Flirting around !

It took me half and hour to follow the Danaid Eggfly female just to get a photo. Just as she settled down [ and i had a small breather] the male approached her, sat in front of her and started vibrating his antennae and wings. Quietly, I got down on my stomach and approached them carefully. As I went closer, I noticed that the male eggfly was vibrating his antennae all over the female's head and antennae. Hmmm... looked like he was in a mood to woo her... and taking this opportunity, I took a photo of the romantic couple. The female, shy as can be, moved a little by the time I clicked...probably she had the feeling that they were being watched... [hmmm... I wonder why?? ]

Handicaps within the Invertebrates

I was looking for insects in my garden one evening and found this jumping spider sitting on a banana leaf. I was quite surprised to find out that this spider had all his 4 legs on one side of his body missing !! This was the first time that I had seen a handicapped individual in the invertebrate kingdom [especially jumping spiders] who have survived !! But this spider was full of life... even with 4 legs [ all on the same side of the body] it was able to move [ little slowly, but surely] and to an extent JUMP !!! but with his other legs missing, I am sure that it would have posed a problem while hunting. I saw the spider only for a day. I dont know how it had lost its limbs, or how it had survived till then... but it sure showed that humans are not the only ones undergoing pain, trauma, and the like... for we are taken care of others around us, who will help us to survive. In the spider's world, others are waiting to eat you !!

Ancient Architects - Changing Rocks to Soil

During one of the outings, I happened to notice something quite like never before. I was on the lookout for butterflies, specially the smaller ones, so I was lying on the ground to get a better view. Crawling ahead in the same position I happened to come close to a small rock. This rock had 2 small holes in them. At first glance it looked like someone had driven a couple of nails into the rock. But, on looking closer I saw a lot of ANTS walking all over the rock, inside the hole and outside, carrying bit sized rock pieces and throwing them in the most orderly fashion ! After making sure that it was a rock that the ants were digging into, I took a break from butterflies to observe the ants. These creatures, I must admit, are the greatest architects !! They were using their sheer numbers and their tiny brains in building themselves a new home THROUGH a ROCK !! now what better protection do they need?? Home is a STONE fortress, and the army is about a MILLION strong !
Coming to think of it.... why did we humans think of something like this before?? we got bigger brains and the same number of individuals !!

Natural Wallpaper !

Walking on a road running right through the Eastern Ghats one fine summer morning, my friends and I were looking for butterflies. We were on an outing specially for identifying and photographing them. Since there was no traffic THAT early in the morning, we were walking right in the middle of the road.... and we found something . Upon further examination I was able to decipher what the creature was. The poor fellow must have tried crossing the road sometime when a big vehicle ran over him/her. The fellow had become a Wallpaper instantly ! poor dear !!! Hope the creature is identifiable !