Pipevine swallowtail caterpillar (Battus philenor) on pipevine (Aristolochia querectorum), at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, Arizona.
Tag: Tucson
Backswimmer.
In a garden pond at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, Arizona. Note the fine hairs extending from the insect’s abdomen that just break the surface tension of the water. The hairs draw air into grooved air-storage structures, visible along the lower margin of the insect’s body.
I’ve tentatively identified this critter as Notonecta lobata, though I didn’t collect him, and photo IDs often make me a little squeamish. Cum grano salis.
Backswimmer.
In a garden pond at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, Arizona. Note the fine hairs extending from the insect’s abdomen that just break the surface tension of the water. The hairs draw air into grooved air-storage structures, visible along the lower margin of the insect’s body.
I’ve tentatively identified this critter as Notonecta lobata, though I didn’t collect him, and photo IDs often make me a little squeamish. Cum grano salis.
Dithyramb 