iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Thanks! I used my phone as a black reflective platform and lit it with my table lamp. Possibly using a diffuser. For the camera i used a tripod mounted Nikon, either D3200 or 7200 but it doesn't matter much because the sensor is pretty much the same. Also macro rings.

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And finally how these ferns look from below

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Here is another more "intimate" angle

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Adam Ulicny @ulicny.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

A drop of water balancing on top of hydrophobic trichomes of the invasive water fern Salvinia molesta. I split the leaf with a razor in order to get the full detail of the trichome structure.

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Cool stuff! I was only familiar with the macroscopic slimes anyways. So for the non-amoebozoan slimes, what is the convergence you're speaking of? What makes a non-slime slime mold a slime mold?

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Adam Ulicny @ulicny.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

This is a slime mold. Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa var. porioides. The Coral slime. The looks and name might hint it's a fungus, but no. Most slime molds belong to amoeboza. This one can be found all over the world. I took this picture at the tri-border area between Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine.

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Adam Ulicny @ulicny.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

The buffalo treehopper (Stictocephala bisonia) is an invasive species here in Europe. It is pretty hard to spot as it is less than a centimeter long. More pictures in the replies.

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And don't worry, the bird wasn't harmed. The ornithologists were harmed by it's sharp beak though!

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Haha, no you didn't! In Costa Rica you saw toucans which are related to woodpeckers. Hornbills and toucans looking so similar despite being very distant in their phylogeny and even geography is a great example of convergent evolution. But no worries that is some bird nerd stuff 🤓

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Thanks! Sri Lanka is great for birds. And hoopoe's close relatives, the hornbills can also be seen there.

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A Common kingfisher, Alcedo atthis. This one was caught in a mist net for banding. Otherwise I'd never get that close to it. Most commonly you can spot a kingfisher as a blue/orange blur flying past the river bank thanks to it's sharp high-pitched whistle call.

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Eurasian hoopoe (Upupa epops)

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This is a female Smooth newt (Lissotriton vulgaris) seconds after laying eggs in a clump of algae. In the lower right corner you can spot another female coming over to cannibalize her eggs. Not sure if this behavior is common.

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Here's a couple pictures of a Sacoglossan, close relative of nudibranchs. Thuridilla hopei. It was about 1 cm in length and I caught it in Croatia near Zadar.

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An angry Common firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla). Firecrests are tiny birds with a very high pitched song. Once you learn it you cannot miss it. And if you play their song back to them, they will surely come have a look at the intruder.

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