sambiology's Favorites

This observation is for the prey animals found in an owl pellet I dissected. The date and location is accurate for where/when the pellet was found. I've left it at Vertebrata for now as it certainly contains more than one prey animal this time. The observation for the owl pellet/owl is here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/65913848

This pellet was huge! (last image) I found it in what seems to be two main pieces that were next to each other in the gravel. This one took much longer than the first pellet to go through and sort. It was also more difficult when it came to fully removing fur from the bones, so there are a few chunks that I simply couldn't clean off properly.

I've done my best to group most of the bones by what I think are related bones. Since this one had somewhere close to 280 different bones/bone fragments I didn't label them like the first pellet. Of course, I could be and most likely am incorrect about most of what they are so please correct me if you know.

Any help anyone can provide is greatly appreciated!

Water sample (freshwater) was taken on 07/10/2022 using a 10 micron dip net to enrich for microorganisms.
Water Temp. 28°C
Length: >800µm
Although from a different sample than the observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/125250373, I think this is the same species. Here I was able to conclude that this individual has three toes. The sample was taken at the same location.
All images are of the same individual (and her daughter).

1. Overview showing dorsal antenna
2. Rostrum showing eyes
3. Bendable spurs
4. Three toes
5. Trophi showing dental formula 2/2. Arrow is ~28 µm
6. Birth—I feel very privileged and in awe to have observed this
7. Gif of birth
8. Out of focus image of daughter’s and mother’s toes

Night walk along bank of Grapevine Lake while waiting for insects to come to a couple sheets I had set up.

All of my blacklighting observations from my second night in Grapevine:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2022-07-20&d2=2022-07-21&nelat=32.9498178780538&nelng=-97.05853848413507&place_id=any&swlat=32.94857994678893&swlng=-97.06420867399255&user_id=joemdo&field:Light%20Source=395-400%20nm%20LED

Observed while visiting Grapevine for an education conference (SREB 2022). I was invited by the National Geographic education team to give a presentation on using iNaturalist in the classroom and had a great time presenting and also learning from the Nat Geo team.

I mostly stuck to the area near the Gaylord Texan hotel as there were plenty of woods to explore and blacklight at. I did also go on an iNat marathon on Friday the 22nd when I met sambiology and he took me to two really great spots: Cross Timbers Park and Tandy Hills.
I also went to LLELA shortly after to round off the day.

Here's a link to all of my Dallas/Fort Worth observations from this trip: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2022-07-19&d2=2022-07-23&order_by=votes&place_id=any&user_id=joemdo

Freshwater aquatic insects in running creek. This insect was living in a tube with 5 prongs, connected by a web of mucus/silk which it used to catch particles in the water. I watch it actively eat the webbing and create new webbing. There were about 5 active ones on a rock, they were about 1cm tall.

I was very fortunate to notice these two under the sheets. After several photographs, they came out, separated, then came back together and faced off. This observation is for the male. The female is here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/112221782

