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catselbow

@catselbow@fosstodon.org

I'm the IT manager for the UVa Physics Department. I have a PhD in physics, and used to do research in nuclear physics. I teach introductory programming to undergrads. Also, flies are underrated.

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catselbow , to random

A handsome broad-snouted weevil.

A roughly fig-shaped gray weevil stands on a bright green new leaf. The weevil's snout is short and blunt. It's flanked by two round jet-black eyes. From the snout's tip, long, segmented antennae diverge to either side. These are clearly inspired by 1950s sci-fi movies: a long straight club-shaped segment emerges from the snout, and then elbows into a line of bell-shaped segments terminating in a large, gold, egg-shaped knob. The whole thing is clearly designed to shoot heat rays or receive telepathic communications. The weevil's head is sunken into the shoulders of its thorax, as though it's wearing a snood. The elytra of its abdomen are decorated with rows of dimples and streaks of black like the texture of marble. Then there are the toes. The lovely toes. Each foot is constructed from a stack of three heart-shapes, the biggest near the tip, and from this distal heart sprout two delicate rabbit-ear shaped fingers.
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    • + sohkamyung
    catselbow , to random

    A very handsome beetle (Hippopsis lemniscata) with long, Long, LONG antennae, on a wild onion.

    The same beetle, but now we're looking down on his back, giving us a better view of his lovely stripes, which run from tail to head and are continued by the two long antennae.
    Now we zoom out, so we can see the beetle's antennae in all their long, long glory. They trail down below the insect's body, and are at least four times the body's length! They are spread in a narrow V, and barely turn up at the end.

    A long, thin beetle dressed in conservative stripes of chocolate and sable stands head-down on the on the white, bulbous head and green stem of a wild onion. The beetle's body is covered with soft peach-fuzz fur. Its raspberry eye gleams like polished garnet. A long, segmented antenna emerges from the eye and trails down, down past the bottom of the image. The antenna is brown and ridged, like a twig, and thicker than the beetle's legs.
    ALT
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    • + jencmars
    jencmars ,
    @jencmars@mastodon.art avatar

    @catselbow Antennae for days

    catselbow OP ,

    @jencmars
    Weeks, even.

    catselbow , to random

    #SilentSunday

    We look down on a sunny jumble of light purple flowers (phlox) in full bloom. Each flower is a tiny trumpet with a bell that flares out into a wide flat star made of five pear-shaped petals. The narrow opening of the trumpet is a dark five-pointed-star-shaped void in the center. The petals have a silky texture with delicate ripples and beautiful subtle gradations of color. Sunlight lies lightly on them. They are speckled with barely visible white dots of pollen.
    ALT
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    • catselbow , to random

    Apologies for the poor pictures, but here's a little bee-mimicking robber fly, after and before catching a tiny bee for dinner. I followed this wily hunter around for quite a while, and he wasn't pleased with my interference so he didn't let me get very close.

    The same fly, before he caught his prey. His back is hunched, his legs are extended, and his wings have begun to spread. He stands up tall, watching for his victim.

    An oval green leaf is cantilevered into the image, held up by a thin stem that enters from the bottom left corner. A bee-like fly stands on this elevated platform. The fly has a shiny black body, but its back and face are covered by long shaggy yellow fuzz, some of which sticks far out in front, like a moustache. Impaled on the fly's spiky mouthparts is a small bee that it's just now caught. The fly's transparent brown wings are folded over each other and lying flat on its back. The hind legs are notable for their enormous Popeye-muscled femurs. Let's leave this little hunter to enjoy his hard-won meal.
    ALT
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    • jencmars ,
    @jencmars@mastodon.art avatar

    @catselbow Sorry for the bee, but a cool find!

    catselbow OP ,

    @jencmars
    Thanks!

    catselbow , to random

    A black and white image of the earlier dandelion, this one showing that it still has one seed. I like the way the seed starts with a texture like a spiky punk dog collar and ends with a wispy beaker-from-the-muppets pompom.

    A black and white photo of a blown dandelion seed head. On top is a round white cushion dotted with dark buttons. Hanging below it are long ribbonlike wilted sepals. Intertwined with them is one remaining seed. The seed has a spiky armored tip shaped like a spearpoint that's been hurled at the cushion. A thin curving shaft hangs down from this, ending in a sparse pompom like the skeleton of an inverted umbrella. Below these we see the round smooth stem of the flower descending out of the image.
    ALT
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