Wilderness Portraits by Lloyd Paul Aiello

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  • A purple Sea Fan (Gorgonia ventalina) graces the top of a coral head covered in the red encrusting sponge Clathria (Microciona) spinose at a depth of 47 feet off the Riviera Maya in the Gulf of Mexico. Although they may look like plants, both sea fans and sponges are colonial marine animals.  Sea Fans are salt water invertebrates and belong to the order Alcyonacea.  Closely related to corals, they are found throughout the tropical and subtropical oceans of the world. They mostly prefer shallow waters with constant current, but have been found several thousand feet deep.  Each gorgonian polyp has eight tentacles which catch the plankton upon which they feed.  To facilitate this “filter feeding”, the "fan" is always oriented across the prevailing current to maximize the water flow and food supplied to the gorgonian. Sponges are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through them.  There are 5,000 to 10,000 known species of sponges.  Sponges do not have nervous, digestive or circulatory systems, relying instead on a constant water flow through their bodies to obtain food and oxygen and to remove wastes.
    P4100126-2-Edit-sea-fan-red-sponge.tif
  • A mini Cattleya Laleliocattleya hybrid orchid bloomed by the photographer.  Cattleya is a genus of 113 species of orchids found from Costa Rica to tropical South America, growing throughout the Amazon region and to the south of Brazil..  The cattleya  is an epiphyte (air plant), which stores water in expanded stems called pseudobulbs. <br />
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The genus was named in 1824 by John Lindley after Sir William Cattley who was the first to bloom a specimen of Cattleya labiata. William Swainson had discovered the new plant in Pernambuco, Brazil, in 1817 and shipped it to the Glasgow Botanic Gardens for identification.  Later, Swainson requested that a few plants be sent to Cattley who was able to bloom one a full year before the plants in Glasgow. It would be another 70 years before a Cattleya would be rediscovered in the wild because of a mixup in the assumed location of the plants. <br />
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Cattleya are widely known for their large, showy flowers. The flowers of the hybrids can vary in size from 2 - 6 inches (5 -15 cm). They occur in all colors except true blue and black.  Cattleya have been hybridized for more than a century.  Beeding Cattleya with Laelia produces Laleliocattleya  and results in a more elongated closed "cone" that gracefully opens into the full lip of the blossom.  Laelia also contributes to the intense violet shade.
    _LPA7239-orchid-flower-cattleya-bloo...tif
  • An American mink defiantly protects its recent catch of a meadow vole alongside the marsh at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.<br />
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The American mink (Neovison vison) is native to North America, although its range has spread to many parts of Europe and South America. Since the extinction of the sea mink, the American mink is the only living member of the genus Neovison. The American mink is a carnivore that feeds on rodents, fish, crustaceans, frogs, and birds. It kills vertebrate prey by biting the back of the head or neck as seen in this photograph.  The meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus) captured here, is one of the American mink’s primary food sources throughout its range including Canada, Alaska, and the northern United States.<br />
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The American mink has a long body which allows the species to enter the burrows of prey. Its streamlined shape helps it to reduce water resistance when swimming and the thick underfur and oily guard hairs render its coat water-resistant.  In warm water (24 °C or 75 °F), the American mink can swim for three hours without stopping.  However, in cold water it can die within 27 minutes. It generally dives to depths of 12 in (30 cm) for 10 seconds, though depths of 3 m lasting 60 seconds have been recorded. It typically catches fish after five- to 20-second chases.  American mink molt twice a year, in spring and autumn.  The fur does not turn white in winter.<br />
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Males measure 13–18 in (34–45 cm) in body length, while females measure 12–15 in (31–37.5 cm). The tail measures 6–10 inches (15.6–24.7 cm) in males and 6–8 in (14.8–21.5 cm) in females. In winter, males weigh 1–3 lb (500–1,580 g) and females 1–2 lb (400–780 g).  Maximum weight is achieved in autumn.<br />
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The summer fur is generally shorter, sparser and duller than the winter fur.[11] The thick underfur and oily guard hairs render the pelage water-resistant, with the length of the guard hairs being intermediate between those of otters and polecats, thus ind
    _LPA7599-Edit-american-mink-meadow-v...tif
  • A Christmas Tree Worm (Spirobranchus giganteus) extends its two “crowns” 49 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Riviera Maya. Christmas tree worms are widely distributed throughout the world's tropical oceans, residing from the Caribbean to the Indo-Pacific.  The two Christmas tree-shaped multicolored spiral “crowns” per worm that protrude from the tube-like body are mouth appendages highly specialized for both feeding and respiration. These animals possess a complete digestive system, a well-developed closed circulatory system, and a nervous system with a central brain and many supporting ganglia.  The worms have two eyes that can detect light which are tucked under the crowns.  These adaptations allow Christmas tree worms to rapidly retract their crowns into their burrows at any sign of danger.  Interestingly, the nerves from these eyes do not go to the usual section of the brain associated with vision, and the light-sensitive proteins in the eyes called opsins are not the typical eye variety.  Christmas tree worms come in a wide variety of bright colors and are generally about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) in length.
    P4131263-2-Edit-christmas-tree-worm-...tif
  • A Christmas Tree Worm (Spirobranchus giganteus) buried within Brain Coral (Diploria strigose) extends its two “crowns” 45 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Riviera Maya. Christmas tree worms are widely distributed throughout the world's tropical oceans, residing from the Caribbean to the Indo-Pacific.  The two Christmas tree-shaped multicolored spiral “crowns” per worm that protrude from the tube-like body are mouth appendages highly specialized for both feeding and respiration. These animals possess a complete digestive system, a well-developed closed circulatory system, and a nervous system with a central brain and many supporting ganglia.  The worms have two eyes that can detect light which are tucked under the crowns.  The eyes can be partially seen in this image as two brighter red oblong structures between the crowns at their base.  These adaptations allow Christmas tree worms to rapidly retract their crowns into their burrows at any sign of danger.  Interestingly, the nerves from these eyes do not go to the usual section of the brain associated with vision, and the light-sensitive proteins in the eyes called opsins are not the typical eye variety.  Christmas tree worms come in a wide variety of bright colors and are generally about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) in length.
    P4120992-2-Editchristmas-tree-worm-b...tif
  • An American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) remains so motionless among the arrowhead plants (Sagittaria sp.) while hunting in a Florida marsh that a fly has landed and is walking across the Alligator’s nose. The American Alligator is the largest reptile in North America and is endemic to the southeastern United States ranging from Texas to North Carolina.  Adults can be up to 16 feet long (5 m) and can weigh 1,320 pounds (600 kg).  They will prey on anything that comes in or near the water including documented successful attacks on fish, turtles, crabs, birds, muskrats, racoons, dogs, cats, wild boars, bobcats, deer, calves and humans.  They will also eat fruit.  Adult alligators also spend considerable time hunting on land, up to 170 feet (50 m) from water, ambushing terrestrial animals on trail-sides and road shoulders. Such terrestrial hunting generally occurs on warm nights.  The alligator is capable of biting though a turtle's shell or a moderately sized mammal bone.  American alligators have been documented to use lures to hunt birds.  By balancing sticks and branches on their heads, American alligators are able to lure, catch and consume birds looking for suitable nesting material. During the breeding season, alligators bellow to declare territory and locate suitable mates, with males using infrasound to attract females. From 20 – 50 eggs are laid in a nest of vegetation, sticks, leaves, and mud in a sheltered spot in or near the water. Those eggs which are hatched at a temperature of 93 °F (34 °C) or more become males, while those at experiencing temperatures of 86 °F  (30 °C) or lower become female. Young are born with yellow bands around their bodies and are protected by their mother for up to one year.  Young alligators grow 3 - 8 inches (7.6 - 20.3 cm) a year and reach adulthood at 6 ft (1.8 m).
    _LPA6052-Edit-american-alligator-fly...tif
  • A Blue Striped Grunt (Haemulon sciurus) passes over a head of Brain Coral (Diploria strigose) 45 feet (14 m) below the Gulf of Mexico off the Riviera Maya.  The Blue Striped Grunt was first described by the English naturalist George Shaw in 1803 and is native to the western Atlantic Ocean ranging from Florida, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean down to Brazil.  The Blue Striped Grunt can travel in schools of up to 1,000 individuals.  The fish commonly grows to a length 10 inches (25 cm,) attaining a maximum recorded length of 18 inches (46 cm) and maximum reported age of 12 years. These grunts can weigh up to 1.6 pounds (750 grams).   The name Blue Striped Grunt is derived from its blue stripes and its habit of grunting underwater by grinding its pharyngeal teeth and having the swim bladder act as a resonator which amplifies the sound.  Its diet consists mainly of shrimp, annelids, bivalves, and crustaceans.