Pseudoscorpion & its babies !
These tiny creatures are really amazing to watch. Other day I posted how these false scorpions carry their eggs, like a bunch of grapes on its back.
Here i got continuation of that , Where Mother pseudoscorpion is carrying its juvenile on dorsum of abdomen & few more are there on its ventral side.
I was not able to capture better than this as pseudoscorpions are restless creatures & they never sit when exposed to sunlight. They always move in search of the dark. These Arachnids have the unique strength of moving both forward & backward.
This makes us very difficult to capture . I am sharing three record photos,to showcase its maternal care.
ಹುಸಿಚೇಳಿನ ಬಗೆಗೆ ನಾನು ಈ ಹಿಂದೆ ನಿಮಗೆ ತಿಳಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ನಮ್ಮ ಜೇನು ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆಯೊಳಗೆ , ಜೇನ್ನೊಣದ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಇವು ಜೀವನ ನಡೆಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಪ್ರಕೃತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇವು ಮರದ ತೊಗಟೆಯ ಅಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ವಾಸಿಸುತ್ತವೆಯಾದ್ದರಿಂದ ಇವು ಹೊರಜಗತ್ತಿಗೆ ಕಾಣುವುದೇ ಇಲ್ಲ.
ಈ ಅಷ್ಟಪದಿಯ ಅಧ್ಯಯನಕ್ಕೆ ಒಂದು ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಜೇನು ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆಯೇ ಸೂಕ್ತ .
ತಿಂಗಳಿಗೊಮ್ಮೆ ನಾನು ನಮ್ಮ ತೋಟದಲ್ಲಿನ ಜೇನುಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆಯ ಕೆಲಸಕ್ಕೆ ಕೈ ಹಾಕಿದಾಗ ನನಗೆ ಈ ಹುಸಿಚೇಳುಗಳ ದರ್ಶನವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ಕ್ಯಾಮೆರಾ ಸದಾ ಜೊತೆಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಇವು ಸದಾ ಕತ್ತಲಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಬದುಕುವ ಜೀವಿಗಳು. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ನಾವು ಜೇನು ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಯನ್ನು ತೆಗೆದೊಡನೆ, ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆಯಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಸೆರೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಹೋಗಿ ಅಡಗಿಬಿಡುತ್ತವೆ.
ಮೊನ್ನೆಯೂ ಹಾಗೆ ಆಯ್ತು.
ಜೇನು ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆಯ ಒಳಗೆ ಹುಸಿಚೇಳೊಂದು ಈಗ ತಾನೇ ಮೊಟ್ಟೆಯಿಂದ ಹೊರ ಬಂದ ಮರಿಯನ್ನು ಬೆನ್ನ ಮೇಲೆ ಕುರಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿತ್ತು. ಹೊಟ್ಟೆಯ ಕೆಳಗೆ, ದ್ರಾಕ್ಷಿ ಗೊಂಚಲಿನಂತೆ ಮೊಟ್ಟೆಗಳಿದ್ದವು ಮತ್ತು ಆ ಮೊಟ್ಟೆಗಳಿಂದ ಮರಿಗಳು ಹೊರಬರಲು ಆರಂಭಿಸಿದ್ದವು.
ಈ ಅಪರೂಪದ ಕ್ಷಣಗಳನ್ನು ದಾಖಲಿಸಲು ಅನೇಕ ಸವಾಲುಗಳು.
ಹುಸಿಚೇಳು ಕತ್ತಲೆಯನ್ನು ಹುಡಿಕಿಕೊಂಡು, ವೇಗವಾಗಿ ಚಲಿಸುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಇವುಗಳು ಹಿಂದೆ, ಮುಂದೆ ಅಡ್ಡಡ್ಡ ಚಲಿಸುವ ಸಾಮ್ರಾಥ್ಯ ಹೊಂದಿದೆ. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ಇದನ್ನು ಫೋಕಸ್ಪೆ ಮಾಡುವುದು ಬಲು ಕಷ್ಟ. ಜೇನು ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಯೊಳಗಣ ಜೇನ್ನೊಣಗಳು ನನ್ನ ಸುತ್ತ ಹಾರುತ್ತಿದ್ದವು. ಯಾವಾಗ ಚುಚ್ಚುವುದೋ ಎಂಬ ಭಯ ಒಂದು ಕಡೆಯಾದರೆ, ಕಾಲಿಗೆ ಕುತ್ತುವ ಸೊಳ್ಳೆಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಕಚ್ಚುವ ಕೆಂಜುಗಗಳು ಇನ್ನೊಂದುಕಡೆ .
ಇವೆಲ್ಲದರ ಮಧ್ಯೆ ನನಗೆ ಮೂರೇ ಮೂರೂ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳು ಸಿಕ್ಕವು. ಅಷ್ಟು ಹೊತ್ತಿಗೆ ಈ ಹುಸಿ ಚೇಳು ತನ್ನ ಮಕ್ಕಳೊಡನೆ ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆಯ ಸೆರೆಯೊಳಗೆ ಅವಿತುಬಿಟ್ಟಿತ್ತು.
ಚಿತ್ರೀಕರಿಸಿದ ಆ ಮೂರೂ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳು ಇದೋ ಇಲ್ಲಿದೆ ನಿಮಗಾಗಿ.
May 2021
Indraprastha
Mysuru.