Author | Lightnews

John Christensen

@jaspersailfin.bsky.social

290 followers 99 following 1.3K posts

Macrophotographer (Jasper Sailfin Photography), nature admirer, butterfly chaser, tech writer, aging soccer player, music lover, gecko breeder, Healthcare IT https://www.flickr.com/photos/83310407@N04/collections

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John Christensen @jaspersailfin.bsky.social · Apr 28

Four days left to support Dave Geale's Butterflies of Eastern Ecuador & Peru: Volume 2.

This volume will have the "best" butterflies, including Riodinidae, Lycaenidae & Hesperiidae!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/dgb...

Butterflies of Eastern Ecuador & Peru: Volume 2

Continuing work on this pioneering field guide to tropical South American butterflies.

www.kickstarter.com

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John Christensen @jaspersailfin.bsky.social · Apr 23

Guatemalan Copper (Iophanus pyrrhias). We were excited to get close views of this butterfly! La Paz Department, Honduras. March 2025

A small Guatemalan Copper (Iophanus pyrrhias) butterfly sitting on a leaf.

Reposted by John Christensen

Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · Apr 14

Awesome new paper by @lucalivraghi.bsky.social et al.
doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...
in @currentbiology.bsky.social
on the evo-devo of a butterfly color variation

enjoy the show!

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John Christensen @jaspersailfin.bsky.social · Mar 4

That's a real beauty!

John Christensen @jaspersailfin.bsky.social · Feb 27

<taps on the movie marquee>

It’s right there in the title, son

John Christensen @jaspersailfin.bsky.social · Feb 6

Granular Glass Frog (Cochranella granulosa) tadpoles developing inside a gelatinous mass. This leaf was about 7 feet above a small creek. Panama. January 2025

Jelly mass attached to leaf containing tadpoles

John Christensen @jaspersailfin.bsky.social · Feb 3

A+ indeed! The one I saw there was a B- unfortunately, but still amazing.

John Christensen @jaspersailfin.bsky.social · Feb 3

Wow, that's an amazing katydid. I always bring a UV light on trips but never thought to fluoresce one!

John Christensen @jaspersailfin.bsky.social · Feb 1

Eugenysa coscaroni. A tortoise beetle, but looks more like a smiling strawberry to me. Panama. January 2025

A red-and-black tortoise beetle on a blade of grass.

John Christensen @jaspersailfin.bsky.social · Jan 29

Pit piercing. It’s what all the cool vipers are doing these days.

John Christensen @jaspersailfin.bsky.social · Jan 27

David on Goliath.
Geometer moth Tricentra euriopis on silkmoth Rhescyntis hippodamia. Panama. January 2025.

John Christensen @jaspersailfin.bsky.social · Jan 21

Send in the clowns. That's how I'm feeling today.
Two Arctiinae moths, Idalus perlineosa and Phaeomolis lineatus. Panamá Province, Panama. January 2025

John Christensen @jaspersailfin.bsky.social · Jan 17

The Sky-blue Hairstreak (Pseudolycaena damo). Such a stunning butterfly! Coclé Province, Panama. January 2025.

Sky-blue Hairstreak (Pseudolycaena damo) nectaring on small white flowers. Coclé Province, Panama.

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John Christensen @jaspersailfin.bsky.social · Jan 17

Began 2025 in beautiful Panama. Metalmark butterflies can be hard to photograph because they often land on the underside of leaves. This one cooperated amazingly well as I leaned in to get a viewing angle.
Hypophylla zeurippa. Coclé Province, Panama. January 2025

Metalmark butterfly Hypophylla zeurippa resting under a leaf. Panama.

Reposted by John Christensen

Danny Deraney @dannyderaney.bsky.social · Dec 29

Mary Tyler Moore starred in Mary, the ill fated variety show/sitcom that lasted three episodes.

The show did introduce us however to castmates Michael Keaton and David Letterman.

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John Christensen @jaspersailfin.bsky.social · Dec 12

The Brown Wasp Mantidfly (Climaciella brunnea) is a convincing wasp mimic that sits on flower heads awaiting prey. The bottom left shows one eating a plume moth. The bottom right includes my thumb for scale. They are tiny and easy to miss.
#MantidflyAppreciationDay

John Christensen @jaspersailfin.bsky.social · Dec 12

Mantidflies sometimes show up at moth sheets and enjoy the insect smorgasbord. Top left is Beautiful Mantidfly (Leptomantispa pulchella) and bottom left is genus Plega.
#MantidflyAppreciationDay

John Christensen @jaspersailfin.bsky.social · Dec 12

Mantidflies are amazing little predatory insects. Here we have four species common in the US: Brown Wasp Mantidfly (Climaciella brunnea), Green Mantidfly (Zeugomantispa minuta), Say's Mantidfly (Dicromantispa sayi), and Four-spotted Mantidfly (Dicromantispa interrupta).
#MantidflyAppreciationDay

Photo collage of four mantidfly species sitting on leaves and flowers.

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John Christensen @jaspersailfin.bsky.social · Dec 12

You probably saw this exciting Anteros sighting on iNat, but I can't stop looking at it. Observation by Miguel Lezama Ninancuro on the upper Manu Rd. www.inaturalist.org/observations...