@fairyprince7 submitted: Hello! I found this bug today crawling on my leg and I was wondering if you could ID them for me?
Found in [removed] Victoria, Australia where itโs currently the first month of Autumn. Quite possibly the strangest bug Iโve ever seen which is why I wanna know what type they are ^^
(Please remove the [removed] part of my submission, the state and country are ok to keep)
Hello! This is two bugs mating. Theyโre harlequin red bugs, which are true bugs in the family Pyrrhocoridae, all commonly called red bugs. Guess what! Theyโre rainbow colored underneath :)
Dancing Fox, netsuke, Edo period, 18th century, ivory with
staining, 27/8 x 17/8 x 1in, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Raymond
and Frances Bushell Collection.
I don’t think that is healthy for the snake, I hope is fine
Oh it’s almost certainly not good for it, especially since the moss climbing up towards the eyes where it would obscure vision and the added water drag may slow down strikes on prey, but if the snake is otherwise healthy, the moss will likely be removed with the snake’s next shed. However, it IS a fascinating wild phenomenon captured on film.
I wonder if the fact that it now looks almost nothing at all like a snake would make up for the slowed strikes. Like, if it took me about a minute to decide that that’s a snake, a fish might get awfully close before reaching that conclusion
It’s possible, although fish don’t avoid predators only by sight, they use their lateral lines to detect movement. I would guess it would have more luck against something like frogs or lizards, but it’s also possible the movement of the moss itself might confuse a fish’s senses. Unfortunately the moss also makes it impossible to tell body condition to tell if the snake has been successful at hunting or not previously. It would be a fascinating case study, to see what it is doing in the wild, and whether or not it’s working well.
Also since @howlsmovingnutsack asked (even though they didn’t ask me), it is believed by local experts to be a puff-faced water snake! As far as I have been able to find out, the family collected it to bring to researchers, and has been feeding it while it awaits pickup.
@friendlyhologram submitted: A sweet little friend I saw on the sidewalk during a brief cold snap a week ago. (I moved it off of the sidewalk after taking some pictures) Any idea what it is? In south-eastern missouri
Itโsโฆa cute friend!! And also a thread-waisted wasp in the family Sphecidae :)
God grant me the power to get out of bed. And the strength to not immediately go back to bed. And the wisdom to do the things i need to do that cannot be accomplished from bed
I got hungry enough to get out of bed for a snack and i also put a load of laundry in but now I’m back in bed and i just ate a chip so salty i gagged. I’m sorry god im sorry jesus
