Insects of the Day - Lake Mills Park

Mantispid or mantisfly, Mantispidae

Today I explored Lake Mills Park and came across the above mantispid (among many other insects) which made my morning! So far I've only seen one other mantispid in my life, a green one. This one seems decidedly rotund in the abdomen, I wonder if it is a gravid female (or, hope not, possibly it has internal parasites)? Mantispids are in the order Neuroptera and not related to mantids, though they hunt in a similar fashion; ambushing prey by grabbing them in their raptorial forelimbs.

Air potato leaf beetle - Lilioceris cheni

Florida is overrun with invasive air potato vine which chokes out native vegetation. This beetle was introduced as a biological control a few years ago since it was found to feed exclusively on the air potato...and I'm happy to report it's kicking ass.

Invasive air potato vine

The "potato"

Ebony jewelwing damselfly, Calopteryx maculata - male

Restless bush cricket, Hapithus agitator - female

Restless bush cricket, Hapithus agitator - male

I'm not sure how they earned their moniker...both crickets seemed quite calm ;)

Florida oblong-winged katydid, Amblycorypha floridana

Long-legged fly, Dolichopodidae (possibly Plagionerus univittatus)

Netwinged beetle, Caenia dimidiata

Citrus root weevil, Diaprepes abbreviatus

The citrus root weevil is a beautiful insect and comes in many colors but is unfortunately an introduced agricultural pest. Besides citrus it also feeds on many ornamentals.

Palm flatid planthopper, Ormenaria rufifascia

Robber fly:

Bye!

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Day 16 - A Word for That

"Invent a new word and illustrate or demonstrate its meaning" " PETASUSAURUS " Noun . A lizard, preferably a chameleon, that is placed on the head to control bothersome mosquitoes. From the Latin, petasus , meaning "hat" and the Greek, sauros . meaning "lizard;" or literally, a "lizard hat." Modern usage : " Hey man, nice petasusaurus! " (I haven't drawn in anime style for ages!) (October 17, 2016) Update: I've been corrected, "Hey (wo)man, nice petasusaurus!" Thanks, AS

How I Make Tiny Art Books

Moon Phase & Black Cat Version II Tiny concertina softcover art book, 1-1/8" square I have loved tiny books since I was a kid, and I used to both collect them and make them. I usually made them with staples, because as a kid, that seemed like the most logical binding, but I also experimented with string, tape, and brads. I would draw comics in them, usually cats, after they were bound, which was rather ass-backwards of me. So now I'm a wee bit older and I still love making books (and I still have 4 tiny books from my original collection). I wanted to show how I made this one, which is composed of thick black paper, parchment style paper, hand-carved stamps, and a ribbon closure. All materials are archival safe. How it's Made: It always begins with a pencil drawing. After sketching out the moon phase cats, I transferred the drawings to pink stamping material and carved each one by hand. I love the primitive look of hand stamping and I wanted this book to be reprodu

Creating a Linoleum Block Print

Maneki Neko , completed July 23, 2015 Here is a photographic illustration of how I make lino block prints... original pencil sketch Every lino starts with a sketch. Often I will flip the image (and resize if necessary) using the computer. Sometimes I can trace onto the block directly from the original. Here I am using graphite paper to transfer the drawing (which is under the white paper in this photo). Note that the image has been flipped. Since I work primarily on a small scale (usually smaller than 2" x 3" - 5 x 7.5 cm), I typically use just three blade types for cutting the design into the linoleum: the #1 V blade for details, the #2 V blade for further outlining, and the #5 U blade for removing the excess linoleum. Here I have cut the detail lines and the outline once with the #1 blade. This is the second outline with the #1. I widen the outline around the image in stages for two reasons. First, one is less likely to

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