06/05/2023 Caterpillar making Nonstandard Life Choices.

Marmara arbutiella is a tiny caterpillar that lives inside arbutus leaves. It leaves the waxy top and bottom layer of the leaf intact for shelter and eats a tunnel through the juicy middle layer, writing a gleaming silvery spiral into the flesh of the leaf.

The Blue Haired Girlfriend found this Caterpillar of Nonstandard Life Choices living in a salal leaf instead of an arbutus lead. These eccentrics turn up occasionally in a small area that includes our island.

We know the salal-dwellers are Marmara arbutiella, because someone sent a salal leaf with a caterpillar in it to Charley Eiseman (see @lies's Charley Eiseman Appreciation Post) and he got it DNA barcoded.

But nobody has observed a salal-dweller outside the leaf. We don't know if it has morphological differences from the arbutus-dwellers as an adult moth, like maybe a new subspecies is starting to branch off here.

So we picked the leaf and put it in a jar with a little moss to hold moisture. Hopefully there's still a Caterpillar of Nonstandard Life Choices in it, and the caterpillar will crawl out of the leaf, make a cocoon, and emerge into an adult we can send to Charley Eiseman.

The cocoon is pretty exciting too, described in the poetic words of Wagner, Loose, Fitzgerald, De Benedictis, and Davis:

The larvae exhibit a fascinating cocoon-spinning behavior which involves prolonged ornamentation of the cocoon with dozens of anally extruded compartmentalized bubbles, each of which is individually wrapped in silk and pushed through to the outer cocoon surface.

I, for one, am delighted at the prospect of a cocoon containing a moth nobody has ever seen, festively garlanded in silk-wrapped bug farts.

Leaf Miner Maze - in progress

This was created in 2022-ish; I had a grand plan to create a solvable maze out of leaf miner paths. I spend a lot of time doing the leaf collection all through the green parts of the year, and when it’s frozen outside I have subjects to work with.

I completed this piece and STUPIDLY FRAMED IT AND SET IT UP AT A STATE FAIR DISPLAY AND FUCK ME SOMEKNE BOUGHT IT AND I NEVER GOT A SOLID PHOTO OR PRINT

RIP 300+ hours on that piece. Guess I just gotta do it again.

some more blurry nature pics i took while out in the wild

European peacock (aglais io). So sad to witness butterflies disappearing over the decades

ginkgo bilboa

cool snail on a leaf

leaf with mines made by leaf miners. the babies of these insects eat their way through the inside of the leaf and leave these cool corridors behind

swampy pond at sunset

Leaf Miner Tracks by Oliver Andrews Via Flickr: Tracks through a hazel leaf, in Short Wood, where leaf miners have been munching away. If you look closely some of them are still in there.

Beautiful Macarostola moth found on the glass window of a Kmart.

24/11/23 - Macarostola sp.

QLD:WET

Friend from Down Under

Skeletonizer moth cocoon (Bucculatrix albertiella) By: Edward S. Ross From: Insects Close Up 1953

A thing I wanted to do for a while. The Happy Prince and the swallow on grey agate, last few pieces of gold to give.

Moth Of The Day #13

Firethorn Leaf Miner

Phyllonorycter leucographella

From the gracillariidae family. They have a wingspan of 6-9mm. They often inhabit gardens and other urban habitats. It is native to southern Europe.

fern fossil acquired!!

Pink Hair Swag Tourney, Round One, Part Four

Fresh Crops! December 11 - December 17, 2023

This week's newest stories and chapter updates for Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons on AO3!

Insatiable - by Perversions; Complete, 1/1, 3.2k

Rating: Explicit; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandom: Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons Relationship: Gwen/Vaughn; Characters: Gwen, Vaughn | Waltz Additional Tags: **NOTE: Some tags have been removed to remain Safe For Tumblr. Please see AO3 for complete list** Unsafe Sex, Established Relationship, Riding, Doggy Style, Rough Sex, Dirty Talk, Dirty Thoughts, Begging, Teasing, Wet Dream, Frottage, Masturbation, Cussing, Marking Summary: Waking up horny was never a problem. It always had an easy solution to solve when they were both awake. Waking up horny in the middle of the night while her boyfriend was sleeping was a different story.

Her Voice Within - by syavwits; Complete, 6/6, 14k

Rating: Not Rated; Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings; Category: F/M Fandoms: Back To Nature Relationship: Claire the Farmer/Gray; Characters: Claire the Farmer, Pete the Farmer, Gray, Rick, Kai, Cliff, Doctor | Trent, Mary the Librarian | Marie, Karen, Popuri, Ann the Innkeeper | Ran, Elli | Elly, Manna, Duke, Doug | Dudley, Old Ellen, May | Mei, Stu | Yu, Zack, Won | Huang, Anna, Basil the Writer, Saibara, Harris, Gotz | Gotts, Kano, Louis the Entomologist | Chuu, Greg, Barley | Mugi, Aja | Adge Additional Tags: Friends to Lovers, Romantic Soulmates, Soul-Searching, Mystery, Mute Protagonist, Found Family Summary: It's not that Claire can't talk, she sometimes speaks yes, but only when she really put all her energies to do it. Then there's Gray, the stoic guy with the famous resting b*tch face, he doesn't want anything to do with anyone, everyone, even the new girl although she's… cute. While Pete tries to save his farm, he also confides in Claire and asks her help to search for his unknown childhood friend, his first love, who apparently is one of the girls in Mineral town?!? Will Claire manage to find Pete's long-lost Best friend? Will Claire find what she truly desires in her second chance at life?