    P4100296-2-Edit-vlue-striped-grunt-f...tif
  • Although not a true spider, Daddy longlegs (order Opiliones) go by many names including harvestman, cellar spiders, granddaddy long-legs, carpenter spider, daddy long-legger, vibrating spider and skull spider.  Daddy longlegs are closely related to scorpions (order Scorpiones) but, because of their appearance, are often mistaken as spiders (order Araneida or Araneae). However, unlike true spiders, in which the body is divided into two distinct segments, daddy longlegs look as though they have only one segment because of a broad fusion that makes the juncture between the two segments almost indiscernible.  They are widely distributed and abundant in both temperate and tropical climates of both hemispheres.<br />
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The body of a daddy longlegs is 0.6 to 23 mm (0.02 to 0.9 inch) long, although the bodies of most species are between 3 and 7 mm (0.12 and 0.28 inch). The legs can exceed 15 cm (5.9 inches) in length.  Many species of daddy longlegs are omnivorous, feeding on small insects, mites, spiders, snails, and vegetable matter.  Daddy longlegs typically have two eyes located on a central knob on the front of the body although certain types lack eyes. Eggs are laid in the soil in autumn and hatch with the warmth of spring. Many species of daddy longlegs live less than one year, although some may survive for several years.<br />
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This individual was photographed on a screen door retroilluminated by the early morning sunlight where over 100 daddy longlegs had congregated to feed on small insects attracted to a nearby light left on overnight.
    _1LA9448-Edit-daddy-longlegs-spider-...tif
  • A young Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) fledgling begs for food at the edge of Halycon Lake in Mount Auburn Cemetery. <br />
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The red-winged blackbird is found throughout most of North and much of Central America. It breeds from Alaska and Newfoundland south to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, and Guatemala, with isolated populations in western El Salvador, northwestern Honduras, and northwestern Costa Rica. It may winter as far north as Pennsylvania and British Columbia, but northern populations are generally migratory, moving south to Mexico and the southern United States. <br />
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The red-winged blackbird has been considered the most abundant living land bird in North America, with more than a million birds per flock and the total number of breeding pairs across North and Central America exceeding 250 million in peak years. <br />
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The red-winged blackbird is sexually dimorphic with the male being all black with a red shoulder and yellow wing bar, while the female is a nondescript dark brown. Red-winged blackbirds are polygynous, with territorial males defending up to 10 females. Seeds and insects make up the bulk of the red-winged blackbird's diet.<br />
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Male red-wing blackbirds grow to 22–24 cm (8.7–9.4 in) long and weigh 64 g (2.3 oz).  Females are smaller.  They build their nests in cattails, rushes, grasses, sedge, or in alder or willow bushes. The nest is constructed entirely by the female over the course of three to six days. A clutch consists of three or four, rarely five, eggs. Eggs are oval, smooth and slightly glossy, and measure 24.8 mm × 17.55 mm (0.976 in × 0.691 in). They are incubated by the female alone, and hatch in 11 to 12 days both blind and naked.  However, they are ready to leave the nest 11 to 14 days after hatching.
    _LPA0987-Edit-red-winged-blackbird-f...tif
  • A Blue Striped Grunt (Haemulon sciurus) passes over a head of Brain Coral (Diploria strigose) 45 feet (14 m) below the Gulf of Mexico off the Riviera Maya.  The Blue Striped Grunt was first described by the English naturalist George Shaw in 1803 and is native to the western Atlantic Ocean ranging from Florida, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean down to Brazil.  The Blue Striped Grunt can travel in schools of up to 1,000 individuals.  The fish commonly grows to a length 10 inches (25 cm,) attaining a maximum recorded length of 18 inches (46 cm) and maximum reported age of 12 years. These grunts can weigh up to 1.6 pounds (750 grams).   The name Blue Striped Grunt is derived from its blue stripes and its habit of grunting underwater by grinding its pharyngeal teeth and having the swim bladder act as a resonator which amplifies the sound.  Its diet consists mainly of shrimp, annelids, bivalves, and crustaceans.
    P4100295-2-Edit-blue-striped-grunt-f...tif
  • This Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon) is hunting along the edges of a marsh in Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, Massachusetts. This a large, nonvenomous, common water snake native to North America and can grow up to 135 cm (4 ft 5 in) in total length. In the wild, adult females generally weigh between 158.9 and 408 g (5.61 and 14.39 oz) while the smaller male averages from 80.8 to 151 g (2.85 to 5.33 oz). The largest females can weigh up to 560 g (20 oz) while the largest males can weigh 370 g (13 oz). The coloration of the Northern Water Snake is quite variable (brown, gray, reddish, or brownish-black) and they darken with age. Some individuals, as shown here, can become almost completely black. The belly of this snake also varies in color including white, yellow, or gray - usually with reddish or black crescents.<br />
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The Northern Water Snake is found throughout eastern and central North America, from southern Ontario and southern Quebec in the north, to Texas and Florida in the south.  They are active during the day and at night. During the day, they hunt among plants at the water's edge, looking for small fish, frogs, worms, leeches, crayfish, salamanders, small birds and mammals. At night, they concentrate on minnows and other small fish sleeping in shallow water. They hunt using both smell and sight.
    _LPA0789-Edit-northern-water-snake-t...tif
  • This eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus) built its home below a sewer grate in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.  They generally construct underground nests with extensive tunnel systems, and several entrances.  To hide the construction of its burrow, the eastern chipmunk carries soil away from its hole in its cheek pouches.  <br />
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The eastern chipmunk is the sole living member of the chipmunk subgenus Tamias, and is found only in eastern North America.  The name "chipmunk" is derived from the Algonquian language meaning “one who descends trees headlong.”  <br />
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The eastern chipmunk reaches 30 cm (12 in) in length including the tail, with a weight of 66–150 g (2.3–5.3 oz).  Interestingly, it has two fewer teeth than other chipmunks and four toes each on the front legs, but five toes on each of the hind legs.  They are mainly active during the day, consuming bulbs, seeds, fruits, nuts, green plants, mushrooms, insects, worms, and bird eggs.  <br />
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The eastern chipmunk leads a solitary life, except during mating season. Females usually produce one or two litters of three to five young, usually from February to April and/or June to August. On average, eastern chipmunks live three or more years in the wild, although in captivity they may live up to eight years.
    _LPA0849-Edit-eastern-striped-chipmu...tif
  • An American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) waits motionless in a small pond completely covered in Duckweed (Lemnaceae) in hopes of catching a small fly (Drosophilidae) walking along the edge of its mouth.  <br />
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The bullfrog is native to eastern North America with a natural range from the Atlantic Coast to as far west as Oklahoma and Kansas.  However, it has been introduced elsewhere where it is considered an invasive species, including Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Mexico, Canada, Cuba, Jamaica, Italy, Netherlands, France, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela, Colombia, China, South Korea and Japan.  In some areas, the bullfrog is used as a food source.  <br />
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Bullfrogs are voracious, ambush predators that eat any small animal they can stuff down their throats. Bullfrog stomachs have been found to contain rodents, reptiles, amphibians, crayfish, birds, bats, fish, tadpoles, snails and their usual food – insects.  Bullfrogs are able to jump a distance 10x their body length.  The female lays up to 20,000 eggs at a time that form a thin, floating sheet which may cover an area of 0.5 -1 m2 (5.4 - 10.8 sq ft). The embryos hatch in 3 - 5 days. Time to metamorphize into an adult frog ranges from a few months in the southern part of their range to 3 years in the north where the colder water slows development.  Maximum lifespan in the wild is 8 - 10 years, but one bullfrog lived for almost 16 years in captivity.<br />
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Duckweed (Lemnoideae) are small flowering aquatic plants which float on or just beneath the surface of still or slow-moving bodies of fresh water. These plants lack obvious stems or leaves, and depending on the species, each plant may have no root or one or more simple rootlets.  Reproduction is mostly by asexual budding, however, occasionally three tiny flowers are produced for sexual reproduction.  The flower of the duckweed measures a mere 0.3 mm (1/100th of an inch) long.<br />
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The fly escaped unharmed.
