Reader Rodger in Thailand sent a picture from his garden, showing the chrysalis (cocoon) of either a moth or butterfly on one of his plants. Can you spot it? Pretty cryptic, no? It’s clearly evolved (in both morphology and position) to resemble a leaf in this most vulnerable of life stages. If anyone can identify it, please do so.
Reader Tony Eales sent these way back in October, which shows you that I have a reserve (but please top up the tank by sending me your good wildlife photos NOW):
Just came back from a trip to World Heritage Fraser Island National Park. The sandy soil, wetland, heath, known in the local indigenous language as the Wallum, dominates the island and it’s my favourite ecosystem in the world. The plants of the Wallum heath fascinate me with beautiful carnivorous plants like sundews (Drosera spatulatapictured) and bladderworts (Utricularia lateriflora pictured…I think).
Here’s the sundew:
While I photographed plenty of birds it was the other wildlife that really caught my eye. I saw large Peacock Carpenter Bees (Xylocopa bombylans) feeding on Melastoma affine. And I finally got a decent photo of the striking Tiger Moth (Amata sp.).
Again, can anyone identify the species?
There were quite a few reptiles. I photographed a small lace monitor (Varanus varius) in the rain forest and played “spot the…” with Major Skinks (Bellatorias frerei).
And I also got to see the most famous charismatic megafauna of the region, Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae):
What a beautiful skink! I’d want to pat his spots (but would just get a nasty bite for it).
I had to reread that bit of the article – for a brief second I thought Major Skinks was his traveling companion.
Especially since it’s actually the monitor…
I don’t see the skink.
The chrysalis looks like that of one of our swallowtail butterflies. But I can not id it closer than that.
That Tiger Moth looks like an elaborate piece of liquorice.
I wanna eat it!
I agree with Jesper that the moth is a Tiger Moth, but I cannot id the species with certainty. This is as close as I got.
Really interesting, Tony. Looks like a fabulous spot indeed!
Were you on a whale watching cruise?