Mothfeathers Folk Art

Saddest thing ever is reading an academic paper about a threatened or declining species where you can tell the author is really trying to come up with ways the animal could hypothetically be useful to humans in a desperate attempt to get someone to care. Nobody gives a shit about the animals that “don’t affect” us and it seriously breaks my heart

This is how I learn there's a moth whose tiny caterpillars live exclusively off the old shells of dead tortoises.

because we would be calling attention to the existence of a species that is so infinitely worth knowing

I used to work for two of the authors, Mark and Nancy Deyrup. They are true naturalists, interested in everything that lives, and wonderful human beings. They still live in central Florida where the tortoise shell moth lives, and have dedicated their whole lives to documenting the Florida scrub ecosystem and educating the public. I don't know if their names reach outside of entomology, but they are beloved figures here.

Looks suspiciously like #eleshnorn