These guys are my personal favorites—fairy shrimp that are found only in ephemeral wetlands, like this vernal pool. They are freshwater relatives of Sea Monkeys and other brine shrimp and this is actually the first time I’ve seen them in person.
As the year goes on, the ponds and puddles formed by snowmelt and spring rain dry up. Fish cannot survive in these habitats, which makes them crucial ecosystems for the larvae of frogs and salamanders. Fairy shrimp are obligate inhabitants of vernal pools because their eggs require a period of drying and re-wetting before they will hatch. Utterly defenseless, they live only a few weeks—but their eggs can remain dormant and viable in dry ground for centuries. You can see the eggs attached to the female shrimp in the photos above like clusters of greenish blobs.
@beelzebubzz submitted: I was met with a nice crab spider while about to get in the car today :-) northeastern ohio (unsure of the specific species)
A cutie!!! A fun fact about crab spiders is that their arms Look Like That because they love to give hugs :) Anyway looks like a ground crab Xysticus, maybe Xysticus luctans.
There are at least two young women in my grad program who sound like the babysitter from bobs burgers and I would give anything to hear them say mickrowave
My dreams did not come true today but one of them did say kink tut
There are at least two young women in my grad program who sound like the babysitter from bobs burgers and I would give anything to hear them say mickrowave
I was in the plant nursery at Lowe’s and I saw this woman with the nicest arms and her short sleeved shirt was cuffed a little and she wore a backwards baseball cap and I was so giddy I impulse bought a succulent and then I overwatered it for 3 weeks until it was dead this is as close to a poem as you will ever get from me.
