edanko's Favorites

Larvae were acquired in Belize and brought back to Austin in situ. Pupation was described as "I couldn't feel a thing" which was amazing given the video he took of the process. This adult emerged on March 9. The first larva pupated in a Walmart and could not be found once the escape was realized.

Extremely interesting note: after emerging from the host, the larvae did not molt into a pupa--the larval skin simply hardened. The breathing tubes turned gold as visible on the pupa preserved in alcohol.

Larvae: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/9370693
Pupa (prior to hardening): https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/9557897

This is the most widespread Lady Beetle in the Americas, ranging from the southern United States to Argentina and from the Cayman Islands to the Galapagos. Males are distinguished from females by the more extensive white markings on the head and pronotum (the area directly behind the head - see next photo for the female).

Most people have a strong dislike for flies but many, like this one, are quite colourful and completely harmless. Flat-footed Flies, named for their enlarged and flattened hind feet, are quite small (this one is only 4 or 5 mm long). They can often be found on foliage along forest trails where their larvae feed on nearby fungi. This is one of my favourites and the entomologists who first described it must also have had a fondness for it---Callomyia is Greek for beautiful fly and venusta is from the Latin for charming.

With her mauve-and-orange eyes and mother-of-pearl markings, this tiny (about 4mm long) female Flat-footed Fly is one of the more attractive members of the order Diptera (Flies). A harmless forest dweller, she scavenges for whatever she can find on leaf surfaces while her offspring munch their way through polypore fungi. This exceptionally widespread species can be found all the way from Canada to southern South America (I've photographed them in Costa Rica).

In April 1992 a dead grey whale washed ashore on the beach at Stanley Park, Vancouver Harbour. The whale's skin was covered with these barnacles, surrounded by large numbers of whale isopods, Cyamus scammoni.