    _LPA8258-Edit-bullfrog-frog-fly-duck...tif
  • An American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) reveals only a heart-shaped head through a carpet of Duckweed (Lemnaceae) completely covering a small pond.<br />
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The bullfrog is native to eastern North America with a natural range from the Atlantic Coast to as far west as Oklahoma and Kansas.  However, it has been introduced elsewhere where it is considered an invasive species, including Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Mexico, Canada, Cuba, Jamaica, Italy, Netherlands, France, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela, Colombia, China, South Korea and Japan.  In some areas, the bullfrog is used as a food source.  <br />
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Bullfrogs are voracious, ambush predators that eat any small animal they can stuff down their throats. Bullfrog stomachs have been found to contain rodents, reptiles, amphibians, crayfish, birds, bats, fish, tadpoles, snails and their usual food – insects.  Bullfrogs are able to jump a distance 10x their body length.  The female lays up to 20,000 eggs at a time that form a thin, floating sheet which may cover an area of 0.5 -1 m2 (5.4 - 10.8 sq ft). The embryos hatch in 3 - 5 days. Time to metamorphize into an adult frog ranges from a few months in the southern part of their range to 3 years in the north where the colder water slows development.  Maximum lifespan in the wild is 8 - 10 years, but one bullfrog lived for almost 16 years in captivity.<br />
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Duckweed (Lemnoideae) are small flowering aquatic plants which float on or just beneath the surface of still or slow-moving bodies of fresh water. These plants lack obvious stems or leaves, and depending on the species, each plant may have no root or one or more simple rootlets.  Reproduction is mostly by asexual budding, however, occasionally three tiny flowers are produced for sexual reproduction.  The flower of the duckweed measures a mere 0.3 mm (1/100th of an inch) long.
    _LPA0970-Edit-american-bullfrog-hear...tif
  • A bumblebee (genus Bombus) wing is highlighted against the bright yellow blooms of a flowering Goldenrod (Solidago) plant.  Goldenrod belongs to a genus of about 100 species in the aster family which are mostly native to North America. Bumblebees, like their relatives the honeybees, feed on nectar using a long hairy proboscis which is folded under the head during flight. Over 250 species of bumblebee are known, being found primarily at higher altitudes or latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, although they are also found in South America.<br />
Short and stubby, with small wings, the bumblebee doesn't look very flight-worthy and indeed, in the 1930s the French entomologist August Magnan wrote that the insect's flight is actually impossible, a notion that has stuck in popular consciousness since then.<br />
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However, the question of how these little wings generate enough force to keep the insect in the air has been mostly resolved.  In 2005, a study by Dr. Michael Dickinson in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences used high-speed photography of actual flying bees and force sensors on a larger-than-life robotic bee wing flapping in mineral oil. The solution became apparent after it was discovered that bumblebees don’t flap their wings up and down, they actually flap their wings back and forth.<br />
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The aerodynamics of bumblebee flight is different from those that allow a plane to fly. For bumblebees it is somewhat like a partial spin of a helicopter propeller.  In addition, the angle of the wings create vortices like small hurricanes that have lower pressure than the surrounding air, and by keeping those eddies above its wings, they help the bee stay aloft.
    _1LA0357-Edit-bumblebee-wing.tif
  • The northern green frog (Lithobates clamitans melanota) is a subspecies of the green frog, Lithobates clamitans and has been introduced to British Columbia.  This frog grows up to 86 mm (3.5 in) and is darker when young.  The northern green frog dwells in marshes, swamps, ponds, lakes, springs, and other aquatic environments. They are active both day and night. This individual was photographed in the Carrabassett River in northern Maine in August.<br />
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The image is a focus stack of 11 handheld exposures.
    _1LA9810-Edit-northern-green-frog-Ki...tif
  • Muhlenbergia capillaris, commonly known as Pink Muhly Grass is a perennial warm-season grass that grows to be about 30–90 cm (0.98–2.95 ft) tall and 60–90 cm (2.0–3.0 ft) wide. The plant flower spikes are double layered with green leaf-like structures and purple-pink flowers that outgrow them from the bottom up in the autumn. The flowers are very feathery and add a cloudlike appearance to the top of the grass. During the summer, the leaves stay green, but during the fall they take on a more copper color. It is native to eastern North America.
    _1LA0605-Edit.tif
  • A fully grown checkerboard wrasse (Halichoeres hortulanus) swims 45 feet below the surface of Ras Muhammad National Park, Red Sea, Egypt.  <br />
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Checkerboard wrasse can reach a maximum length of 27 centimetres (11 inches).  They are native to the Indian and central Pacific Oceans, preferring clear lagoons and seaward reefs at depths of up to 30 meters (100 feet).  Checkerboard wrasse feed on small crabs, shrimp, clams and worms.  Like many other wrasses, the checkerboard wrasse starts life as a female and later becomes male, changing sex at maturity when it is about 12.8 cm (5.0 in) long. It's appearance also changes with age, being white with three black and dark red vertical patches when juvenile.
    Scan-101211-0002-Edit-checkerboard-w...tif
  • An autumn leaf from a nearby Japanese Maple tree (Acer palmatum) rests on the moss covered bark of a Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) in Belmont, Massachusetts.
    _1LA1490-Edit-Japanese-maple-leaf-no...tif
  • An autumn Japanese Maple leaf (Acer palmatum) has fallen on a lichen and moss covered rock in Belmont, Massachusetts.
    _1LA1579-Edit-Japanese-maple-leaf-ro...tif
  • Norway Maple leaves (Acer platanoides) lay scattered upon a bed of moss in Belmont, Massachusetts.
    _1LA1582-Edit-leaves-moss-Norway-map...tif
  • Three autumn leaves from a nearby Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) have fallen onto the moss covered trunk of a Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) in Belmont, Massachusetts.  Moments later, a breeze blew the leaves off the trunk.
    _1LA1505-Edit-Japanese-maple-leaf-ba...tif
  • An autumn Japanese Maple Leaf (Acer palmatum) has fallen on a lichen and moss covered rock in Belmont, Massachusetts.
    _1LA1556-Edit-square-leaf-maple-japa...tif
  • A yellow Norway Maple leaf (Acer platanoides) has fallen onto a bed of moss in Belmont, Massachusetts.
    _1LA1595-Edit-leaf-maple-yellow-moss...tif
  • A grasshopper sits on a young girl's shoulder as they gaze out over Boysen Reservior near Shoshoni, Wyoming.
    _LPA0293-Edit-girl-grasshopper-wyomi...tif
  • The Coney (Cephalopholis fulva) is found from Bermuda and South Carolina to southern Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and Atol das Rocas.  They are common in the Caribbean and less common in southern Florida and the Bahamas. <br />
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The Coney weighs about a pound (0.5 kg), although occasionally it can weigh as much as 3 pounds (1.4 kg). Their average length is 6 to 10 inches (15-25 cm), with a maximum length of 16 inches (41 cm).  Coney’s feed primarily on small fish and crustaceans. <br />
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As with many other groupers, the females transform into males when they reach about 8 inches (20 cm). The Coney also has many color phases including a common phase shown here, a bicolor phase in which the upper body is dark and the lower body is pale, and a bright yellow phase with few spots.
    P4120902-2-Edit-coney-coral-fish-spo...tif
  • The spotted moray (Gymnothorax moringa) is a medium sized moray eel also referred to as conger, spotted eel, red moray, speckled moray, white cong, white-jawed moray, and white-chinned moray. Spotted moray eels are commonly 24 inches (60 cm) in length but can grow to more than 6.5 feet (2 m) and weigh 5.5 pounds (2.5 kg).  They inhabit the western Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina and Bermuda to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. They are also found around the mid- and eastern Atlantic islands as far south as St Helena.   Although spotted moray eels have been reported as deep at 660 feet (200 m), this individual is hiding 54 feet below the surface off the Riviera Maya in the Gulf of Mexico. Spotted morays are solitary animals, and usually hide in narrow crevices and holes in reef structures with only their heads peeking out as shown here.  They have double rows of teeth and are active during the day, feeding on crustaceans and fish at or near the sea bottom. Their bite can cause damage due to the rearward slanting teeth and potential toxins that may be released into the wound.
