It’s pouring down rain in Chicago: a real Midwestern thunderstorm complete with loud thunder and lightning. I hope my ducks are okay except, hey, it’s water, Jake. In the meantime, here’s a “spot the” feature by Mark Sturtevant, and this one I’d rate as “pretty hard.” Mark’s words are indented:
Last summer I ‘discovered’ the nymphs of one of our local species of grasshoppers known as the Northern marbled grasshopper (Spharagemon marmoratum marmoratum). These are common in a place I call the Magic Field, although as you will see, they are hard to spot! Patches of lichens and mosses cover large areas of the ground in this strange place, and the nymphs of this grasshopper are beautifully camouflaged to match it.
So somewhere in this picture are three nymphs of these grasshoppers. They are in plain view. Can you spot the grasshoppers?
The rule: have fun, but please do not reveal the locations. Let others have a try!
Click the photo to enlarge, and remember; don’t give away the locations in the comments, though you can say how many you’ve spotted.
Reveal will be at 3 p.m. Chicago time.
Bonus quiz: Explain how this one picture shows all four of the “traditional” kingdoms of Eukaryotes.
Found one…
Bonus: the grasshoppers are animals, I see some kind of plant, and lichens are symbiotes consisting of fungi and algae.
I think.
I’m a mathematician… what I know about biology would fill a thimble.
I think I got them. What are the small sunflower-like fungi? Ascomycetes?
I think I got them. What are the small sunflower-like fungi ? Ascomycetes ?
Oups, sorry. The comment was very long to pop up…
The remnants of star-shaped puffballs.
I sought, but did not find. Except maybe a nymph.
Utter failure. 😏
I found all four. No, that’s a complete lie. I find it hard to believe that I’ll see them even at the reveal. Man, it’s a good thing humans have grocery stores or I’d absolutely starve looking for food.
Obviously these are of the species Acrididae nightjaris
“pretty hard” is an understatement.