creaturearchive

[creaturearchive]

The excitement last night with the sphinx moth flying into my room reminds me of something: when I was a kid, I went to a birthday sleepover at a friend’s cottage by Lake Winnipeg, and her mom showed us a “moth trap” she had set up in the yard: not an actual trap- the moths were free to come and go- but instead a large white sheet stretched out by the wall of the house, facing the woods, with a bright white light shining onto it. It attracted tons of moths during the night, a few of them really large, and I remember looking at them and being fascinated. On that trip I also saw fireflies actually glowing for the first time in my memory (according to my family, I had seen them before when I was very young, but I don’t remember it). That might have been what inspired me to do a project on fireflies in 6th grade, if I remember correctly. 

Anyways, the moth trap idea stuck in my brain, and I’ve considered setting one up for a while now. Maybe I'll get around to it soon, now that summer is coming. If I do, I will update here with what I find!

#creature archive #text

[creaturearchive]

Last night (May 17th, 2021) I had my window open while cleaning my room, and a huge bug flew in and started fluttering around my light fixture. For a second, I thought it was a fly, only looking large because of a trick of the light, but then realized it was a moth. I wanted to get a better look at it, so I quickly closed my window and switched off the overhead light so it would be attracted to the lamp on my desk instead. I managed to get my hand close enough that it landed on my pinkie finger, and I started taking pictures. I was really excited because I’ve never seen a moth like this in person, and it was staying on my finger instead of frantically flying away. I recognized it almost immediately to be a sphinx moth, and after comparing some photos, I think it’s a female abbot’s sphinx moth! This is especially exciting to me, because last year I found and photographed 2 different caterpillars of the same species, in different stages of development, all in my backyard (which is where this moth also came in from!) After getting some clear photos, I opened my window back up, and let it go back into the night. It was hesitant to leave its perch on my finger so I had to nudge it a bit. 

#creaturearchive #abbot's sphinx moth #insect #may #2021 #lepidoptera

[creaturearchive]

Various rabbits hiding in the branches. March 23rd, 24th, and 25th, 2021.

#creaturearchive #march #2021 #lagomorpha

[creaturearchive]

whoops, posted this on my main instead of here

Gray bracket fungi on an old tree. March 27, 2021. 

[creaturearchive]

What appears to be a predaceous diving beetle, (maybe Colymbetes densus?)  crawling on some limestone bricks. March 18, 2021.

#creaturearchive #bugs #predaceous diving beetle #march #2021 #coleoptera

[creaturearchive]

Super busted dead mouse I found on the way to school. It was basically completely flat and dried out, the head was obliterated and so were most of the bones. The tail and feet and some patches of fur and skin are at least recognizable. It was on a dusty sidewalk with heavy foot traffic right next to a busy road, so I’m not surprised. Photographed March 17, 2021.

#creaturearchive #march #2021 #mice #animal remains #rodentia

[creaturearchive]

March 15, 2021. A family member spotted this bug in the kitchen, thinking at first that it was a fly, but calling me down to take a look at it when they realized it was a beetle. I had no idea what kind it was at first. Now after a bit of looking around I think it’s probably a male scooped scarab. This was very exciting for me because I’ve never encountered a beetle in person/in the wild that has this kind of crest or horn-like shape on top of the head (seen most clearly in the second-last picture) . The look of the whole bug itself is just beautiful. I put it into a planter in the garden, and when I checked in the morning, it seemed to have moved.

#creaturearchive #bugs #scooped scarab #march #2021 #coleoptera

[creaturearchive]

A large, dead gray squirrel that I spotted on the edge of an empty lot. What struck me was that the eyes were still intact: usually dead animals either have their eyes closed, desiccated, or dated by insects and scavengers, but apparently this one was kept fresh enough (under the snow, maybe?) and happened to die with eyes open, making the weird, bluish, almost deflated appearance clear. When I used a stick to prop open its mouth, the gums were still flexible, and pink inside. I covered it with leaves and planned to maybe come back and collect it, but I haven’t yet. Photographed March 10, 2021.

#creaturearchive #march #2021 #animal remains #rodentia

[creaturearchive]

March 5, 2021. This green lacewing was inside a raspberry I was about to eat. I couldn’t quite tell if it was dead or alive, because it wasn’t all dried up and its limbs still stuck a little bit, but it didn't seem to move or respond to stimulus. I’m not sure where the raspberries were shipped from, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this little guy had taken a pretty long journey

#creaturearchive #bugs #neuroptera

[creaturearchive]

A cute little red squirrel and assorted fungi and moss. In the melting snow alongside the riverbank. Photographed March 9-10, 2021.

#creaturearchive #snow #fungi #moss #rodentia #march #2021

[creaturearchive]

Hey does anybody have any idea what this is??? Upon doing some googling and comparing other photos, I think it might be a chocolate slime mould, but I’m not sure. Seems strange that mould would be successfully growing on a windowsill of an un-insulated room when it’s super dry and -40 degrees out, but I guess this one was resilient. Photographed February 14, 2021, in Manitoba. 

#creaturearchive #february #2021 #mould #slime mould #unidentified

[creaturearchive]

A sycamore moth caterpillar outside a palace in Sanssouci Park, Germany. August 22, 2019. 

#creaturearchive #august #2019 #bugs #lepidoptera

[creaturearchive]

Tree fungi (maybe a hoof fungus?) with ivy and fire bugs at Potsdam Sanssouci Park. August 22, 2019.

#creaturearchive #august #2019 #fungi #trees

[creaturearchive]

August 17, 2019. Ducks by a pond and big weeping willows at a park in Neumünster. 

#creaturearchive #august #2019 #water #birds #trees

[creaturearchive]

Plants at the Hedeby village site- what seems to be fireweed, blackberries, teasel, maybe chicory... can't figure out that the yellow flower in the second picture is though. August 16, 2019.

#creaturearchive #august #2019 #plants

[creaturearchive]

What I think is a European garden spider (or some other kind of cross spider) found sitting on its web in a patch of wild blackberries. August 16, 2019, Germany. 

#creaturearchive #august #2019 #bugs #arachnida

[creaturearchive]

A slug!! likely a red slug (Arion rufus) August 15, 2019, Germany.

#creaturearchive #august #2019 #slug #bugs #mollusca