[Photos] Forest macros.

[moonvoice]

Warning: there's some close-ups of centipedes and such under the cut.

Man, I love macro photography. For *most* of these, I used my Olloclip lenses (small iPhone attachment lenses). It means taking off my Otterbox cover every time I want to use them, but it's still so worth it.











That's not dirt on this orange shiny thing, that's like...lots and lots of tiny purple creatures.













House centipede





I *think* this is some kind of isopod but I honestly have NO IDEA. If anyone could help me out, I'd be very appreciative. Otherwise I'm gonna bug the museum about it, lol.





















Eucalyptus sap:

Comments

[alias_sqbr]

That is clearly a trilobite.

[bunny_m]

Can't be a trilobite, there's only one 'lobe'.

I guess that makes it a Unolobite? ;)

[alias_sqbr]

Good point, that must be it :)

[moonvoice]

IKR?? Lol. I have no idea honestly. I keep thinking isopod but then all my research didn't turn up anything similar looking and in the end I was like 'I dunno what you are prehistoric-looking creature, but you are freaking awesome.'

[alias_sqbr]

When you weren't looking it slipped back through it's wormhole to the alternate universe where various variations on trilobites rule the Earth.

[fred_mouse]

Some fabulous shots there!

[moonvoice]

Thank you :)

[bunny_m]

Gorgeous photos!

And hey, some kind of isopod is far closer than I got. I only got as far as "Some kind of arthropod", so your biology beats heck out of mine. ;)

[moonvoice]

'Some kind of arthropod' works too - even better if it's like a cockroach or something, heh.

[leecetheartist]

http://drhoz.livejournal.com/ is damn fine at i.d's.

[moonvoice]

I've pinged them over at Tumblr and we'll see what happens. :D

[silverjackal]

Scutigera! D: Heh. They are one of the few animals that automatically give me pause when I spot them even though I know they are completely harmless. It comes from encountering one unexpectedly I think, when I was six or so (I'm not sure, I was small). I felt something on my foot, looked down, and there was a large Scutigera. Of course it ran away with incredible speed, too, with its' many legs, and gave me a horrific start. Mind you I think I am over my ancient horror since the gravel around the rock in my front yard is home to a huge colony. Whenever I redo the ground cover there are hordes and of course I end up picking them up and putting them safely aside, so now I think I have recovered from the instinctive startle response they evoked before. (How ridiculous is it that I'm not put off by snakes or spiders, etc. but a harmless centipede gives me the pip.

Regarding your unknown organism I don't know what it is -- I would swear it was a Hemilepistus reaumuri (which is a species of woodlouse found in North Africa and the Middle East) but of course the location is entirely wrong.

[moonvoice]

Yes! Scutigera! I imagine seeing one in a house would be very alarming as a kid. I've never actually encountered them before (despite LOVING arthropods as a kid), so I was just excited and awed, and I was like 'this is a thing! I've seen this before! Quick research it!' Heh. As an adult, I just find them very pretty.

Those Hemilepistus look like our own standard woodlice. I found this one fascinating because its head was basically a huge flat broad scoop. It really was remarkably flat, and about two-three times the size of a standard woodlouse (I even wondered if it was in the cockroach family as a result). It's really quite baffling. I've seen quite a few different woodlice over the years, but this was new. :D

[silverjackal]

Based on your description I really have *no* idea what you could have seen. Hopefully you will find someone with a detailed knowledge of Australian isopods to identify it for you. That's assuming it can be identified, of course -- it may be an undescribed species as well. Natural history is always fun and exciting! :D