View allAll Photos Tagged Cryptic
Cryptic colouring provides the Grayling with excellent camouflage, making it difficult to see when at rest on bare ground, tree trunks, or stones. The wings are kept closed when not in flight and the forewings are usually tucked behind the hind wings, concealing the eyespots and making the butterfly appear smaller.
This male was one of many Grayling seen on heathland in Surrey.
I took this photo five years ago and have no memory of it. I also have no idea what it is, but I kind of like it.
Bill Tutte Memorial, Newmarket, High Street, Suffolk.
This memorial is a composition of Harry Gray and Ramon Keeley. It was unveiled September 2014 in Newmarket were Tutte was born.
Wikipedia: William Thomas "Bill" Tutte, May 14, 1917 – May 2, 2002, was a british codebreaker and mathematician. During WWII, he made a brilliant and fundamental advance in cryptanalysis of the Lorenz cipher, a major Nazi German cipher system which was used for top-secret communications within the Wehrmacht High Command.
Cryptic Wood Whites against a dark background. The grass they were perched on moved quite a bit in the breeze and allowed me to get some nice backgrounds.
Upper Texas Coast
An American Bittern, master of camouflage, blends into its surroundings early one foggy morning down on the Upper Texas Coast.
The Green and Yampa Rivers meet on the eastern side of Echo Rock or Steamboat Rock, beneath a panel of desert varnish in Echo Park, Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado. The Green is agains the Rock, and it is constrained to a width of only 40 feet-- it flows through the immense Canyon Lodore at the center of the frame. The Yampa is much wider here, more than 100 feet across, and it flows through an incredibly sinuous, deep canyon to the right edge of the frame.
At this time of year, the flow of the Green is more than 10 times that of the Yampa (300 cubic meters per second versus 20 or 25). Although the water colors cannot be seen in this light, the Green is indeed green, and the Yampa is somewhat muddy.
A beaver lives in the riverbank to the right, in a quiet, shallow lagoon protected by the sandspit.
The Green River continues many miles to its confluence with the Colorado River in Canyonlands National Park in Utah.
© All my photographs are Copyrighted and All Rights Reserved! The may not be used or reproduced in any way without my explicit written permission!
Bush crickets have some of the most incredible camouflage. It's almost unbelievable how some species, such as this one, look exactly like they have lichens/moss growing on them. Once they become adults and develop wings, they they take on a fresh disguise, almost perfectly mimicking leaves.
Location: Cusuco National Park, Sierra del Merendón, Honduras, Central America
This note was left on my monitor at work. I think the cleaning lady is responsible. The note is extremely hard to read. Can you decipher the secret message?
As late summer transitions to early fall the yellows of golden rods (Solidago spp.) begins to paint roadsides, pastures, and fallow fields. I visited several patches of these lovely plants at the onset of last fall, and found that they were almost always swarming with pollinators. The presence of so many nectar seeking insects invariably attracts predators. By mid-September nearly every goldenrod plant had at least one jagged ambush bug (Phymata sp.). I really liked this image that I captured of one of these ambush bugs that had captured a sweat bee (Lasioglossum sp.). I spotted the bee first, and it took a moment to spot the predator. I think this image shows off its incredible camouflage. This ended up being one of my favorite images of 2024.
The Comma is a fascinating butterfly. The scalloped edges and cryptic colouring of the wings conceal hibernating adults amongst dead leaves, while the larvae, flecked with brown and white markings, bear close resemblance to bird droppings.
The species has a flexible life cycle, which allows it to capitalize on favourable weather conditions. However, the most remarkable feature of the Comma has been its severe decline in the twentieth century and subsequent comeback. It is now widespread in southern Britain and its range is expanding northwards. butterfly-conservation .org
With their unbelievably cryptic coloration, I thought spy-like is a good way to describe their hunting style. So quiet, secretive, well hidden and stealthy. It's always nice when you spot a special bird and have to move the lens in instead of out!
American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) AMBI
Member of the Nature’s Spirit
Good Stewards of Nature
Cryptic colouring provides the Grayling with excellent camouflage, making it difficult to see when at rest on bare ground, tree trunks, or stones. The wings are kept closed when not in flight. This male was seen on a moorland track in Devon.
Cryptic Honeyeater (Meliphaga imitatrix), Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge, Tablelands, Queensland, Australia
Ebird checklist:
ebird.org/checklist/S112643762
The cryptic honeyeater (Microptilotis imitatrix), also known as the imitatress honeyeater, is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is found in northeastern Queensland in Australia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical mangrove forest.