    P4110585-2-Edit-spotted-moray-eel.tif
  • The spotted moray (Gymnothorax moringa) is a medium sized moray eel also referred to as conger, spotted eel, red moray, speckled moray, white cong, white-jawed moray, and white-chinned moray. Spotted moray eels are commonly 24 inches (60 cm) in length but can grow to more than 6.5 feet (2 m) and weigh 5.5 pounds (2.5 kg).  They inhabit the western Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina and Bermuda to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. They are also found around the mid- and eastern Atlantic islands as far south as St Helena.   Although spotted moray eels have been reported as deep at 660 feet (200 m), this individual is hiding 54 feet below the surface off the Riviera Maya in the Gulf of Mexico. Spotted morays are solitary animals, and usually hide in narrow crevices and holes in reef structures with only their heads peeking out as shown here.  They have double rows of teeth and are active during the day, feeding on crustaceans and fish at or near the sea bottom. Their bite can cause damage due to the rearward slanting teeth and potential toxins that may be released into the wound.
    P4110582-2-Edit-spotted-moray-eel.tif
  • This Banded Butterflyfish (Chaetodon striatus) is passing through a Slimy Sea Plume  (Pseudopterygorgia Americana) at 52 feet below the surface of the Riviera Maya in the Gulf of Mexico.   The banded butterflyfish is found in tropical waters of the western Atlantic Ocean from Brazil to Bermuda. The name is derived from the dark vertical bands on the fish's body and the vertical black bar through the eye.  These markings disrupt the outline of the body and act as an efficient antipredator adaptation.  The banded butterflyfish diet consists mainly of small invertebrates, crustaceans, coral polyps, polychaete worms and various eggs. Sometimes they will even act as a cleaning fish and remove external parasites from surgeon fish, grunts and parrot fish.
    P4100115-2-Edit-banded-butterfly-fis...tif
  • A Rock Hind (Epinephelus adscensionis) peers from his hiding place in the reef 47 feet below the surface off Riviera Maya in the Gulf of Mexico.   Rock Hinds are widespread in the western Atlantic from Massachusetts to Bermuda, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and southern Brazil. The Rock Hind attains an average length of 14 inches (36 cm), although they have been reported to 24 inches (61cm) and a maximum weight of 9 pounds (4 kg).
    P4100075-2-Edit-rock-hind-fish-mexic...tif
  • A Rock Hind (Epinephelus adscensionis) shows a toothy grin as he peers from his hiding place in the reef 47 feet below the surface off Riviera Maya in the Gulf of Mexico.   Rock Hinds are widespread in the western Atlantic from Massachusetts to Bermuda, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and southern Brazil. The Rock Hind attains an average length of 14 inches (36 cm), although they have been reported to 24 inches (61cm) and a maximum weight of 9 pounds (4 kg).
    P4100073-2-Edit-rock-hind-fish-mexic...tif
  • The Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) is a small shy North American songbird usually less than 5 inches long and with a wingspan of about 6 inches.  It is sometimes called a Long-billed Marsh Wren to distinguish it from the Sedge Wren, also known as Short-billed Marsh Wren. The male's song is a loud gurgle used to declare ownership of territory and they often sing both day and night.
    _LPA0714-marsh-wren-cattail-flying-b...tif
  • An Isabella Tiger Moth (Pyrrharctia isabella) caterpillar searches the bark of a Northern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) in northern Maine for a suitable location in which to pass the winter.  Found throughout North America except in most northern Canada, they will usually settle under a section of tree bark, a rock, or a log where they produce a natural organic antifreeze that permits then to survive cold temperatures as extreme as -90oF!<br />
<br />
The caterpillars have many names: Wooly Worm, Fuzzy Bear, Hedgehog Caterpillar and Woolly Bear. The timing of their travels and their distinctive banded coloration has led to a robust folklore of their being an established predictor of the severity of the winter to come. <br />
<br />
 In fact, the coloration of the Woolly Bear is a result of its age, species and diet.   A more favorable growing season for the caterpillar results in a narrower red-orange middle band.  As the caterpillars molt, their colors change, acquiring more black and less red.
    _LPA7194-Edit-wooly-worm-caterpillar...tif
  • An Isabella Tiger Moth (Pyrrharctia isabella) caterpillar searches the bark of a Northern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) in northern Maine for a suitable location in which to pass the winter.  Found throughout North America except in most northern Canada, they will usually settle under a section of tree bark, a rock, or a log where they produce a natural organic antifreeze that permits then to survive cold temperatures as extreme as -90oF!<br />
<br />
The caterpillars have many names: Wooly Worm, Fuzzy Bear, Hedgehog Caterpillar and Woolly Bear. The timing of their travels and their distinctive banded coloration has led to a robust folklore of their being an established predictor of the severity of the winter to come. <br />
<br />
 In fact, the coloration of the Woolly Bear is a result of its age, species and diet.   A more favorable growing season for the caterpillar results in a narrower red-orange middle band.  As the caterpillars molt, their colors change, acquiring more black and less red.
    _LPA7170-Edit-wooly-worm-caterpillar...tif
  • The colors of Eucalyptus tree bark (Eucalyptus botryoides) become vividly evident when moistened by the frquent passing mists along the flanks of Mount Haleakala, a 10,023 foot high volcano in Maui, Hawaii.  Panorama composed of 2 individual images.
    _LPA1101-eucalyptus-bark-haleakala-p...tif
  • The colors of Eucalyptus tree bark (Eucalyptus botryoides) become vividly evident when moistened by the frquent passing mists along the flanks of Mount Haleakala, a 10,023 foot high volcano in Maui, Hawaii.
    _LPA1094-eucalyptus-bark-haleakala-v...tif
  • A yellow Norway Maple leaf (Acer platanoides) is caught in the branches of a Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) in Belmont, Massachusetts.
    _1LA1539-Edit-maple-leaves-norway-ja...tif
  • An autumn Japanese Maple Leaf (Acer palmatum) has fallen on a lichen and moss covered rock in Belmont, Massachusetts.
    _1LA1556-Edit-leaf-maple-japanese-re...tif
  • As autumn leaves fall, a yellow Norway Maple leaf (Acer platanoides) comes to rest naturally on the branches of a Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) in Belmont, Massachusetts.
    _1LA1530-Edit-leaf-maple-yellow-red-...tif
  • A bumblebee (genus Bombus) and black beetle gather nectar from amongst the stamens of a hibiscus flower (family Malvaceae) at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, Massachusetts.   Like their relatives the honeybees, bumblebees feed on nectar, using their long hairy proboscis which is folded under the head during flight. Numerous grains of pollen can be seen adherent to this bee’s legs, demonstrating why bumblebees are important agricultural pollinators.  Over 250 species of bumblebee are known, being found primarily at higher altitudes or latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, although they are also found in South America.  <br />
<br />
The hibiscus genus is comprised of several hundred species that are native to subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. They are renowned for their large, showy flowers and are commonly known simply as hibiscus, or less commonly as rose mallow.
    _LPA9289-Edit-bumble-bee-beetle-hibi...tif
  • A Yellowtail Damselfish (Microspathodon chrysurus) challenges the photographer 51 feet beneath the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Riviera Maya.  The juveniles, as shown here, are often called "Jewelfish" because of their neon blue spots. When very young, their tails are without any color at all. Adult males will turn yellow during courting. The small neon blue spots never go away but get smaller and fade as the fish gets older. One of the most aggressive of all damselfish, it grows to a size of 8.5 inches (21 cm) in length.  Yellowtail Damselfish are found in the western Atlantic Ocean from northeastern Florida south along the U.S. coast, Bermuda, the Bahamas, throughout the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, and along the Brazilian coast from Manuel Luis Reefs to Abrolhos including Trinidade Island.
    P4100307-2-Edit-juvenile-yellowtail-...tif
  • The purple blossoms of the fall flowering Stonecrop are highlighted against its green foliage.
    _LPA0214-flower-stonecrop-purple-pla...tif
  • An autumn Japanese Maple leaf (Acer palmatum) has fallen on a lichen and moss covered rock in Belmont, Massachusetts.
    _1LA1570-Edit-Japanese-maple-rock-re...tif
  • Three autumn leaves from a nearby Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) have fallen onto the moss covered trunk of a Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) in Belmont, Massachusetts.  Moments later, a breeze blew the leaves off the trunk.
    _1LA1513-Edit-Japanese-Maple-tree-tr...tif
  • A Brassia orchid bloomed by the photographer.  Brassia is a genus of orchids  named after William Brass, a British botanist and illustrator who collected plants in Africa.  These orchids are epiphytes (air plants) that grow in wet forests from sea level to altitudes under 5,000 feet (~1500m) in South Florida, the West-Indies and tropical America, especially the Peruvian Andes. <br />
<br />
Brassia flowers are notable for the characteristic long sepals which can exceed 20 inches (~50 cm), giving them their common name of "spider orchid".<br />
<br />
Brassia orchids utilize a very specialized form of entomophily (pollination by insects) to fertilize their flowers.  They are only pollinated by the female spider-hunter wasps of the genera Pepsis and Campsomeris.  The lip of the Brassia bloom is mistaken by these wasps for spiders and the wasps repeatedly sting the lip while  trying to grasp their prey without success. During this struggle, the wasp comes into contact with the pollinarium, that then sticks to its head. When that wasp flies to another Brassia flower and repeats the attack, the pollinarium on its head pollinates the new flower.
    _LPA7256-orchid-spider-bloom-yellow-...tif
  • Dew drops cling to a Funnel Weaver Spider (Agelenidae) web spread over Sedum
    _LPA2016-dew-spider-web-moss-sedum.tif
  • A Funnel Weaver Spider (Agelenidae) tends his dew drop laden web spread across a Sedum groundcover.
    _LPA2009-spider-dew-drops-web.tif
  • AJ (age 7) and her new friend, a common toad  (Bufo bufo).
    2004-06-09-toad-girl-smile.tif
  • The Rusty Tussock Moth or Vapourer (Orgyia antiqua) is native to Europe, but now has a transcontinental distribution.  A striking dimorphism exists between the male and the female moths of this species. The male moth shown here typically has orange to red-brown wings.  Each fore wing has a white comma-shaped (tornal) spot. He has marked plumose (short, bipectinate) antennae and a wingspan between 35 and 38 mm (~1.5 in). The female moth has vestigial wings and is flightless.  Several hundred eggs are laid on the outside of the female's empty cocoon, usually attached to a host plant.  The species overwinters in the egg stage. <br />
<br />
The adult moths do not feed, so only live a short time. In North America, only one generation occurs in a year and fly between May and October.  The males are diurnal, flying during the day, but are occasionally attracted to light.  This individual was photographed during the day in August in Kingfield, Maine.<br />
<br />
The image is a focus stack of 34 exposures.
    _1LA9545-Edit-Rusty-Tussock-Moth-Vap...tif
  • The Rusty Tussock Moth or Vapourer (Orgyia antiqua) is native to Europe, but now has a transcontinental distribution.  A striking dimorphism exists between the male and the female moths of this species. The male moth shown here typically has orange to red-brown wings.  Each fore wing has a white comma-shaped (tornal) spot. He has marked plumose (short, bipectinate) antennae and a wingspan between 35 and 38 mm (~1.5 in). The female moth has vestigial wings and is flightless.  Several hundred eggs are laid on the outside of the female's empty cocoon, usually attached to a host plant.  The species overwinters in the egg stage. <br />
<br />
The adult moths do not feed, so only live a short time. In North America, only one generation occurs in a year and fly between May and October.  The males are diurnal, flying during the day, but are occasionally attracted to light.  This individual was photographed during the day in August in Kingfield, Maine.<br />
<br />
The image is a focus stack of 34 exposures.
    _1LA9545-Edit-Edit-Rusty-Tussock-Mot...tif
  • The Rusty Tussock Moth or Vapourer (Orgyia antiqua) is native to Europe, but now has a transcontinental distribution.  A striking dimorphism exists between the male and the female moths of this species. The male moth shown here typically has orange to red-brown wings.  Each fore wing has a white comma-shaped (tornal) spot. He has marked plumose (short, bipectinate) antennae and a wingspan between 35 and 38 mm (~1.5 in). The female moth has vestigial wings and is flightless.  Several hundred eggs are laid on the outside of the female's empty cocoon, usually attached to a host plant.  The species overwinters in the egg stage. <br />
<br />
The adult moths do not feed, so only live a short time. In North America, only one generation occurs in a year and fly between May and October.  The males are diurnal, flying during the day, but are occasionally attracted to light.  This individual was photographed during the day in August in Kingfield, Maine.<br />
<br />
The image is a focus stack of 34 exposures.
    _1LA9545-Edit-Edit-Edit-Rusty-Tussoc...tif
  • This Amaryllis was grown by the photographer and was nearly 3 feet tall (>90 cm) with a bloom 10 inches (25 cm) in diameter. The popular houseplant called Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) is a genus of about 90 species and over 600 hybrids.  The genus has been intensely bred and cultivated since the early nineteenth century to produce large colorful showy flowers. The bulbs are generally between 5–12 cm (2"–5") in diameter and produce two to seven evergreen or deciduous leaves that are 30–90 cm (12"–36") long and 2.5–5 cm (1"–2") wide. The leaves develop after flowering.<br />
<br />
The blooms (2-14 flowers) are supported on an erect hollow stem which is generally 20–75 cm (12"–30") tall and 2.5–5 cm (1"–2") in diameter.  Each flower is generally 13–20 cm (5"–8") across.<br />
<br />
Hippeastrum species are concentrated in Eastern Brazil and the central southern Andes of Peru, Bolivia and Argentina, on the eastern slopes.  Some species are found as far north as Mexico and the West Indies.  The genus is thought to have originated in Brazil where at least 34 of the species have been found.  Their habitat is mainly tropical and subtropical.<br />
<br />
Hippeastrum breeding began in 1799 by Arthur Johnson, a watchmaker in Prescot, England.  Johnson shared his work with the Liverpool Botanic Garden which was fortunate, since his greenhouse was destroyed in a fire. His hybrid was being cultivated in the US by the mid-nineteenth century.<br />
<br />
The late 19th and early 20th century saw Amaryllis breeding develop in the United States, particularly in Texas, California, and Florida.  In 1946, two Dutch growers moved to South Africa and began cultivation there. Although most cultivars of Hippeastrum come from the Dutch and South African sources, bulbs are now being developed in the United States, Japan, Israel, India, Brazil and Australia. <br />
<br />
Brazil alone produces 17 million Hippeastrum bulbs annually.<br />
<br />
Hippeastrum has yielded at least 64 isoquinoline alkaloids, which include anti-parasitic and psychop
    _LPA0385 copy.tif
  • On August 21, 2017 the path of the first solar eclipses over the Unites States in 38 years traversed approximately 2,500 miles of the country from Newport, Oregon to McClellanville, South Carolina.  Just outside Shoshoni, Wyoming, the path passed over Boysen Reservoir.  At this location, totality lasted 2 minutes and 22 seconds, being at its maximum about 11:40 am.  With the moon blocking the solar disk during totality, red flares called solar prominences become visible at the edge of the dark disk.  The red-glowing looped material is plasma, a hot gas composed of electrically charged hydrogen and helium. These prominences look small in relation to the size of the sun, but typically extend over many thousands of kilometers with the largest on record being estimated at over 800,000 kilometres (500,000 miles).  A prominence forms over timescales of about a day and may persist for several weeks or months.<br />
<br />
During the total solar eclipse, the sun’s outer atmosphere called the corona becomes visible as it extends millions of miles into space.  The corona consists of extremely hot ionized gases which exceed 1 million degrees Kelvin – 150- to 450-times hotter than the surface of the sun.  Being over 1 million million times less dense and much hotter than the sun’s surface and the solar prominences, the corona actually produces about one-millionth as much visible light, thus becoming visible from earth typically only during a total solar eclipse. The sun’s magnetic fields bend the corona into its remarkable shapes.<br />
<br />
In this image, 10 different photographic exposures of the solar eclipse were composited to show the eclipsing moon, solar prominences and the corona.  (exposure stack of 10 images)
    total-solar-eclipse-sun-corona.tif
  • On August 21, 2017 the path of the first solar eclipses over the Unites States in 38 years traversed approximately 2,500 miles of the country from Newport, Oregon to McClellanville, South Carolina.  Just outside Shoshoni, Wyoming, the path passed over Boysen Reservoir.  At this location, totality lasted 2 minutes and 22 seconds, being at its maximum about 11:40 am.  With the moon blocking the solar disk during totality, red flares called solar prominences become visible at the edge of the dark disk.  The red-glowing looped material is plasma, a hot gas composed of electrically charged hydrogen and helium. These prominences look small in relation to the size of the sun, but typically extend over many thousands of kilometers with the largest on record being estimated at over 800,000 kilometres (500,000 miles).  A prominence forms over timescales of about a day and may persist for several weeks or months.<br />
