This is how far away it was when I spotted it, with progressive levels of camera zoom. Pretty dire for a species that relies on camouflage.

I don't know, nature is a risk taker. The process of evolution (especially sexual reproduction) creates a lot of weird or maladaptive traits. Genetic recombination is a dice roll that creates millions of dead ends that are nonetheless interesting, and what we understand has heavy survivorship bias.

While ranching in the upper Sonoran desert, we already knew if there would be a super bloom by the end of October. Unless the wildflowers sprouted during a wet fall, there wouldn't be time for them to mature & bloom in the spring. The seedlings were quite resilient to frost while hugging the ground.

*I should have said "with rhyme but no reason"...a missed opportunity. That's what happens when you write a poem in two minutes. Oh well.

Great news, generative A.I. is dehumanizing and wildly inappropriate for what is supposed to be a personal relationship with deity.

You probably know many people who are members of that church, but aren't weaponizing their faith for oppression or social media influencing.

And of course where would we all be without our beloved "bugs" (that rarely share our affection and would kill me with a glare if they could)? #Inverts

Here are some angry plants as well. The first one (Puya alpestris) will one day be absolutely gorgeous with turquoise flowers but in the meantime might be proto-carnivorous because the recurved spines occasionally catch and kill birds, sheep, etc that then decompose and fertilize it. 😬🪴🌱

There are definitely some hostile looking mushrooms in the world. 🍄📷

Kinda interesting to compare water year precipitation with snowpack at a continental scale. Most of the western US has been very wet since October 1, but there is almost no snowpack anywhere except at the very highest elevations because it has been so ridiculously warm. #hydrology #wx

Well, I suspect they will still allow us to manufacture and maintain their food delivery system.

I wish it was my Christmas tree, it is some guy a few houses down and quite frankly I'm offended that the mycorrhizae (wow, I spelled that right the first time!) have chosen him over me.

I'm at a loss trying to figure out what exactly "biblically accurate crustacean" means.

How can we help, what is it that you need?

To be fair, I'm a fish/wildlife biologist, not an entomologist, so it's not really my world. But I'll admit it's much more adjacent than like...business or finance or something.

They probably will come back - larger trees and branches often take them more than one night to finish gnawing through.

Do have a similar map of what the expected precipitation is over this interval? Arizona, I suspect, doesn't generally get much since monsoon season is over, so even a little probably pushes them into wet territory...just curious. You obviously don't need to do more pro-bono work, I just wondered.

That's a lovely animation, how did you do it? 🍄📷

Hahaha...I like yours on so many levels. Here's mine: