Average Critter Enjoyer

The most amazing part is how the water droplet magnifies the Hornet's mouth parts, so you get to see them up-close!!!! It was FASCINATING to witness!

Here's some of my favorite still shots from that video:

eyes hit serious diminishing returns wrt resource costs vs vision quality as they get bigger, so the question became: what the FUCK do giant (and colossal) squid need to see so badly that they couldn't see with swordfish-sized eyes that's justifying that massive energy cost? that nothing else in the deep ocean needs to see so fucking badly??

turns out the one strength eyes that big really have over much smaller eyes is: seeing large glowing objects in water deeper than 500 meters from an appreciable distance.

sperm whales are the primary predator of giant squid. sperm whales don't glow. BUT! water that deep is full of bioluminescent creatures-- these creatures light up when bumped into. something a sperm whale's size is continuously bumping into those critters, it's just surrounded by a glowing field all the time when it's swimming at those depths, visible from a distance-- if you have the right eyes-- as a massive glowing shape. so basically the only reason to have eyes the size of soccer balls is if you live in the deep ocean and your life depends on having a heads up when a hungry sperm whale lurking around

pet fly pros: fuzzy

Credits: photo 1, photo 2

Meet the Inornate Pyrausta moth, also know as the Southern Pink moth (Pyrausta inornatalis). 🌸

📍Long Beach, CA

📸 Olympus TG-7

I had been noticing these tiny beauties fluttering around near a specific plant while on my walk lately. They remind me of little pink petals in the wind. They’re kinda difficult to see with the naked eye at just 13-16mm wingspan, but after taking macro photos of them, I got to see their lovely little details! I especially love their large, round green eyes.

Their larvae are equally tiny and adorable! I was having trouble finding caterpillars but knew that they had to be on that plant (Salvia farinacea) because there were at least a dozen adults fluttering around! After doing some research, I learned that the larvae like to burrow into the buds/flowers (no wonder I couldn’t find any), so I carefully looked inside several flowers and buds that had holes in them and voilà— caterpillars! 🪻🐛

ANTLION!!!

Rosy woodlouse, Androniscus dentiger, Trichoniscidae