<br />
During the total solar eclipse, the sun’s outer atmosphere called the corona becomes visible as it extends millions of miles into space.  The corona consists of extremely hot ionized gases which exceed 1 million degrees Kelvin – 150- to 450-times hotter than the surface of the sun.  Being over 1 million million times less dense and much hotter than the sun’s surface and the solar prominences, the corona actually produces about one-millionth as much visible light, thus becoming visible from earth typically only during a total solar eclipse. The sun’s magnetic fields bend the corona into its remarkable shapes.<br />
<br />
In this image, 10 different photographic exposures of the solar eclipse were composited to show the eclipsing moon, solar prominences and the corona.  The image was then manipulated by a process involving radial blur subtraction and image offset overlay to accentuate the pattern of the corona. The coloration of the eclipsing moon and the solar prominences were retained in this rendition.  (exposure stack of 10 images)
    total-solar-eclipse-sun-corona-overl...tif
  • On August 21, 2017 the path of the first solar eclipses over the Unites States in 38 years traversed approximately 2,500 miles of the country from Newport, Oregon to McClellanville, South Carolina.  Just outside Shoshoni, Wyoming, the path passed over Boysen Reservoir.  At this location, totality lasted 2 minutes and 22 seconds, being at its maximum about 11:40 am.  With the moon blocking the solar disk during totality, red flares called solar prominences become visible at the edge of the dark disk.  The red-glowing looped material is plasma, a hot gas composed of electrically charged hydrogen and helium. These prominences look small in relation to the size of the sun, but typically extend over many thousands of kilometers with the largest on record being estimated at over 800,000 kilometres (500,000 miles).  A prominence forms over timescales of about a day and may persist for several weeks or months.<br />
<br />
During the total solar eclipse, the sun’s outer atmosphere called the corona becomes visible as it extends millions of miles into space.  The corona consists of extremely hot ionized gases which exceed 1 million degrees Kelvin – 150- to 450-times hotter than the surface of the sun.  Being over 1 million million times less dense and much hotter than the sun’s surface and the solar prominences, the corona actually produces about one-millionth as much visible light, thus becoming visible from earth typically only during a total solar eclipse. The sun’s magnetic fields bend the corona into its remarkable shapes.<br />
<br />
In this image, 10 different photographic exposures of the solar eclipse were composited to show the eclipsing moon, solar prominences and the corona.  The image was then manipulated by a process called embossing where each pixel is replaced either by a highlight or a shadow, depending on light/dark boundaries on the original image.  The final image represents the rate of color change at each location of the original. This approach accentuates the pattern
    total-solar-eclipse-sun-corona-solar...tif
  • Snail tracks in the wet sand of low tide sketch a mouse at Rabbit Key, Everglades, Florida
    _LPA3829-snail-track-mouse-sand-ever...tif
  • A group of small snails leave tracks in the wet sand at low tide on Rabbit Key, Everglades, Florida
    _LPA3823-snail-tracks-sand-everglade...tif
  • A 2 inch long Dog Day or Annual Cicada (Tibicen canicularis) clings to a Day Lilly (Hemerocallis ) petal in the morning sunlight.
    _LPA4644-cicada-insect-day-lilly.tif
  • A yellow paphiopedilum orchid blooms at the New England Flower Show in Boston, MA
    IMG_0179-orchid-flower-bloom-paphiop...tif
  • A paphiopedilum orchid blooms at the New England Flower Show in Boston, MA
    IMG_0162-orchid-flower-bloom-paphiop...tif
  • Small water pockets in the sandy river bed reflect surrounding cliffs bathed in golden light at Crack Canyon of the San Rafael Reef, Utah.
    _LPA7048-reflection-gold-water-canyo...tif
  • A yellow and black common hover fly (Melangyna viridiceps) rests on the tip of  an Asian Lilly leaf
    _LPA7294-hover-fly-asian-lilly-leaf.tif
  • A bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis) blooms against foliose lichen (Xanthoparmelia sp.) growing on granite.
    _LPA1092-bleeding-heart-lichen-grani...tif
  • A bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis) blooms against foliose lichen (Xanthoparmelia sp.) growing on a slab of granite.
    _LPA1090-bleeding-heart-lichen-grani...tif
  • A phaleanopsis orchid grown and bloomed by the photographer.  <br />
<br />
Phalaenopsis are also known as Moth Orchids and are native throughout southeast Asia from the Himalayan mountains to the islands of Polillo, Palawan and Zamboanga del Norte in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines and northern Australia.
    IMG_0222-purple-orchid-pair-phaleano...tif
  • A European (Western) honey bee (Apis mellifera) gathers pollen from stonecrop blooms
    _LPA8084-honey-bee-flower-stonecrop.tif
  • The true Daddy-Longlegs (Phalangium opilio) shown here on an Eastern Redbud tree leaf (Cercis canadensis ) is actually not a spider but a type of arachnid in their own Order Opiliones. Composit of 7 individual images for depth of focus.
    _LPA7310-daddy-longlegs-spider-redbu...tif
  • Dew drops cling to a Funnel Weaver Spider (Agelenidae) web spread over moss.
    _LPA2023-dew-reflecting-moss-spider-...tif
  • The true Daddy-Longlegs (Phalangium opilio) shown here on an Eastern Redbud tree leaf (Cercis canadensis ) is actually not a spider but a type of arachnid in their own Order Opiliones. Composit of 7 individual images for depth of focus.
    _LPA7310-daddy-longlegs-spider-redbu...tif
  • An Eastern Red-backed Salamander (Plethoon cinereus) walks across an "Iceberg" Hosta leaf.  This small salamander is found throughout the northeast United States.  It is lungless, and breathes through its moist skin. Unlike many salamanders, it spends its entire life on land, and lays its eggs on the moist forest floor. The young skip the typical aquatic stage and emerge as tiny terrestrial salamanders.
    _LPA5139-Edit-salamander-hosta-plant.tif
  • A phaleanopsis orchid grown and bloomed by the photographer.<br />
<br />
Phalaenopsis are also known as Moth Orchids and are native throughout southeast Asia from the Himalayan mountains to the islands of Polillo, Palawan and Zamboanga del Norte in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines and northern Australia.
    _LPA1727-orchid-phaleanopsis-flower-...tif
  • A phaleanopsis orchid grown and bloomed by the photographer.<br />
<br />
Phalaenopsis are also known as Moth Orchids and are native throughout southeast Asia from the Himalayan mountains to the islands of Polillo, Palawan and Zamboanga del Norte in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines and northern Australia.
    _LPA1718-orchid-phaleanopsis-flower-...tif
  • Dew drops cling to a Funnel Weaver Spider (Agelenidae) web spread over Sedum
    _LPA1985-dew-spider-web-sedum.tif
  • An Abyssinian Guinea Pig (Cavia porcellus) stares down the photographer.
    _LPA1822-guinea-pig-face-attitude.tif
  • Dew drops cling to a Funnel Weaver Spider (Agelenidae) web spread over Sedum
    _LPA1985-dew-spider-web-sedum-rotate...tif
  • A worker bumblebee (genus Bombus) gathers nectar from a flowering Goldenrod (Solidago) plant.  Goldenrod belongs to a genus of about 100 species in the aster family which are mostly native to North America. The length of a worker bumblebee 0.75 to 1.5 in (19 to 38 mm).  Bumblebees, like their relatives the honeybees, feed on nectar using a long proboscis which is seen here protruding from the bee’s mouth.  Numerous small round yellow grains of pollen are adherent all over this bee’s body, demonstrating why bumblebees are important agricultural pollinators.  Over 250 species of bumblebee are known, primarily living at higher altitudes or latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, although they are also found in South America.<br />
<br />
The image is a focus stack of 2 handheld exposures.
    _1LA0249-Edit-bumblebee-goldenrod-fl...tif
  • A bumblebee (genus Bombus) gathers nectar from a flowering Goldenrod (Solidago) plant.  Goldenrod belongs to a genus of about 100 species in the aster family which are mostly native to North America. Bumblebees, like their relatives the honeybees, feed on nectar using a long hairy proboscis which is folded under the head during flight. Numerous yellow grains of pollen can be seen adherent to this bee’s legs, demonstrating why bumblebees are important agricultural pollinators.  Over 250 species of bumblebee are known, being found primarily at higher altitudes or latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, although they are also found in South America.
