[Life] 🌳 Paradise: The Nature Club

[Starlight]

Spotted my first green mushroom—a parrot toadstool—yesterday. Could it have a connection to Breloom?

More recent photos:

Oil Beetle

Spoiler:

When agitated, these flightless beetles may secrete a chemical that results in painful blistering.

Nason's Slug Caterpillar

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My first caterpillar sting! It happened while I was trying to get a better look at some nearby caterpillars. Glad it wasn't a flannel cat or one of the other more venomous species!

Glowworm

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Tobacco Hornworm

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I found this guy/gal was wandering outside the garden and relocated it to some Carolina Horsenettle behind the house.

Common Eastern Physocephala

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Slicing its belly open midair, this parasitic fly deposits a single egg in the abdomen of a live bee. After hatching, the offspring hijacks the brain of its victim, forcing it to dig its own grave where the larva can safely pupate. Dark stuff!

Grey Treefrog metamorph

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Catalpa Sphinx

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Omg those are magnificent! Ty for sharing!

I do love mushrooms and toadstools, hopefully it's a good year for them :)

 

[VisionofMilotic]

I wanted to share this video from National Geographic about the sweet and wonderful bonobo ape. It is sad towards the end because it discusses how their population has been endagered by us as humans, but also talks about solutions to help them on a positive note.

 

[Ninetales]

Spotted my first green mushroom—a parrot toadstool—yesterday. Could it have a connection to Breloom?

More recent photos:

Oil Beetle

Spoiler:

When agitated, these flightless beetles may secrete a chemical that results in painful blistering.

Nason's Slug Caterpillar

Spoiler:

Got my first caterpillar sting from this guy/gal while trying to get a better look at what would turn out to be Red-Humped Caterpillars. Glad it wasn't one of the more venomous species!

Glowworm

Spoiler:

Tobacco Hornworm

Spoiler:

I found this guy/gal wandering outside the garden and relocated it to some Carolina Horsenettle behind the house.

Common Eastern Physocephala

Spoiler:

Slicing its belly open midair, this wasp-like, parasitic fly deposits a single egg in a live bee. After hatching, the offspring hijacks the brain of its victim, forcing it to dig its own grave where the larva can safely pupate. Dark stuff!

Grey Treefrog froglet

Spoiler:

Catalpa Sphinx

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These are impeccable!! You are an exceptionally talented photographer!! I especially love the caterpillars, they're adorable! I'm sorry to hear you got stung tho!!

 

[VisionofMilotic]

At Home Depot there was the most gorgeous orchid for sale at their garden center, 'picked it up for Halloween. The intense violet/indigo coloration looks sufficiently like a night time color, and they wrapped it with nice orange and black spooky themed paper with little spiders webs on it, and a lovely calavera tag for The Day of the Dead. It will be a centerpiece when I give my house a haunted makeover. I bought stickers of ravens for the wall, cobweb mash to hang up in the doorway, monster-shaped silhouettes for decals to cover the window with, and all sorts of fun things.

For the nature club though I will share a photo of a new house plant.

 

[icycatelf]

Cotton candy slime mold:

With dew:

 

[VisionofMilotic]

This is an interesting video. This young lady is like Artemis, the way animals are drawn to her. She keeps macaws, but takes them out to fly high about in nature. Watch her take them to the park to go soaring, and then they fly back to her. How they trust her. There's something about her spirit that draws even dogs in the park come up to her. It was something to see.

 

[icycatelf]

A bunch of Sunkern popped up under the bird-feeder and evolved into Sunflora!

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I also saw a bunch of Russula mushrooms popping up last month and got to wondering if they might have a connection to Foongus and Amoonguss with their white and reddish caps. (Some Russulas even have purplish caps, like Shiny Foongus/Amoonguss!)

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- - -

Here are those RealDex revisions I've been meaning to post for a while:

Bulbasaur: Replace second photo with this one

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Squirtle: Change to Turtwig and use this photo and caption

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Turtwig is based on terrestrial turtles.

Rattata: Remove

Pikachu: Replace with this photo

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Venomoth: Remove the swallowtail and add this as second photo. Edit caption.

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Though it seems to be based on toxic swallowtail moths, Venomoth brings to mind the also-toxic tiger moths which, similarly to Venomoth, transform from hairy caterpillars. Given its fangs and ability to learn Leech Life, it may also draw some inspiration from "vampire moths" (genus Calyptra).

Poliwhirl: Second pic should be moved to Poliwag

Onix: Add this photo and edit caption

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With a history of being mistaken for the remains of huge serpents, "scale tree" (Lepidodendrales) fossils bring to mind Onix. Based on its soil diet, Onix may draw some inspiration from earthworms. Its Shiny colorization could be based on green varieties of earthworms.

Meganium: Replace with these photos and edit caption

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Meganium's flower appears to be based on some kind of hybridized daylily. Its name is derived from geraniums.