Don't Eat Flowers - by Maymist; Complete, 10/10, 20k

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/F Fandoms: A Wonderful Life Relationship: Nami/Pony | Aya | Jill; Characters: Nami, Pony | Aya | Jill, Rock, Reader Additional Tags: Lesbian Character, Inspired by Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons, Mentions of Other Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons Games, Blue Feather, Romance, LGBTQ Character, POV Lesbian Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship Summary: The new farmer girl in Forgotten Valley attempts to give Nami some flowers to, er… totally give the hint that she's romantically interested in the very much reserved tomboyish red-head. Nami completely jumps to conclusions and misunderstands though, and that's where this silly romance begins. What kind of other madness will ensue?

The Heart of a Westown Cowboy - by Mya_Stone; WIP, 36/?, 50k

Rating: General Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandom: Trio of Towns Relationships: Female Farmer/Wayne, Farmer & Wayne, Wayne & Ford; Characters: Frank, Ford, Carrie, Brad, Megan, Hector, Colin, Daryl | Darius, Marlena, Lynn, Wayne, Miranda Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Romance, Romantic Friendship, Guy Falls First, famiy drama, I Wrote This For Me But I'll Share It With You Summary: Wayne is Westown's perpetually single lady's man. He'd like to settle down but he just hasn't found The One and he's fairly certain he's met everyone in town. Then Melody moves in, taking a plot of her uncle's ranch to fulfill her dream of being a rancher. A college-educated business woman, Melody doesn't accept failure - especially not her own. As Wayne falls hard for her, she struggles to return his affections until she has what she came for - and when she continually comes up short at the cow competitions, she begins to wonder if Westown is really the place for her.

The Scientist and his Farmer - by Daryls_Favourite; WIP, 13/?, 13k

Rating: Not Rated; Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings; Category: F/M Fandoms: A Wonderful Life Relationship: Daryl/reader; Characters: Daryl, Rock, Muffy | Molly, Marlin | Matthew, Forgotten valley villagers, Reader Summary: You have been living in forgotten valley for a little under a year. Winter is underway and you need to keep your farm afloat whilst also trying to court a suitable spouse.

The Princess and the Carpenter - by SymphonicFantasia; WIP, 20/50, 2.9k

Rating: General Audiences; Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply; Category: F/M Fandoms: Magical Melody, Save the Homeland, Hero of Leaf Valley Relationship: Dia/Kurt | Hayato; Characters: Dia, Kurt Summary: They weren't so different from one another although others may not think so. Just because she was a "princess" didn't mean that the carpenter didn't belong with her. It just took a bit of chiseling to see who they really were deep down. And even then, they would only show those halves to one another.

What Others Say - by Anonymous; Complete, 1/1, 1.8k

Rating: Explicit; Archive Warning: Rape/Non-Con; Category: M/M Fandom: Pioneers of Olive Town Relationship: Eiji | Ollie/Iori; Characters: Iori, Eiji | Ollie Additional Tags:**NOTE: Some tags have been removed to stay Save For Tumblr. Please see AO3 for complete list. Sexual Coercion, Jealousy, Established Relationship, Domestic Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Top Iori, Bottom Eiji | Ollie Summary: It's hard to ignore what others say when it aligns with your hunches.

Unkind - by Anonymous; Complete, 1/1, <1k

Rating: Mature; Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings; Category: F/F Fandom: Friends of Mineral Town Relationship: Claire/Elli | Elly; Characters: Claire, Elli | Elly, Harvest Goddess Additional Tags: Domestic Violence, Magical Pregnancy, Misunderstandings, Hurt/Comfort Summary: A lot of pain and heartache could have been avoided if only a certain someone had communicated beforehand.

And one Not Safe for Tumblr fic by Thefallen1986

These earrings have black, brown, and bits of red ceramic round beads wire wrapped to dark copper colored leaf charms. Though the charms could be interpreted as either a leaf or a feather. Which ever you prefer to see it as these earrings are great for the autumn season if you want something more subtle.

If you are interested in these earrings you can purchase them on my storenvy here.

I'm really getting close to being ready to stream and record some minecraft

Allium leaf miner (Phytomyza gymnostoma) larva

May 20 2022

Pest of alliums (onions, garlic, etc.). Active in spring and fall, which unfortunately coincides with leek season. These little guys cause a lot of damage - the adults chew on the leaves, and the female lays her eggs into the leaves, where they hatch and pupate. Damage includes shriveled, curly leaves, as well as red staining in the layers of the plant. Because these guys are a fairly new invasive, there isn’t much info on control yet.

Invasive