Source: Wikipedia
This bush cricket's camouflage blows me away. I cant get over how it looks like moss/lichen is growing on the insect, and the leaf-like projection from the thorax is simply incredible. Anyone have an idea about the ID???
Location: Cusuco National Park, Sierra del Merendón, Honduras, Central America
This is a running crab spider (Philodromus spp.) of some kind! I barely spotted this fella sheltering from the rain under a leaf on my fig tree (Ficus carica spp. 'Brown Turkey'). It took a bit of finagling and yoga, but I eventually got a pretty good keeper!
Unlike the American Green Crab Spider (Misumessus oblongus), this guy's species chose to opt for cryptic camouflage, a fancy term for the mottled look he has going on. However, if you look close, his second set of legs is drastically longer than the rest. He also has his eyes on a slight "turret", another stereotypical feature of crab spiders! So, despite looking like exact opposites, these two species are cousins.
This guy (as evidenced by the slightly swollen terminal ends of the pedipalps) was intent to stay hidden, and moved around a bit while I set up my chair. I tried to get a shot at 1.54:1, but the rain meant working distance was more important than resolution. Once I removed the extensions and backed off a bit, the rain quit pelting my camera and I felt better about taking a shot or twenty.
I love how "sprawled out" the crab spiders look. It makes for a rather imposing silhouette, and a genuinely aggressive looking creature at any magnification. ESPECIALLY up close at 1:1. However, they are not medically significant, and are much more likely to hightail it away than to go on the offensive. Overall, a beneficial predator, and a welcome guest on my fig tree. His rent will be all the aphids he can eat, and in exchange I will check on him daily until he moves on to find greener pastures and a female!
This shot was captured with my Vivitar (Komine) 90mm f2.8 Macro in 1:1. This photo is uncropped. This cryptically camouflaged creature is around 9mm long, but has a leg span pushing 25mm or so (just around an inch)!!!
I was up before the sun to catch the dawn, and that worked well. Now I was sitting beside my tent with a cup of coffee, enjoying the early light. I only noticed it because it because it moved. So I got the camera and took this shot lying down. A small (just over an inch long) cryptic praying mantis. Shot near 50 Mile Mountain, Grand Staircase of the Escalante National Monument.
Island Of Madagascar
Off the East Coast of Africa
Palmarium Reserve
Our guide had to show us where this chameleon was at the reserve. We could not have found it on our own.
Calumma crypticum, commonly known as the cryptic chameleon, is a species of chameleon found in Madagascar.
The species is endemic to Madagascar and has a broad latitudinal distribution between the Anosy Mountains in the south and the Tsaratanana Massif in the north.
It is a forest chameleon that occurs in mid-altitudes between 1,050 and 1,850 m elevation, where it appears to be more abundant in semi-open areas associated with trails, gaps and rivers.
Pieridae
From Butterfly Conservation:
Within the UK, the Cryptic Wood White only occurs in Northern Ireland. It was discovered to be different from the Wood White in 2001 and, more recently, its identification was changed again to this new name. The Wood White is very similar, but seems to be restricted to the Burren region in Ireland.
The upperwings are white with rounded edges. The males have a black mark in the edge of the forewing. The undersides are white, with indistinct grey or greenish markings.
Size and Family
Family: Whites and yellows
Size: Medium
Wing Span Range (male to female): 42mm
Conservation Status
Butterfly Conservation priority: Medium
"Look up Wilson’s Warbler in your favorite field guide, and you’ll find a single species, but more and more research suggests that it’s just a matter of time until you see two....nuclear and mitochondrial DNA analysis performed in 2011 revealed strong differences between the eastern subspecies and its two western counterparts but only subtle differences between the western pair. The genetics led the researchers to suggest that the two groups were cryptic species — that is, distinct species that have been hidden, erroneously, under one species name."birdwatchingdaily.com
A bird which is very similar both to the Lewin's and the Yellow-spotted Honeyeaters but a smaller bird, more curve in the bill and a rounder ear patch. Was known as Graceful Honeyeater which is now a separate species.
A portrait of a small (barely 1 cm. long) grasshopper nymph in the Mojave Desert. I love cryptic creatures - these grasshoppers are essentially invisible on the desert sand unless they jump.