Most Infectious Blog 2023

"UNDER THE SNOW, A SECRET CITY SURVIVES.

Every leaf you leave on the ground becomes a roof, a tunnel, a blanket. Moths overwinter as cocoons tucked between the layers. Fireflies spend their first year hidden in the leaf litter. Beetles, spiders, and tiny pollinators shelter in the gaps. What looks like "yard waste" is actually winter's last refuge. Remove it - and the city goes dark."

Labeled layers and critters, from top to bottom:

"Snow Layer Insulation from Wind."

"Leaf Litter Critical Winter Habitat."

"Moth Cocoon Overwintering Stage."

"Firefly Larva - One Year Underground."

"Spider Shelter."

"Overwintering Beetles."

"Mites, and other Microarthropods."

Arzach

Crying Skeleton with Sword in Hand from Nikkan hagaki.

Artist unknown, Late Meiji era.

waterlilies

A minor pile up between three migrating trilobites, Eldredgeops rana.

Panderodus, a genus of jawless fish from middle Ordovician to late Devonian North America. Their size varied from 5 to 40 cm depending on the species.

Reliquary Shrine of Saint Barbara

Workshop of Louis Marcy (Luigi Parmeggiani) Italian