Earth

This photograph series by Mark Cowan documents a phenomenon called 'lachryphagy' ("tear-feeding"). The caiman excretes salt in their tears & the butterflies need the precious minerals for their metabolism & reproduction.

So, they're feeding on crocodilian tears.

(📷: Mark Cowan, Curtin Uni.)

https://bsky.app/profile/c0nc0rdance.bsky.social/post/3lunfcndhfs2e

So, I've won you nerds over on weevils, but can I make you love spiders?!

In this video we return to West Oakland, California to inspect the illegally-planted (but eventually authorized by the city) garden on Mandela Parkway, giving it a full species survey of rarities that were planted there including the Big Cone Pinion Pine, Pinus maximartinezii, as well as the inglorious Puya x berteroniana, Agave vilmoriniana (Octopus Agave), Quercus rugosa (Mexican net leaf oak) and many more.

We also check out some of the trees planted on side streets, including dawn redwoods, giant sequoias, and coast redwoods

[suburbia]

A new peer-reviewed scientific study suggests logging practices in Ontario are unsustainable and out of line with the province’s own strategy for sustainably managing forests.

It’s no surprise to David Flood, a registered professional forester, who has long thought Ontario was permitting too many trees to be cut down.

Flood is from Matachewan First Nation in northeastern Ontario, home to much of the province’s boreal forest. There, Flood’s community has watched as forests became smaller and more sparse over time, threatening the natural habitat for caribou and martens, two species that rely on mature forests for their habitat.

Flood is the general manager for Wahkohtowin Development, a decade-old social enterprise held by three First Nations — Chapleau Cree, Missanabie Cree and Brunswick House — to strengthen Indigenous participation in forest and land management across their territories.

“We’ve felt for a long time that there is overconsumption going on,” Flood said in an interview with The Narwhal.

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Halmus chalybeus, commonly known as the steelblue ladybird, is a species of ladybird in the beetle family Coccinellidae and the genus Halmus that is native to Australia.

Sunday gave me some of my absolute favorite creatures, including this sweet derpy long Synemosyna petrunkevitchi lass. Her face is all 👀

Watch the moment curlew frightens a hare which wandered too close to its nest

This region of Colorado, maybe an hour's drive from where this was taken, is where Chronic Wasting Disease was first detected. Our Cervidae species naturally change their elevation based on seasonal habitat availability. They go into the Rockies during high summer when they can forage without snow and retreat to the front range when it's too cold to survive any higher.

The front range was immediately colonised by cattle ranchers and farmers. The ecocide of the bison degraded that land on top of industrial agriculture's impact, as their foraging patterns are different. Between fencing, irresponsible hunting, calorie loss, wildfire/water policy, and the urban development of the front range/foothills the Cervidae were concentrated in the least desirable pieces of high elevation land. Their most genetically healthy were killed for trophies while the isolated breeding pools created what will be dementia covid at some point. CWD is the most horrifying disease I know of and it comes from denying habitat.

I like that this city-managed natural area manages to balance habitat with accessible low-impact hiking. It has a tremendous number of birds and insects. The native grasses are healthy despite recent heatwaves, so the deer and elk can actually seasonally migrate to quality grazing land. It was full of currants and dozens of our 946 native bee species and dead trees pockmarked by woodpeckers. If we had just done this from the start, the world would have been spared The Big One.

One of my favourite native wildflowers, Cleomella serrulata. I saw a few dozen of them today that were covered in a mixture of native bees, wasps, ants, and beetles. There was a really healthy and diverse bird population in that natural area as a result of the robust insect populations and fruiting shrubs.

It's owlfly larva.