dragonflies and fungi. oh, and two dead bats.

last week sam & i watched this show about dragonflies  (suborder Anisoptera).

did you know that fossils of very large ancestors of the dragonfly have been found...

with a wingspan of over 29 inches!?  yikes!  i didn't.

did you know that there are about 3000 species of Anisoptera?  nope,  sure didn't.

up to several years of the insect's life is spent as a nymph living in freshwater; 

the adults may be on the wing for just a few days or weeks. 

dragonflies are an ancient group. they have been around for 300 million years!!

wOw!!!

all of this and more, interested me so much...and since i have such a fondness for bugs (and fungi!)...

i thought i'd go on the hunt for some cool dragonflies and fungi.

Four-spotted Pennant - Brachymesia gravida

earth star

Antillean Skimmer - Orthemis sp

Great Pondhawk - Erythemis vesiculosa

here's a Great Pondhawk munching away on...a butterfly? another dragonfly? something!

Seaside Dragonlet - Erythrodiplax berenice

Eastern Pondhawk - Erythemis simplicicollis

well, that's it!

oh yeah, i almost forgot...the bats!  dead bats.

sam knows me. no doubt about that. forget flowers. chocolates. just bring me some bones!!

(he found these at work. they were caught up in the big roll down warehouse door. poor bats.)

i'll be roaming around blogland this weekend...until then,

thanks for stopping by & reading, or just looking at the pictures!

be cool.  be safe.

laura

my little slice of nature

today's my third day back to work since vacation.  my appointments aren't 'til this afternoon so i have a little time to spend here.

the last stop on our vacation was at Stephen Foster St Pk in white springs, FL. we've been to that park lots of times...they have a bat house there...a couple of years ago we rode our bikes there just after dusk...to wait for the bats to emerge. wow! they POURED out of there.  i had taken a couple of movies with our camera...it's a little dark (after dusk!)  but pretty cool if you've never seen bats from this perspective. it's only like 45 seconds long. i hope you can view it!

after watching this old bat video...i got to thinking about bats...i know we have them here...cause there's a cool bat house at UF. hmmmmm...maybe i'll ask sam if he wants to build a bat house out back...sounds like it could be a pretty cool project. like we don't have enough to do!

i just hope i remember to ask him before he reads it here...  :]

i found a site where you can buy an already made one, or construct your own: 

http://www.batcon.org/index.php/get-involved/install-a-bat-house.html

i have ONE picture of a TEENY WEENY bat from years back when we went to the florida state caverns. the bat was curled up on the ceiling in one of the cavern rooms.

he's upside down...

since we've been home, i've been 'snapping away...hope you enjoy my side of nature. :)

the gulf fritillary butterfly. usually 2 or 3 at the same time on the lantana.

Flowers and butterflies drift in color, illuminating spring.  ~Author Unknown 

~the meeting of the minds~

hmmm...where shall we start...should we split up? we can divide this plant into three...

(stink bugs)

Life's a journey, not a destination.  ~Aerosmith 

wow!!!  what a gorgeous emerald dragonfly!!  usually i see the bluish ones...not THIS!!  so cool! look at those markings!!

this web looks like very well lived in...uh...on!!

banana spider...and baby

well...better run...

let's keep our eyes & minds open...

It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision. ~   Helen Keller 

take care. stay cool.   laura  :]