Sarcodes sanguinea

Lobster claw ginger, Botanical garderns Hilo HI.

Julia Heliconian (dryas julia)

California state butterfly, the Buckey (junonia coenia) at the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History, California

Green Grasshopper (Scudderia furcata or mexicana) found under some persimmon trees in the Santa Cruz Mountains, California

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)

Dead Cholla frames Goodding Verbina (Verbina gooddingii, Native) flowers on Wild Horse Canyon Road in Mojave National Preserve, CA. This springtime bloom sprouted in an area that burned last summer. Goodding Verbina is commonly associated with pinon, juniper and joshua trees and usually grows at elevations between 4000-6500 feet.

Ensatina eschscholtzii xanthoptica - Yellow-eyed Ensatina, adult in defensive pose

Ensatina eschscholtzii xanthoptica - Yellow-eyed Ensatina,

Pink Zebra Tarantual, Eupalastrus campestratus (detail of legs) Captive animal provided by Dennis Sheridan at Brooks Institute of Photography campus in Montecito, CA. This Tarantula is from the grasslands of Paraguay. Leg hairs are a desert adaptation provide protection as well as reducing moisture loss. Magnification about 0.7x

Windmill Farm

Strawberry snowball tree (Dombeya sp. probably cacuminum) Pink tree blossoms found at Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens in Santa Barbara, CA. Blossome appear early in spring and fall from the tree to carpet the ground. Decaying flowers turn brown. This large tree is native to Madagascar. Magnification 1:2

Dandelion seedpod in the morning frost

Wheatgrass

Red Cymbidiums growing in a temperature controlled greenhouse at Westerlay Orchids, 3504 Via Real, Carpinteria, CA. The orchids in the Westerlay greenhouses are individually watered via a drip irrigation system.

Amourus Banana slugs (Ariolimax dolichyphallus, Native) Limekiln Creek, Limekiln State Park, Big Sur, CA. This looks to be the beginning stage of mating because no sex organs are visible. As dolichyphalus might imply (to the Latin savy) the peins of the Banana slug is quite large, often being as long as it's body. Magnification is 1:2

Windmill Farms