This one was done for Lenora barkley! Who Really wanted to be a moth! (Well so did a lotta folk but still)
This was a lotta fun. the scientist has been getting a lot of fleshing out through these methods XD
Portrait was done by LenoraB herself!
#transformationart #insectart #digitalart #mysterycryptidart #insect
Today for #MarshMadness I have a swamp metalmark, Calephelis muticum. These increasingly rare butterflies depend on swamp thistles as a host plant, and are thus threatened by invasive plant species as well as habitat loss and pollution.
Today for #MarshMadness I have Osmia bicolor, a mason bee known for building its nests inside the empty shells of snails. Each shell can hold 4-5 cells, one egg per cell, which is constructed from chewed up leaves and provisioned with balls of pollen mixed with nectar. The snail shells are then sealed up with sand and gravel, partially buried, and covered with twigs and grass for added protection.
Today for #MarshMadness I have a water stick bug, Ranatra linearis, which is also called a water scorpion, or the Germans call it a Stabwanze. They breathe underwater through the siphon tail, waiting patiently to snatch up their prey.
Today for #MarshMadness I have a large marsh grasshopper, Stethophyma grossum. Threatened in the UK by habitat loss and poor water quality, the large marsh grasshopper is being bred in captivity so it can be reintroduced as part of rewilding projects.
For #MarshMadness and #WeevilWednesday I have a duckweed weevil, Tanysphyrus lemnae. The larvae mine through duckweed, leaving behind tiny characteristic holes in the floating leaves.
Today for #MarshMadness I have a salt marsh moth, Estigmene acrea. This one is a male, distinguished by his colorful hindwings. The caterpillars of the species can be found on a variety of hosts, even typically poisonous ones, due to their ability to detoxify pyrrolizidine alkaloids, sequestering the metabolites and converting them into sex pheromones as adults.
Today for #MarshMadness I've painted a salt marsh tiger beetle, Cicindela marginata (or possibly Ellipsoptera marginata - taxonomy is hard!). Tiger beetles are aggressive predators at all life stages. The larvae wait at the entrance of their burrow for an unsuspecting prey to come within reach of their strong, hooked mandibles. Adults chase down their prey at preternatural speeds. They are capable of running faster than their visual system can process, so they frequently have to stop and reorient themselves.
I have come to recognize that there is a temporal component to vision as my eyesight has been slowly but steadily decaying over the past couple decades. I'm often asked how I can be a blind artist and the answer is: I can see okay, as long as I have the time to look at something closely enough - and the world moves much too quickly for that. I paint insects because I studied them and their anatomy for several years in grad school, but I need to stare at a still image for an increasingly long time if I want to get any of the details right.
For #MarshMadness today I have a praying lacewing, Mantispa styriaca. The larvae of these guys demolish the eggs of fisher spiders then pupate inside their protective egg sacs, which the spiders continue to unwittingly carry around wherever they go. Adults use their mantid-like forelegs to snatch prey right out of the air.
Today for #MarshMadness I've painted an Alcon blue (Phengaris alcon) and its host plant, marsh gentian (Gentiana pneumonanthe). The caterpillars of these butterflies are ant parasites called myrmecophiles. In their last stage before pupation they drop to the ground and begin emitting chemicals that mimic ant larvae. The ants carry them back to their nest to feed and care for them, protecting them even as they pupate.
LenoraTheCryptid
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