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vernal3.bsky.social
Borntobe Free 🌎 ☸️ 🌏🏳️‍🌈 🌍
@vernal3.bsky.social
Naturalist (no AI or kill pics). Lesbian. Buddhist (trying). My dog’s human. Evolutionary Biologist . US & Argentina. Activist. 🌍 🏳️‍🌈 , civil/animal rights. DEMOCRACY.💙

SAME ISSUES/HIGHER STAKES!

RESIST->SPEAK OUT the WAY.✊🏽 ☸️. Humor 🤙🏽

NO “Pack” w/o ask
A beauty. Black-edged Prominent Moth ( Americerura scitiscripta). Tinges of purple & teal in the bands. Massachusetts 5.16.25

#moth #Lepidoptera
May 18, 2025 at 6:48 PM
American Beaver, with a scientific name of our neighbor: Castor canadensis. BTW congrats #Canada on your recent election results. #tailslapping 1st pic

Lesson: It IS the Gulf of Mexico, #Mexico. ( #trump didn’t get an #education as you can tell.)

#beavers #mammals #biodiversity #animalbehavior
May 2, 2025 at 2:59 PM
From my foray this weekend. Springtime Fairy Shrimp (Eubranchipus vernalis). This male has claspers to grasp the female in mating. They live briefly in Spring cold waters of vernal pools, eating algae & tiny critters.

#Eubranchipus #Fairyshrimp #crustaceans #aquaticinvertebrates #Bugsky #nature
April 14, 2025 at 3:15 PM
A mid Autumn flower surprised me as I kayaked the slow back area of a large pond. Water Forget-Me-Not (Myosotis scorpioides). It was introduced to NA from Europe or Asia. Here, it’s seen in its floating mat form.

#aquaticplants #introducedspecies
April 13, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Spring is slow this year, here. Freak wet snow this morning. Chickadees, titmice, juncos, mourning doves, goldfinches, nuthatches, Woodpeckers: Downy, Hairy, Red-bellied, Carolina wren, Eastern Phoebe, &, of course, cardinals. Life is waking up, under leaves & bark, in soil.

#nature #backyard
April 12, 2025 at 1:22 PM
American Giant Millepede (Complex Narceus americanus) Found climbing sapling at hill peak. Seem to come out in droves here this time of year. But on Earth for 400 my. Large. Compared to many East. N. America #invertebrates.
NE US 9.10.21

#millipedes #arthropods #insects #nature #Bugsky
April 11, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Argus Northern Caddisfly (Hydatophylax argus). One of most distinctive of the innumerable #caddisfly species with bold wing patterns & veins. Caddisfly adults are terrestrial, larvae are aquatic. NE N. America. NE US 6.5.23

#caddisfly #Limnephilidae #Bugsky #insects #arthropods #nature #iNaturalist
April 9, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Witch’s butter (possibly), Tremella mesenterica. On small fallen birch branch in moist forest. Still early Spring 4/4/25 NE US

#Tremella #Fungi #mycology
April 8, 2025 at 12:01 AM
A Pug Moth larva (caterpillar) (Eupithecia) (feeding?) on a Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) flower. Bright pic for a rainy day, here.

#moths #mothlarvae #Bugsky #invertebrates #Rudbeckia
March 30, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Hot off press. Resolution not great . . .but timing was right. Largest concentration of fairy shrimp ( #Eubranchipus) I’ve ever seen. These are likely E. vernalis, the only one of 2 Massachusetts species not listed. Many males; no brood pouches. Early season? March 26, 2025.
#vernalpools #Bugsky 🐞🪰
March 27, 2025 at 2:39 AM
A Common Snipe Fly (Rhagio mystaceus). Pretty common in eastern N. America but I just like the front mirrored pic so posted. Also shows how interesting flies can be. NE US May 2024

#Snipefly #Flies #Rhagionidae #Bugsky #Invertebrates
March 26, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Some of my favoritist critters - fairy shrimp, Eubranchipus vernalis, one of 2 species found in Massachusetts. Live as adults for a brief ~2 weeks in Spring vernal pools. Much more info. in video Alt.

