image of the day

Alaska Sunrise. Taken from a cruise ship traveling along the Alaskan coast, 2000. Image: CS Davis, a reader's father. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited. . tags: Alaska, sunrise, planet earth, nature
Mushroom, unknown species. East Tennessee. Image: CS Davis, a reader's father. Can any of the readers identify the species? If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited. . tags: mushroom, fungi, mycology
Male peafowl, Pavo cristatus, courtship display. This is a feral peafowl that lives a backyard in Eastern Tennessee. His name is Big Bird. Image: by Molly, a reader's sister. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited. . tags: peacock, bird, Aves, zoology
Sea star species, 2005, Caladesi Island, Florida. Image: Craig Carlyle Clarke. This photo was taken by Craig while walking on the beach a few hours after hurricane Rita passed. The storm surge had tossed a lot of things onto the beach, including that sea star, and some other animals that he took pictures of -- including a shark. Craig writes that the storm surge was still rolling when he was on the beach with his camera, and it was amazing. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me, along with…
Queen Butterfly, Danaus gilippus. from the Butterfly Room at the Phipps Conservatory (Pittsburgh). Image: Rehana Rodrigues. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited. . tags: butterfly, queen butterfly, insect, Lepidoptera, zoology
Ambush Bug, Genus Phymata. Found on a raspberry bush, Upper Arlington, Franklin County, Ohio. Summer, 2006. Image: Dave Schreiber. I have been receving some gorgeous images from you, dear readers, images that I can hardly wait to share with you! If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited. . tags: ambush bug, insect, Phymatidae, zoology
Thornbush Dasher, Micrathyria hagenii. Valley Nature Center, Weslaco, Texas, October 2003. Image: Biosparite. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited. . tags: dragonfly, thornbush dancer, insect, Odonata, zoology
Red-bordered Pixie, Melanis cephise, 23 October 2004. Image: Biosparite. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited. . tags: butterfly, red-bordered pixie butterfly, insect, Lepidoptera, zoology
White Peacock, Anartia jatrophae, Valley Nature Center, Weslaco, Texas, 23 October 2004. Image: Biosparite. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited. . tags: butterfly, white peacock butterfly, insect, Lepidoptera, zoology
Blue Metalmark, Rivina humilis, Laguna Atascosa NWR, Texas. Oct. 2004. Image: Biosparite. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited. . tags: butterfly, blue metalmark butterfly, insect, Lepidoptera, zoology
Mystery Caterpillar on Gaura, Nelson Farms Preserve, Katy Prairie Conservancy, Texas. NABA Butterfly Count, 4 September 2006. Image: Biosparite. I thought this image was appropriate for the day, given this caterpillar's sporty Hallowe'en stripes. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited. . tags: butterfly, caterpillar, Lepidoptera, insect, zoology
Backlit photo of Saturn taken by the Cassini probe. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited. . tags: Astronomy, backlit Saturn, Cassini
Fiery Skipper, Hylephila phyleus, Nelson Farms Preserve, Katy Prairie Butterfly Count, 4 September 2006. Image: Biosparite. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited. . tags: butterfly, fiery skipper butterfly, insect, lepidoptery, zoology
These beautiful creatures are day-flying moths from the family Ctenuchidae, in the process of mating. This picture was taken in Kerala, southern India by a reader, Basia. You can read more about these insects at India Ink. Image: Basia Kruszewska. . "Insects commonly remain together for hours when mating. However, the actual sperm transfer occurs quickly," says Phil Nixon, an entomologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "In many insects, the female's eggs are fertilized by the sperm of the last male to mate with her before the eggs are laid. It is thought that the male…
A common garter snake, Thnmonphis sirtalis, with a hitchhiking ladybug, Hippodamia convergens, on its nose. This photo was taken in northeastern North Dakota. Image: Justawriter. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited. . tags: snake, common garter snake, ladybug, insect, reptilia, zoology
Ladybug species, Neoharmonia venusta, which was photographed near "the willows," a hot birding area at Anahuac NWR, Texas. Image: Biosparite. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited. . tags: ladybug, insect, Coleptera, zoology
Green Tree Frog, Hyla cinerea. Nelson Farms Preserve, Katy Prairie Conservancy, Texas. NABA Butterfly Count, 4 September 2006. Image: Biosparite. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited. . tags: green tree frog, frog, Amphibia, zoology
This is a pictorial tutorial on distinguishing the Cloudless Sulphur, Phoebis sennae (individual on left), from the Sleepy Orange butterfly, Eurema nicippe (group on right). This photo was taken just north of US 290 on the east side of Roberts Road at a vacant lot posted "For Sale" for commercial development. Puddling is a social activity of butterfly species. The butterflies are fortifying themselves with dissolved salts from the soil. Image: Biosparite. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me,…
The latest spectacular image from the Hubble Space Telescope: the sharpest picture ever of the merging galaxies known as the Antennae. The Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies may be doing something very similar in about 4 billion years. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited. . tags: galaxies, astronomy, "outer space", science
Clouded Sulfur butterfly, Colias philodice, nectaring at the garden of the (now defunct) Tierra de los Suenos Bed and Breakfast near Patagonia, Arizona, mid-July 2003. Image: Biosparite. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited. . tags: butterfly, clouded sulfur butterfly, insect, lepidoptery, zoology