(There are other daylily hybrids that look even more like Meganium. Take a look at the Love Struck daylily!)

Dunsparce: Add this photo and edit caption

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Dunsparce is based on the Tsuchinoko. While this creature has yet to be proven to exist, sphingid caterpillars (hornworms) have a history of being mistaken for the Japanese cryptid. Its design also incorporates bee-like elements, alluding to Bachi Hebi ("bee snake"), another name for the Tsuchinoko. Its poor ability to fly may reference the myth that, with their small wings, bumblebees shouldn't be able to fly.

Furthermore, Dunsparce may draw some inspiration from the Hoop Snake, a cryptid of North America and Australia said to possess a scorpion-like tail and, much like the Tsuchinoko, bite onto said tail and roll like a wheel. ("Hoop Snake" is a common name shared by a variety of colubrid snakes, including the Black Racer pictured above.)

Shuckle: Swap the first photo with this one and edit caption

Spoiler:

While Shuckle's exact origins remain unclear, some suspect that the Mold Pokémon may draw at least partial inspiration from yellow slime molds. Its Bug typing and secretion of Berry Juice are also reminiscent of shelled scale insects, which secrete a sweet honeydew.

Beautifly: Add "see Venomoth" to caption

Dustox: Replace with this photo and caption

Spoiler:

Dustox may be based on tussar moths. More specifically, the Japanese Oak Silkmoth, but the Polyphemus Moth above is closely related.

Surskit: Second photo should be moved to Masquerain

Masquerain: Replace the damselfly with this photo and edit caption

Spoiler:

Masquerain represents the winged adult stage of a water strider. In addition to its semi-aquatic nature, its helicopter-like flight pattern suggests that it also draws inspiration from dragonflies. It seems to draw inspiration from moths with eyespots as well (Masquerain's Japanese name translates "Rain Moth").

Leafeon & Glaceon: Use this photo. Replace with Absol???

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Karrablast: Replace with this photo and caption

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Karrablast is based on snail-eating ground beetles.

Ferrothorn: Remove

Cutiefly & Ribombee: Replace with this photo

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Frosmoth: Add these images and edit caption

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Frosmoth seems to draw inspiration from various moths. Its Chinese name translates "Snow Flannel Moth" and its translucent wings may reference clearwing moths. Given its tails and green-hued Shiny, it may also draw inspiration from moon and luna moths.

I've also posted some new additions on previous pages, like Eelektrik and Sandshrew if you missed those!

 

[VisionofMilotic]

Wow! The above Pokedex is amazing!

I was posting to share that I'm bringing a little garden greenery into the home this winter. One Christmas ago I bought my mom an indoor gardens kit with led lights. She wanted the system for the kitchen to plant herbs year-round. She liked it a lot. This holiday season she asked for some new seeds to plant in the grow domes, so I took advantage of Aerogarden's cyber Monday sale, and got a custom herb seed pot kit. The herbs I ended up getting were basil, parsley, cilantro and dill. I wanted to get some winter tarragon, but they were fresh out, so my mom said just get more basil, so I bought a few different types Thai basil, Genovese and Napolitano. I'm sure that they will all be aromatic and flavorable.

They have some very appetizing looks vegetables and fruit seeds too. I wouldn't mind the tomatoes, lettuce and bok choy, but she's all in for the herbs this time.

 

[VisionofMilotic]

Nature and travel guide website Capture the Atlas recently held a photo competition, challenging people around the world to take pictures of the northern lights for the year. The winners of the contest are theses 25 spectacularly beautiful images in the link below. It's hard to believe that some of the are real.

https://capturetheatlas.com/northern-lights-photographer-of-the-year/

My personal favorites are the Alaskan photographs of the aurora "Forest of Lights" and "Narnia". I also loved the entry from Finland called "Santa's Cabin". They are all so dazzling though that it's hard to decide. I thought I would share some majestic, awe-inspiring wonders from our natural world with the nature club.

 

[icycatelf]

Haven't posted here in a little bit. Gonna have to dig up some more past photos to share soon.

Nature and travel guide website Capture the Atlas recently held a photo competition, challenging people around the world to take pictures of the northern lights for the year. The winners of the contest are theses 25 spectacularly beautiful images in the link below. It's hard to believe that some of the are real.

https://capturetheatlas.com/northern-lights-photographer-of-the-year/

My personal favorites are the Alaskan photographs of the aurora "Forest of Lights" and "Narnia". I also loved the entry from Finland called "Santa's Cabin". They are all so dazzling though that it's hard to decide. I thought I would share some majestic, awe-inspiring wonders from our natural world with the nature club.

Those photos are so surreal! #1 looks like something out of a claymation movie. O_O

While others may look more "artsy," I think my favorite pic here would have to be #2: Murmansk. Nature & Landscape Photographer is also really nice.