#fairyshrimp #Eubranchipus
#vernalpools #Massachusetts #iNaturalist
#crustaceans #invertebrates
March 21, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Male (red abdomen) Habronattus decorus jumping spider not sure whether to do a stare-down or call it a day. Edge of wet meadow. Common, mostly northern N. America. NE US August 2024

#Habronattus #Salticidae #jumpingspiders #spidersky
March 18, 2025 at 9:43 PM
I played with some editing features (to compensate for my camera & skill ;-) to get the “real” full moon eclipse that I saw (& posted below). It was so deeply bright & alive.

#lunareclipse
March 15, 2025 at 5:14 PM
I’m no expert photographer but I’d like to share a dark version of what I saw last night. The Blood (or Worm, in a Native American language, for Spring) Full Moon had a full eclipse. Here is what I tried to capture at 2:09 as it was coming out of the eclipse in Massachusetts, US.

#lunareclipse
March 14, 2025 at 10:50 PM
A good find: Bittacus pilicornis capturing a moth. AKA the hairy-horned scorpion fly, a member of the #Bittacidae (hangingflies). They have mottled wings, long legs, the 2 posterior pair w tarsal claws for catching prey. Scattered. NE US July ‘24

#Bittacus #insects #bugsky #predation #iNaturalist
March 13, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Walnut Sphinx moth (male?) (Amorpha juglandis). Cool fact: If attacked by a bird, the caterpillar produces a high-pitched whistle by expelling air from pairs of abdominal spiracles to🤞🏽scare bird. Common N. America NE US June 2023

#Sphinxmoths #Amorpha #Lepidoptera #bugsky #insects #invertebrates
March 10, 2025 at 11:42 PM
My first video: Female & Male Red-shouldered Hawks (Buteo lineatus) seconds after mating. Here (MA in US) they migrate. Came back 2 weeks early last 3 years to their breeding ground here. (More info in Alt.). As most birders know, mating is quick. March 13, 2021

#Red-shoulderedhawk #buteos #mating
March 7, 2025 at 5:06 PM
First sighting in Massachusetts ( #iNaturalist). Tomoxia lineella, a Tumbling Flower Beetle. Member of F. Mordellidae whose tumbling jumps to escape predators have been clocked at 80 ms long each. This species found eastern NA. NE US July 2024

#Tomoxia #Coleoptera #Mordellidae #insects 🪲🪰
March 6, 2025 at 3:19 PM
For Hopper fans (like me). The leafhopper Gyponana (maybe) procera. Leafhoppers, in general, suck sap from various types of plants. Scattered throughout eastern US & California. NE US October 2024.

#leafhopper #Cicadellidae #insects #bugsky #invertebrates #Gyponana
March 5, 2025 at 3:44 PM
I am continually amazed by moths; their variety & appearance. This is the beautiful Lettered Habrosyne Moth (Habrosyne scripta), common & endemic to the NW & NE regions of N. America. Its larvae are partial to raspberries. NE US June 2023.

#moths #lepidoptera #LetteredHabrosyne #Drepanidae #nature
March 4, 2025 at 9:03 AM
A beautiful Northern Ringneck snake (Diadophis punctatus edwardsii) found under tarp covering cordwood. Endemic to eastern N. America, common though nocturnal so not commonly seen. NE US August 2023.

🐍 #snakes #Diadophis #Colubridae
March 4, 2025 at 8:33 AM
An Evans’ Plume Moth (Capperia evansi). Uncommon though not listed anywhere. July 12, 2024 NE US. Drawn to lights.

#moths #Massachusetts #plumemoths #insects #bugsky #invertebrates #uncommonmothssightings #iNaturalist
March 1, 2025 at 2:33 AM
For mushroom lovers. A wet July 2023 yielded this beauty. Two-colored Bolete (Baorangia bicolor) on a decaying branch. Common eastern NA, Nepal (where it is often eaten) & China. Having disparate localities is called a Grayan disjunction. NE US.

#fungi #mushroom #bolete #Grayandisjunction
February 26, 2025 at 12:50 AM
A male Arabesque Orbweaver spider (Neoscona arabesca). Like spiders 👍🏽 Common. In goldenrod leaf crook. Mixed field. June 28, 2022 NE US.

#Orbweaver #spidersky #arachnids #invertebrates
February 24, 2025 at 2:06 AM