    _1LA0300-Edit-bumblebee-flower-golde...tif
  • A bumblebee (genus Bombus) with a tiny brown mite on its wing gathers nectar from a flowering Goldenrod (Solidago) plant.  Bumblebees, like their relatives the honeybees, feed on nectar using a long hairy proboscis which is folded under the head during flight. A few yellow grains of pollen can be seen adherent to this bee’s back and head, demonstrating why bumblebees are important agricultural pollinators.  However, the small brown creature near the middle of the bumblebee’s wing is a mite.   Many bumblebees have tiny mites clinging to their bodies. In most cases the mites are difficult to see, but sometimes they can cover large parts of the bumblebee’s body. <br />
<br />
Most of the mite species that live with bumblebees are harmless to them and simply cling to the bumblebee so that they can be transported to new nests. When in the bee nest, the mites usually feed upon the wax, pollen, nest debris, and other small insects, but do not feed on the bees. Then, when they reach a certain stage in their life cycle, the mites cling to worker bees, and are transported onto flowers. From these flowers, the mites then attach to other visiting bees, and are transported to new nests.<br />
<br />
Bumblebees do not carry the destructive Varroa mites (Varroa destructor and V. jacobsoni) common to honey bees that harbor deformed wing virus and a fungal parasite called Nosema ceranae which can eventually destroy a honey bee nest.  However, the pathogens themselves are capable of infecting adult bumblebees and can then destroy their colonies.  Around the world, many species of bumblebees have suffered steep declines and some, such Cullem's bumblebee (Bombus cullumanus), have gone extinct.
    _1LA0204-Edit-bumblebee-mite-flower-...tif
  • Nudibranchs are soft-bodied marine mollusks which shed their shells after their larval stage.  The word "nudibranch" comes from the Latin nudus "naked" and the Ancient Greek βράγχια "gills".  Nudibranchs are often informally called sea slugs, <br />
<br />
All known nudibranchs are carnivorous with some feeding on sponges, hydroids, bryozoans, tunicates, barnacles, anemones, other sea slugs, sea slug eggs, or even their own species.  During evolution, nudibranchs lost their shells and developed alternative defense mechanisms. Some evolved to be well camouflaged, while others as seen here have intensely bright color patterns. Some sponge-eating nudibranchs concentrate the chemical defenses of the sponges in their bodies, rendering themselves distasteful to predators. Certain species produce their own protective chemicals, or release an acid mucus from the skin if physically touched.  <br />
<br />
Some nudibranchs that feed on prey which protect themselves with stinging cells called “nematocysts” can pass the intact nematocysts through their gut without harming the nudibranch or triggering the nematocysts.  The cells are then brought to the tips of the creature's “gills” (cerata).  The colors within the cerata are extensions of the digestive tract, often with a whitish tip where the nematocysts are concentrated, which now protect the nudibranch itself.<br />
<br />
Nudibranchs are hermaphroditic but cannot fertilize themselves. They typically deposit eggs within a gelatinous spiral resembling a ribbon. The number of eggs varies from 1 egg to 25 million!   The nudibranch lifespan ranges from a few weeks to a year depending on the species.<br />
<br />
The nudibranch (Flabellina salmonacea) pictured here is crawling on dulce (Palmaria palmata), an edible alga.  This nudibranch grows to 3.8 cm (1.5 in) with cerata that are colored either brown or orange depending on their prey. The orange color in this case results from a diet consisting of Goniactinia anemones. The whitish tips contain the nematocysts
    Scan-101211-0015-Edit-red-gilled-nud...tif
  • Parrotfish owe their name to the shape of their mouth where instead of teeth they have two beak-like plates.  The Redband Parrotfish (Sparisoma aurofrenatum) grows to 28 cm (11 in) and is common to a depth of 20 m (66 ft) in Florida, Bahamas and the Caribbean.  Especially during younger stages, the fish’s color is highly variable and they can rapidly fade, intensify or change color and markings. Normally as seen here, an orangish-pink color band is present starting from below the eye and connecting to the corner of the mouth.  Redband parrotfish swim about reefs using their pectoral fins.  The tail is only used for bursts of speed. They use their 'beaks' to scrape algae and polyps from corals and rocks.<br />
<br />
Even though the Parrotfish is colorful, they can still be well camouflaged on the reef as seen here nestled between the rust-colored encrusting sponge and green algae on the rock, and the brown tubulate sponge (Agelas tubulata) above.
    Image 005-Edit-redband-parrotfish.tif
  • A sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus) hides amongst brown Rockweed (Ascophyllum nodosum) and green Sea Lettuce (Ulva) in 25 feet of water off Folly Cove in Rockport, Massachusetts. Although also commonly known as "sand eels", the sand lance is not related to true eels. The family and genus name (Ammodytes) means "sand burrower", a reference to the sand lance's habit of burrowing into sand to avoid tidal currents.<br />
<br />
Sand lances are most common in the North Pacific and North Atlantic, but are found in oceans throughout the world. These fish do not have pelvic fins and do not develop swim bladders, being bottom-dwelling as adults. The larval form of the Sand Lance may be the most abundant of all fish larvae in areas such as the northwest Atlantic, serving as a major food for cod, salmon, whales and diving birds such as puffins, auks, terns, and cormorants. Sand lances can control the movement of each eye independently.
    Scan-101211-0010-Edit-fish-sand-lanc...tif
  • On August 21, 2017 the path of the first solar eclipses over the Unites States in 38 years traversed approximately 2,500 miles of the country from Newport, Oregon to McClellanville, South Carolina.  Just outside Shoshoni, Wyoming, the path passed over Boysen Reservoir.  At this location, totality lasted 2 minutes and 22 seconds, being at its maximum about 11:40 am.  With the moon blocking the solar disk during totality, red flares called solar prominences become visible at the edge of the dark disk.  The red-glowing looped material is plasma, a hot gas composed of electrically charged hydrogen and helium. These prominences look small in relation to the size of the sun, but typically extend over many thousands of kilometers with the largest on record being estimated at over 800,000 kilometres (500,000 miles).  A prominence forms over timescales of about a day and may persist for several weeks or months.<br />
<br />
During the total solar eclipse, the sun’s outer atmosphere called the corona becomes visible as it extends millions of miles into space.  The corona consists of extremely hot ionized gases which exceed 1 million degrees Kelvin – 150- to 450-times hotter than the surface of the sun.  Being over 1 million million times less dense and much hotter than the sun’s surface and the solar prominences, the corona actually produces about one-millionth as much visible light, thus becoming visible from earth typically only during a total solar eclipse. The sun’s magnetic fields bend the corona into its remarkable shapes.<br />
<br />
In this image, 10 different photographic exposures of the solar eclipse were composited to show the eclipsing moon, solar prominences and the corona.  (exposure stack of 10 images)
    total-solar-eclipse-sun-corona-squar...tif
  • On August 21, 2017 the path of the first solar eclipses over the Unites States in 38 years traversed approximately 2,500 miles of the country from Newport, Oregon to McClellanville, South Carolina.  Just outside Shoshoni, Wyoming, the path passed over Boysen Reservoir.  At this location, totality lasted 2 minutes and 22 seconds, being at its maximum about 11:40 am.  With the moon blocking the solar disk during totality, red flares called solar prominences become visible at the edge of the dark disk.  The red-glowing looped material is plasma, a hot gas composed of electrically charged hydrogen and helium. These prominences look small in relation to the size of the sun, but typically extend over many thousands of kilometers with the largest on record being estimated at over 800,000 kilometres (500,000 miles).  A prominence forms over timescales of about a day and may persist for several weeks or months.<br />
<br />
During the total solar eclipse, the sun’s outer atmosphere called the corona becomes visible as it extends millions of miles into space.  The corona consists of extremely hot ionized gases which exceed 1 million degrees Kelvin – 150- to 450-times hotter than the surface of the sun.  Being over 1 million million times less dense and much hotter than the sun’s surface and the solar prominences, the corona actually produces about one-millionth as much visible light, thus becoming visible from earth typically only during a total solar eclipse. The sun’s magnetic fields bend the corona into its remarkable shapes.<br />
<br />
In this image, 10 different photographic exposures of the solar eclipse were composited to show the eclipsing moon, solar prominences and the corona.  The image was then manipulated by a process called embossing where each pixel is replaced either by a highlight or a shadow, depending on light/dark boundaries on the original image.  The final image represents the rate of color change at each location of the original. This approach accentuates the pattern
