Madagascar part XXIV

[pbertner]

Scorpion under UV light:



Ground chameleon (Palleon nasus):



Moth with cordyceps fungus:



Bark slug (new species, possibly new genus):



Ground chameleon (Brookesia superciliaris) hideout:





Ants preying on spider:



Juvenile female satanic leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus phantasticus):



Thanks for looking and commenting,
Paul

[LordV]

Wonderful selection Paul
Brian v.

[Chris S.]

Paul, capital set! (Even by the lofty standards we've come to expect as routine for you.) Photographically, my favorite is your ground chameleon hideout--blend of noteworthy subject, balance of focus vs. subject isolation, and lovely bokeh. The autofluorescing scorpion--riveting. For storytelling in a single image, the ants preying on the spider. For a natural history lesson, the moth stricken by fungus.

For scientific wow--and particularly intriguing to me, having worked for years with a taxonomist (though in plants)--is the nondescript slug. Can you tell us more about it? Did you harvest it for classification and potential status as a type specimen?

BTW, this thread reminded me to read more of your your blog. I'm not generally fond of blogs, but yours has fascinating writing. Recommended.

Cheers,

--Chris

[pbertner]

Thanks Brian and Chris, much appreciated!

The slug was probably my most interesting find in all of Madagascar. I didn't take a type specimen, I'm always reluctant to take specimens, especially when I don't have the proper methods for preservation. I've got several hundred photos of it though which I have sent to a specialist who hasn't seen anything quite like it. So a new species, if not a new genus. Difficult to say if it's just the cryptic nature or if it's actually rare, since none of the 20+ guides had ever seen anything like it...

Thanks for the Blog plug ... although it's seriously out of date, I haven't had the fortitude to continue writing whilst dealing with chronic lyme disease. At least it's given me the chance to clear some of the image backlog!

[ChrisR]

+1 to the blog - a regular read.

Awareness of Lyme disease is only slowly sinking in, locally. We have it in deer ticks in the bracken in a local park, but few parents have even heard of it. Good luck with that one.