I appreciate all the love for my previous post, so, here's a little more velvet worm / Peripatus cuteness to start your weekend off right!
Beneath that adorable little eye, you can see the stumpy glue cannon, which it uses to subdue prey!
#SoilEcology #Macrophotography #SoilBiodiversity #Entomology #TheWorldBeneathOurFeet #Onychophora #Peripatus
*VELVET WORM CHECKPOINT*
You have reached a scrolling checkpoint. I give you permission to stop what you are doing, breathe, and simply enjoy how wonderful velvet worms are.
Forget about life's problems for a moment, and just look at those tiny little feet! There's still beauty in the world, and much of it is Peripatus-shaped.
Okay, off you go.
This velvet worm (Ooperipatellus viridimaculatus) is endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand's South Island.
When hunting or disturbed, velvet worms squirt a viscous fluid from special slime glands on their head, which I witnessed when this one protested being woken up by a camera flash!
Frank Ashwood
Corey Bradshaw