Hello people who think butterflies don't get tattoos of people on their body,

Recently I spotted a
Variable checkerspot butterfly which was crossing a busy street. It was surprising to me why it couldn't fly, so I picked it up to get a closer look.

Turns out, it might have been in an accident that caused its eggs to leach out of its body rather than lay it on plants. The yellow slime on its abdomen are the eggs, some of which had dried on its hindwing.




Since it wasn't able to fly and it wanted to wait out the Uber surge pricing, I asked it to come over for a cup of coffee. Over here you can see the proboscis it uses to suck up the nectar from the flowers.



Finally, if you have ever touched a butterfly's wings, you know how the scales easily fall off. One theory is that it helps them get away from predators like spiders when they get stuck in a web.

Here is a closer look at the scales from a butterfly wing.




When you see lady beetles around, you know you are not too far off from a plant that is infested by aphids. Aphids are fascinating because they are incredibly prolific. Aphids reach adulthood in about 5 days and can produce 5 offspring per day up to 30 days.

Here is an aphid sucking up the phloem on a common sow thistle.




Here is something you don't see everyday. An aphid riding a lady beetle, I bet this is what riding a dragon would feel like.


Ground Crab spiders stand out from their peers because of their crab-like appearance with longer set of front legs as compared to the back legs. They are ambush predators and will grab their prey with those front legs if it comes their way. Here is how they would do it.



Here is the spider giving me a high five. Good job, bud!

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