 

[icycatelf]

Photos incoming!

Probably my favorite parasitoid wasp (not sure if Arotes amoenus or Spilopteron formosum), a Carolina metallic tiger beetle, an eastern comma chrysalis, a hunchback bee fly (currently my favorite fly), a northern Slimy Salamander (doesn't it look like the night sky?), an ornate snipe fly, a blind and harmless soil centipede (Strigamia bidens), a cobweb spider (Spintharus flavidus), a stinky squid stinkhorn mushroom, and a wandering glider dragonfly

EDIT: Whoops! Just noticed that I'd already shared the parasitoid wasp before.

 

[icycatelf]

Gonna try to share a batch of photos every week. Here's the next one!

This week's photos include an ant-like longhorn beetle, a predatory stink bug (Apoecilus) nymph, a bumblebee scarab beetle, a delphacid planthopper (look at those antennae!), an eastern towhee, a ground skink, a long-tailed giant ichneumonid wasp (male), a southern black widow (male), a steel-blue cricket-hunter wasp, and a zebra swallowtail.

I'd love to see a Pokémon based on the bumblebee scarab or steel-blue cricket-hunter!

 

[Starlight]

Omg they're amazing as always!!! Tysm for sharing! <3

 

[icycatelf]

This week's photos include some strange beetle larvae...

From top to bottom, left to right: Mexican bean beetle larva, Photuris firefly larva, wireworm (click beetle larva), and a water penny (psephenid beetle larva)

 

[icycatelf]

This week's photos include a banded hairstreak butterfly (dark form), a brown rove beetle, crossvine, gastropod eggs, a johhny darter, a mole cricket, a peacock fly, a round-necked longhorn beetle, a twelve-spotted skimmer (male), and a white micrathena spider on a toxic "bursting-heart."

 

[icycatelf]

Another week, more past photos:

A long-jointed beetle (Arthromacra aenea), banded fishing spider, British soldiers lichen, dark wood cockroach (aka "sexy legs" cockroach), Deptford pink, golden-backed snipe fly, Leach's train millipede, orange assassin bug, red admiral, and wasp nest slime mold

 

[Starlight]

Another week, more past photos:

A long-jointed beetle (Arthromacra aenea), banded fishing spider, British soldiers lichen, dark wood cockroach (aka "sexy legs" cockroach), Deptford pink, golden-backed snipe fly, Leach's train millipede, orange assassin bug, red admiral, and wasp nest slime mold

Omg thank you so much for sharing, and they're stunning as usual!!!

 

[icycatelf]

Black kingsnake, chipping sparrow, common flower fly, eastern fence lizard (female), large white trillium, long-necked ground beetle, orange-banded checkered beetle, question mark butterfly (winter form), starbellied orbweaver, and one of the vivid metallic ground beetles

Female eastern fence lizards are generally darker and more boldly patterned than males. Undersides of both sexes turn blue during mating season, the blue more vivid on males.

Orange-banded checkered beetles are believed to mimic velvet ants, a type of flightless wasp with an extremely painful sting.

The question mark butterfly gets its name from the white "question mark" on the underside of each hindwing. It comes in two forms: a summer form, which has darker hindwings, and winter form, which has slightly longer tails.

 

[icycatelf]

Arrowhead orbweaver, cicada-killer, common buckeye butterfly, common jewelweed, ebony jewelwing (male), monarch caterpillar and chrysalis, pale green assassin bug nymph, reddening lepiota, six-spotted tiger beetle, and southern two-lined salamander and eggs

Common jewelweed is a natural remedy for poison ivy. Also known as the spotted touch-me-not, its seed pods explode when agitated.

 

[icycatelf]

Spring's approaching and the weather seems to be getting nicer. I've already seen some insects out and about (nothing new) and briefly spotted what I believe were a couple of white-breasted nuthatches before they took off. Looking forward to being able to get new photos!

In the meantime, here are some more older photos. This batch includes: an Asiatic dayflower, a calligraphic beetle, a cloudless sulphur butterfly, an emerald ash borer, a little wood satyr butterfly, a long-horned caddisfly, a peeling puffball, a red salamander, a tiger bee fly, and a "wood ear" jelly fungus.

An Asiatic dayflower only blooms for a day. Though considered a weed here, this plant is native to eastern Asia where it's long been used in medicines and dyes. The Asiatic dayflower was used to create the blue pigment in many famous Ukiyo-e woodcuts.

While pretty, the emerald ash borer is one of the most destructive invasive species of our time. A real life Ultra Beast! While this jewel beetle doesn't pose a problem in its native Asian habitats where trees have developed a resistance to the insect, it has killed many a ash trees in Europe and America.

The tiger bee fly, like other bee flies, mimics and parasitizes on bees. This species specializes in carpenter bees.