchid was growing in a sandy area east of Perth
#orchids #ozflora #wildoz #nativeplants #inaturalist #bloomscrolling

Stunning species

Look at this creature, chinchilla in an emo phase

Simply magnificent
I am patiently waiting for your museum exhibition
(and the gift shop!)

Two metal thorn bugs perched on my fingers in nearly identical positions. On the left is the version from 2025, the special edition, and on the right is the original version from 2021. The version on the left has sharper details and much more effective patination.

Special edition (today) versus original edition. Much has changed: I’m doing my own casting, have better tools, and have better understanding of finishing. Inside, these bugs are totally different—the rear pairs of legs are now cast separately and assembled to increase control and details. Growth!

A metallic green fly with giant bright red eyes taking up most of its head rests on a leaf.

A metallic green fly with giant bright red eyes taking up most of its head rests on a leaf.

What a pretty boy! 🥰

male soldier fly, #Stratiomyidae #Microchrysa flaviventris
Avery Co., NC

Deep in the Malaysian rainforest in the dead of night, Bell's anglehead lizard (Gonocephalus belli) appeared to be in an intense conversation with a stick insect.
No insects got eaten in the making of this image.

picture of a small praying mantis sitting on a sand coloured wall. The mantic is facing the camera showing its spiky raptorial forelegs

It's the last week of August so it must be #InverteFest time!

This praying #mantis was seen in a coastal area north of Perth, likely a Mallee Grass Mantis (Archimantis sobrina) it has impressively spiky raptorial forelegs
#ausinverts #wildoz #mantodea #bugsky #inverts

A marker drawing of a rhinoceros beetle with a bulky body. It has large, conical thoracic horns protruding parallel to its cephalic horn, with has an inner “tooth” pointing outwards and ends with a fork.

With larvae weighing over 250 grams and adults weighing only a quarter of its larval weight, Megasoma rex is the heaviest insect in the world.

It is split from Megasoma actaeon in 2018, based on small morphological differences and geographical isolation.

#invertefest

Art piece of a digital painting of a blue crab crawling up onto the beach out of ocean waves. The crabs shell is a dark olive green. Its legs are a lighter green with a blue gray highlighting them.

Happy #InverteFest! I know a lot of the artists who follow me have some beautiful inverte art they can share. Here's one of my favorites because crab... always 🦀

A mushroom with a slightly bent light yellow stipe and a green cap grows out of somewhat mossy ground. The cap goes from a very light green on the edges to a dark forest green at the top. Faint striations of darker green are noticeable around the edges.

Gliophorus psittacinus, the parrot mushroom, looking a bit dreamy

📷 Canon 5D Mk III
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM
M, f/2.8, 1/40, ISO 800
Stack of 38 images
11/24/21
Olympia area, Washington

#mushroom #fungifriends #mushrooms

🍄📷 📸🎞 🌿🌱 🟢 🍄 🍄‍🟫

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