Irene Hardwicke Olivieri (American, b. 1959)
Still a tadpole already a frog, 2003
oil on wood
Mexican symbols, Annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1880
Manuel Manilla, The horrifying calavera of the flooding of Guanajuato, 1910
Soviet postage stamp commemorating the Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy. 1958.
flatid planthopper nymph, Singapore. hemipterans (true bugs) like these have mastered the art of covering oneself in weird waxy filaments, which are shed along with their last juvenile molt, revealing a sleek, gossamer-winged adult
saw this Rhombodera basalis mantis nymph was reaching out for a perch and I offered it my hand. stayed remarkably calm and still before I took it to the other side of the path
Rhombodera is one of several mantis genera that have developed a flat, shield-like pronotum. not one of the more delicate mantises, this one was impressively bulky and heavy but still so elegant
extremely powerful forearms. I would’ve liked to see it hunting!
Horned pelican spider, Afrarchaea cornuta, Archaeidae
Pelican spiders, also known as assassin spiders, are a family (Archaeidae) of about 90 tiny (2mm-8mm) species that prey exclusively on other spiders.
Photographed in South Africa by hrodulf
If you have the spirits and time, I’d love to know more about these guys and why they evolved to have this peculiar shape!