Spiky Leaf Beetle, Hispellinus Sp., Family Chrysomelidae, Keelung, Taiwan

happy pride month

brought to u by my most tolerant rat & some vegan food dye

Hummingbird moth time of year!

Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis)

July 11, 2023

John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge, Tinicum, Pennsylvania

this stunning bird is a red-tailed hawk with a genetic mutation called leucism that causes a reduction in pigments.

source: (x)

I’ve heard people calling those grey calico/tortoiseshell cats “dilute calico” but I haven’t seen that anywhere that goes in-depth on phenotype. Is it usually called something else? Or is there another thing I’m missing?

Thank you for your time and all the information you make available! It’s really neat :)

Dilute tortoiseshell is a common way to refer to blue tortoiseshell cats, which may also be called blue and cream.

Blue is the dilute of black and thus blue tortoiseshell is the dilute of black tortoiseshell - which is the traditional black and red tortoiseshell that probably comes to mind when you hear the word.

Gray isn’t a genetic term or used in the cat fancy but is a colloquial way for the layperson to refer to the color more accurately called blue.

Lilac is dilute of chocolate and fawn is dilute of cinnamon so these may be called “dilute tortoiseshell” as well in their tortoiseshell varieties but I don’t see this as often likely because nearly all cats with those colors are purebred and will be referred to using the proper terminology.

Calico is another colloquial term used to refer to tortoiseshell’s with a notable amount of white.

So gray tortoiseshell/calico and dilute tortoiseshell/calico are often used interchangeably.

Giant Flower Beetles (Genus Mecynorhina), family Scarabaeidae, from various parts of tropical Africa

M. savegei

M. torquata

M. polyphemus

M. obertheri

photograph by Ennis Fei (@ennisanna_fei)

Source

Tripodfish, Discoverichthys praecox larva Appreciation Post!! 🩵 💙 🌊

Rare Tripodfish larva, an Ipnopidae species, found on a blackwater dive off Kona, Hawaii. Body size about 3.5cm

📷 credit: Steven Kovacs

You love to sea it 🌊

Leafy Sea Dragon (Phycodurus Eques)