View allAll Photos Tagged Cryptic
Metroline ST812 blinded for Cricklewood route 168 (on a Holloway bus!) at a misty Barnet Hospital on route to the Potters bar Open Day 2016.
Cryptic Dead Leaf Mantis (Deroplatys lobata?) we found at night. Selangor, Malaysia.
More mantids of Malaysia: orionmystery.blogspot.com/2012/03/mantis.html
Found this cryptic and fine mantid (ca 32mm long, Sibylla pretiosa, Sibyllidae, Mantodea) in the miombo forests of Mikembo sanctuary (DR Congo, Katanga, 35km NE of Lubumbashi, January 2015). I actually disturbed it, otherwise I wouldn't have seen it.
Fieldstack (late afternoon) based on 42 exposures, assembled in Zerene Stacker (mostly Dmap, Pmax). In spite of the dropping temperatures still lots of fine movements in front legs and upper body ... so it's a seriously retouched image.
Canon 5D mkii, EF 100mm macro f/2.8L IS USM, ISO-100, f/5, -1step, 1/2s, natural light, evening light. Magnification close to 1x (on ff).
Western Toad
Las Virgenes Canyon, 7 months after containment of the Woolsey Fire
It was so good to see some amphibian survivors of the fire. The area in which these amphibians were found was completely decimated during the fire. Where once there was almost always a small perennial pond surrounded by a stand of trees and thick vegetation, there was nothing left but charred dirt. Since the fire, the pond has returned and there is a bit of shrubbery though the trees are gone.
A cryptic viper in Malaysia but apparently not so rare in southern Thailand.
Location: Kedah, Malaysia
Malay: Ular Kapak Hidung Pipih
Length: About 30 cm.
Description: David, Vogel, Vijayakumar, & Vidal (2006).
Color difference: Male are more greenish/olive dirty brown while female are more orange-brown
Synonyms: Trimeresurus wiroti
Male:
The body background colour is olive-greenish brown, dark greyish-brown or dark yellowish-grey, with about 22–35 large, dorsolateral dark brown, dark reddish-brown, dark
purple brown or dark greyish-brown blotches; between the blotches, the background colour is often darker than on the sides of body, with scales heavily powdered with dark
grey or dark brown dots or marked with small, irregular, dark blotches and with lighter irregular dots giving a confused pattern but not “ashy” like in T. puniceus; the large
dorsolateral blotches are irregular in shape, subrectangular or more or less constricted in their middle, reaching down the 6th or 7th DSR, with below an irregular, elongated blotches
of same colour separated from the main blotch by a lighter coloration; the centre of the upper dorsolateral blotches is somewhat lighter, their edge more or less darker, often with
white or cream dots, producing the “saddle-like” pattern depicted in Hoge & Romano (1974); the blotches are usually separated at the level of their upper part; blotches of both
sides of body may be either fused or alternate, with all intermediates between perfect opposition and total alternation; on the tips of ventrals and on the 1st DSR, a series of dark, elongated ventrolateral blotches, more or less irregular. The tail surface is usually of the same colour than the dorsolateral blotches, usually dark brown or dark reddish-brown, with pale greyish-brown or yellowish-brown rings, often edged with cream; the last third or so of the tail is entirely paler reddish-brown or yellowish-brown.
Female:
Females, the sides of the head are heavily powdered with minute black dots; a more or less distinct, more or less wide orange-brown, pale reddish-brown or yellowish-ochre postocular streak extending on upper temporals from the eye to the corner of the mouth in widening progressively before vanishing in general body colour; the postocular streak is edged below with a dark streak of same colour than upper head surface, itself sometimes but not necessarily edged with a short area of paler hue below at the limit of the throat and the edge of the supralabials. Eyes are golden, yellowish-brown or brownish-grey, more or less dark.
www.researchgate.net/publication/233832989_A_revision_of_...
They have unusual leaf-like femoral projections near the joints of their four walking legs. Adults are distinguished from most other mantis species by their leaf-like wings, generally the only green portion of the mantis's otherwise brown and mottled exoskeleton. The thorax of the cryptic mantis is very thin and elongated, similar to that of the wandering violin mantis, Gongylus gongylodes. Adult females generally reach 5–6 cm (2.0–2.4 in) in length, while the males are generally about 1 cm (0.4 in) smaller. The lifespan of the wild cryptic mantis is unknown, but they have been known to live up to nine months in captivity (wild mantises likely live slightly longer, a year and a few months).
I call it the Exam-butterfly. Every year, it just starts to hatch out when my exams are imminent, which is of course the worst possible time, as I have to choose between going out and seeing these, and studying for exams. Hard choice, eh?
wink emoticon
Its real name is the Cryptic Wood White (Leptidea juvernica), a small, delicate butterfly found in Ireland but not in Great Britain. It's a frail thing; a light breeze will keep it down sheltering in the grasses; and when it does fly in the sunshine, it does so with a slow floppy character as though its wings were made of cherry petals.
I am fortunate enough to have a small, newly formed colony of these in the field where I live - they only survive in good quality unimproved grassland. The weather didn't seem to know what to do today, one minute raining, the next sunny; sometimes both at once. This made for nice conditions to photograph this female CWW on an old dandelion seedhead.
A cryptic orthoperan from the rainforests of Sumatra (kindly identified as belonging to the Chorotypidae by Artour_A).
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.
Here are two shots of a tiny Crab Spider (Thomisidae) with cryptic colors that I found on a dandelion-like seedhead of native (but weedy) Telegraph Weed (Heterotheca grandiflora, Asteraceae) along the road in the canyon today. It's really tiny, just 580 pixels in these 1:1 macro shots, which comes to 2.3 mm - less than 1/10 inch. (See here for how I figure.) This is not one of the flower-loving Mecaphesa spiders that I've been showing lately, but something else. It might be a Ground Crab Spider in the genus Xysticus, but I think it's more likely genus Ozyptila. (And that's not to mention genera Coriarachne and Bassaniana!) It has stubby front legs with just two spines (I think) on the first tibia. Whatever it is, it's a surprising spider, so tiny! Arachtober 21a. (San Marcos Pass, 21 October 2019)
his series is especially for new SL sailors, and a free boat–the brand new Bandit 22 LTE–will be provided for eligible sailors! You won’t be on the course with folks who’ve been here before, so come out and have a really fun time! You must visit this page and download the Notice of Race, SL Racing Rules and the Course Map. Then contact Rei Inoue, Analyse Dean or Cryptic Resident inworld to sign up! SPECATORS Teleport Here
Production photograph for Cryptic's Orlando, which was performed this year at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This image was the publicity photograph for its performances in Glasgow and Edinburgh last year. My other work in theatre and opera can be seen collected in this set.
Glasgow, 2011.