    total-solar-eclipse-sun-corona-embos...tif
  • On August 21, 2017 the path of the first solar eclipses over the Unites States in 38 years traversed approximately 2,500 miles of the country from Newport, Oregon to McClellanville, South Carolina.  Just outside Shoshoni, Wyoming, the path passed over Boysen Reservoir.  At this location, totality lasted 2 minutes and 22 seconds, being at its maximum about 11:40 am.  With the moon blocking the solar disk during totality, red flares called solar prominences become visible at the edge of the dark disk.  The red-glowing looped material is plasma, a hot gas composed of electrically charged hydrogen and helium. These prominences look small in relation to the size of the sun, but typically extend over many thousands of kilometers with the largest on record being estimated at over 800,000 kilometres (500,000 miles).  A prominence forms over timescales of about a day and may persist for several weeks or months.<br />
<br />
During the total solar eclipse, the sun’s outer atmosphere called the corona becomes visible as it extends millions of miles into space.  The corona consists of extremely hot ionized gases which exceed 1 million degrees Kelvin – 150- to 450-times hotter than the surface of the sun.  Being over 1 million million times less dense and much hotter than the sun’s surface and the solar prominences, the corona actually produces about one-millionth as much visible light, thus becoming visible from earth typically only during a total solar eclipse. The sun’s magnetic fields bend the corona into its remarkable shapes.<br />
<br />
In this image, 10 different photographic exposures of the solar eclipse were composited to show the eclipsing moon, solar prominences and the corona.  The image was then manipulated by a process called embossing where each pixel is replaced either by a highlight or a shadow, depending on light/dark boundaries on the original image.  The final image represents the rate of color change at each location of the original. This approach accentuates the pattern
    total-solar-eclipse-sun-corona-embos...tif
  • On August 21, 2017 the path of the first solar eclipses over the Unites States in 38 years traversed approximately 2,500 miles of the country from Newport, Oregon to McClellanville, South Carolina.  Just outside Shoshoni, Wyoming, the path passed over Boysen Reservoir.  At this location, totality lasted 2 minutes and 22 seconds, being at its maximum about 11:40 am.  With the moon blocking the solar disk during totality, red flares called solar prominences become visible at the edge of the dark disk.  The red-glowing looped material is plasma, a hot gas composed of electrically charged hydrogen and helium. These prominences look small in relation to the size of the sun, but typically extend over many thousands of kilometers with the largest on record being estimated at over 800,000 kilometres (500,000 miles).  A prominence forms over timescales of about a day and may persist for several weeks or months.<br />
<br />
During the total solar eclipse, the sun’s outer atmosphere called the corona becomes visible as it extends millions of miles into space.  The corona consists of extremely hot ionized gases which exceed 1 million degrees Kelvin – 150- to 450-times hotter than the surface of the sun.  Being over 1 million million times less dense and much hotter than the sun’s surface and the solar prominences, the corona actually produces about one-millionth as much visible light, thus becoming visible from earth typically only during a total solar eclipse. The sun’s magnetic fields bend the corona into its remarkable shapes.<br />
<br />
In this image, 10 different photographic exposures of the solar eclipse were composited to show the eclipsing moon, solar prominences and the corona.  The image was then manipulated by a process involving radial blur subtraction and image offset overlay to accentuate the pattern of the corona. The coloration of the eclipsing moon and the solar prominences were retained in this rendition.  (exposure stack of 10 images)
    total-solar-eclipse-sun-corona-overl...tif
  • On August 21, 2017 the path of the first solar eclipses over the Unites States in 38 years traversed approximately 2,500 miles of the country from Newport, Oregon to McClellanville, South Carolina.  Just outside Shoshoni, Wyoming, the path passed over Boysen Reservoir.  At this location, totality lasted 2 minutes and 22 seconds, being at its maximum about 11:40 am.  With the moon blocking the solar disk during totality, red flares called solar prominences become visible at the edge of the dark disk.  The red-glowing looped material is plasma, a hot gas composed of electrically charged hydrogen and helium. These prominences look small in relation to the size of the sun, but typically extend over many thousands of kilometers with the largest on record being estimated at over 800,000 kilometres (500,000 miles).  A prominence forms over timescales of about a day and may persist for several weeks or months.<br />
<br />
During the total solar eclipse, the sun’s outer atmosphere called the corona becomes visible as it extends millions of miles into space.  The corona consists of extremely hot ionized gases which exceed 1 million degrees Kelvin – 150- to 450-times hotter than the surface of the sun.  Being over 1 million million times less dense and much hotter than the sun’s surface and the solar prominences, the corona actually produces about one-millionth as much visible light, thus becoming visible from earth typically only during a total solar eclipse. The sun’s magnetic fields bend the corona into its remarkable shapes.<br />
<br />
In this image, 10 different photographic exposures of the solar eclipse were composited to show the eclipsing moon, solar prominences and the corona.  The image was then manipulated by a process called embossing where each pixel is replaced either by a highlight or a shadow, depending on light/dark boundaries on the original image.  The final image represents the rate of color change at each location of the original. This approach accentuates the pattern
    total-solar-eclipse-sun-corona-solar...tif
  • Dew drops reflecting the natural colors of the surrounding  foreest floor cling to a Funnel Weaver Spider (Agelenidae) web.  The background has been digitally converted to black and white.
    _LPA2023-dew-reflecting-moss-spider-...tif
  • A Zygopetalum orchid bloomed by the photographer. Zygopetalum is a genus of orchids consisting of fourteen species. The orchid's name is derived from the Greek word "zygon", means "yoked petal", referring to the yoke-like growth at the base of the lip caused by the fusion of the petals and sepals.  Zygopetalum are found in humid cool forests at mid to high elevations in Central and South America.  They are most common in Brazil.  Most Zygopetalum are epiphytes (air plants), but some are terrestrials. These plants are noted for the incredible fragrance of their blooms which last 1-3 months with an aroma resembling that of a strong Hyacinth.
    _LPA7220-zygopetalum-orchid-bloom-fl...tif
  • A pair of mouse footprints push the soft desert sand into a heart at South Coyote Buttes, Utah.
    _LPA8593-Edit-heart-mouse-footprints...tif
  • A foliose lichen (Xanthoparmelia sp.) dusted by blowing snow clings to the bark of a pine trree
    _LPA8620-lichen-tree-wood-snow.tif
  • A pair of Oak leaves cling to their branches long into a New England winter
    _LPA8610-oak-leaf-winter.tif
  • A paphiopedilum orchid blooms at the New England Flower Show in Boston, MA
    IMG_0157-orchid-flower-bloom-paphiop...tif
  • A water pocket on the canyon floor reflects the surrounding cliffs bathed in golden light at Crack Canyon of the San Rafael Reef, Utah.
    _LPA7060-gold-river-reflections-crac...tif
  • The afternoon light reflected off a red sandstone cliff glows behind a lone pinyon pine bough(Pinus edulis) .
    _LPA6543-pinyon-pine-cliff-glow-utah.tif
  • A common toad  (Bufo bufo) climbs onto a bandaged 8 year old girls toe.
    _LPA1101-toad-foot-bandage-girl.tif
  • A small red-eyed green bottle fly (Lucillia sp) rests on a yellow Asian Lilly flower petal.
    _LPA7290-fly-green-bottle-red-eye-in...tif
  • A phaleanopsis orchid grown and bloomed by the photographer.<br />
<br />
Phalaenopsis are also known as Moth Orchids and are native throughout southeast Asia from the Himalayan mountains to the islands of Polillo, Palawan and Zamboanga del Norte in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines and northern Australia.
    _LPA1711-orchid-phaleanopsis-orange-...tif
  • An Eastern Red-backed Salamander (Plethoon cinereus) walks across the leaf of an “Iceberg” Hosta near a flowering Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium).  This small salamander is found throughout the northeast United States.  It is lungless, and breathes through its moist skin. Unlike many salamanders, it spends its entire life on land, and lays its eggs on the moist forest floor. The young skip the typical aquatic stage and emerge as tiny terrestrial salamanders. (Focus stack of two individual images.)
    _LPA5129-Edit-salamander-flower-host...tif
  • A Day Lilly (Hemerocallis ) displayes its stamens composed of yellow filaments and black anthers covered with yellow pollen.
    _LPA1883-day-lilly.tif
  • The blue sky and white snow are reflected in the crystal contours of an icicle at Drumlin Farm, Lincoln, Massachusetts.  (Maco panorama composed of 5 individual images.)
    ice-icicle-blue-white-winter.tif
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