Aww, today's photo cleaning session earthed the little guys who got a room.
#nature

Green Sweat bee. Seems like it should have been given a prettier name. Native bees like these might not give honey, but they are better pollinators. They do not nectar rob, they are more suited to pollinate many plants honey bees can't. Native to where? You. You want to save the bees native to your area, or we will only have wind pollinated corn to eat. That's what these bees give us, not honey, but food.

#nature #pollinators

The same pitcher plant trap a few days apart. A Judith Hindle cultivar.

#gardening #nature #CarnivorousPlants

That time a butterfly landed on my screen door to ask if the dogs could come out and play.
#nature

This is the mantis that taught me what happens to their eyes at night. He sat on the same strawberry bush all day, I took pics of him for a drawing during the day, and went back at night to get some different angles, he was still in the same spot.
#insects #mantis #nature

Cleaning out my photos, ran across four more entries for my folder titled "Spiders on Pitcher Plants". Cute little thieves might be stealing prey, but hopefully they are also keeping the grasshoppers away.
#spiders #nature #Gardening

Project Gutenberg's Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics, by Richard Folkard. "Myths, Traditions, Superstitions, and Folk-Lore of the Plant Kingdom."
Found while cleaning out my bookmarks, and decided to share. Has a comparison of various world trees across cultures, plants in the bible, plants used by fairies, devils, and witches, the doctrine of signatures, floral emblems of Shakespeare, the language of flowers, mummies, and more.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44638/44638-h/44638-h.htm

#books #gardening #folklore #nature

Every now and then I despair of the wide swaths of concrete in our world, then I remember how delighted I was when I first visited Joe in NYC and learned the biggest city in America is actually rather lush where there is a spot to grow in, and full of lovely surprises like that entire house that was lost to ivy. All camera angles just looked like a lump of ivy, then there was this:
(check out the lichens on the bumper)
#nature

No, I don't think I will identify the Nepenthes sp I bought simply labeled, "carnivorous plant". I have never owned this species, have no idea what it is, and I am absolutely in love with the sense of mystery, of watching something grow with zero idea of what's about to happen. Thank you, irresponsible grower, for this gift of wonder you have given me.
#nature

That explains why some of my flytraps have been mysteriously failing. Found this bugger when I cleaned out my camera, I was taking reference photos for a sketch. Just dug up the plant again to see if I could catch him, the whole section of the root and the culprit are gone. Little cutie got his snack, I guess.

#nature #gardening

Frosty dandelion from this morning's walk.
#nature

I made a microscope video for my kid :). She's 6, it's about life in a drop of water and shows a bladderwort trap. It's on Youtube, I embedded it in my blog to not use bandwith and space for it here.

https://tippitiwichet.com/2022/12/13/a-pond-water-video-for-my-baby-girl/

#microscope #nature #science #kids #carnivorousplants #bladderwort

Today I got cover glass and indented slides, making it MUCH easier to focus my highest magnification, I'm thrilled :). Apparently, if you try to use another slide as a cover slide, it's too thick to focus through, and otherwise I kept crashing into my subject. The first image is a composite of the best shots I could get of the structure of sphagnum moss. The second is from today, I can even finally clearly see chloroplasts!

#microscope #microscopy #botany #nature

Sphagnum moss has no roots. Instead, it's leaves can soak up water like a sponge with its open cell structure.

#microscopy #microscope #botany #nature

Today's Venus flytrap has red pigmentation, for cooler looking slides. The two of the same angle are lit from above and below, and together show quite well how the world is made of stained glass.

#microscope #microscopy #carnivorousplants #venusflytrap #botany #science #nature

Drew a repeating tile using old school methods, like the crone I am. Venus flytrap digestive glands from inside the trap, on a leaf with no pigment. That's my desktop wallpaper now.
#nature #botany #science #art #microscope #carnivorousplants

This morning my lovely mantis was kind enough to gift me an exoskeleton. I was going to be good this morning and keep it in the box so I had time to work on my art, but nooooo. That is the edge of the eye, the thorns on a front leg, and a leg joint. Wet mounting both brought out pretty colors and made bubbles that actually decorate it rather well.

#nature #microscope #insects #mantis #biology #bugs

Venus flytrap trigger hair. The dark clusters of cells are digestive glands. My #microscope newbie butt is proud of this one. I guarantee you my other slides did not look this good.

#nature #carnivorousplants #science #botany

So, last night I typed on here that I was looking for a mantis to bring inside this fall hoping they would lay an ootheca, and I stood up, stretched, and my kid ran inside saying she found a mantis, and it's female. Finished building her habitat today, what's a good name that means luck? #nature #insects #bugpet