#tawny emperor

[onenicebugperday]

@rosemaryrain364 submitted: We found this beautiful pupae in the garden. My dad is digging a drainage gutter across the back and unearthed it. After a few pictures it was returned, hopefully no worse off for being disturbed.

I think it's a type of Sphinx moth, but can't be certain.

This other guy was crawling up the outside wall of a local coffee shop, no vegetation nearby. I hope it made it! Likely a Hackberry butterfly.

Both seen in or near Corpus Christi, Tx, USA

That caterpillar is absolutely precious. Definitely one of the emperors, but hackberry and tawny look the same to be so idk. But the pupa is definitely a sphinx. Maybe an obscure sphinx.

[windpurr]

My poor phone is crying for me to stop taking pictures but Nature's just so pretty!

[youbutterbelieveitsnotbutter]

Tawny Emperor

This picture was taken two years ago in October, I believe this particular butterfly is called a Tawny Emperor, and they seem to be enjoying the lemon cypress that they're resting on.

[fausfirous]

Just wanted to share this cool ass butterfly i found at work :)

[heyitsrink]

Big shoutout to The Goblin Emperor, which I finished at 5:10 on New Years Eve, for being one of the reading highlights of 2023. It's tied for my favorite read of the year alongside my beloved Fool's Errand.

[professionalunprofessional]

A Tawny Emperor!

[mandy-malady]

[hibiscera]

This is the butterfly I saw that prompted this post btw. (:

IDs a butterfly or moth and then immediately checks its range to see if it’s also located in New Jersey so I can know if Drury would see them too.

[xphaiea]

Tawny emperor egg cluster

[halltastic]

Tawny emperor

[archivist-crow]

On this day:

CENTAUR IN CENTERVILLE

On May 18, 1963, in the tiny town of Centerville, Illinois, police were bombarded with over fifty phone calls from people who had seen a centaur. The mythical creature had first been seen in St. Louis, just across the Mississippi River. A group of school children said they had witnessed a "half man, half woman with a half bald head and a half head of hair" prowling around a housing project and vanishing into an old tunnel. A St. Louis Police Department patrolman declared that the children had definitely observed something and that the beast apparently tussled with a man near the school. The centaur was also seen by a shocked James McKinney, directly in front of his house. He said, "It looked like a half-man, half-horse." The creature appeared to be in the area for two weeks.

Greek poets tell of a race of beings having arms, chests, and heads of men, but bodies like those of horses. Living in Thessaly, this species was reputed to have groups that were kind and groups that were savage. In the mythology of the Iliad, the centaurs attended a wedding, but became drunk. They then attempted to make off with the bride and other women at the feast.

During the second century AD, Phlegon of Tralles wrote his infamous Book of Marvels. One of the book's many sensational stories tells of a hippocentaur, captured in Arabia and sent, as a gift, to Egypt. Unfortunately, it died and was then embalmed and offered to the emperor of Rome, who displayed it in his palace. The centaur had a fierce face, a tawny mane, hairy arms and fingers, and ribs joined to its front legs, which ended in hooves.

Text from: Almanac of the Infamous, the Incredible, and the Ignored by Juanita Rose Violins, published by Weiser Books, 2009

[onenicebugperday]

@emordnilap-fr submitted: went on a walk recently, thought you may like some of these guys :]

unidentified caterpillar making the :3 face! i tried looking but couldn't ID it; location is southeast louisiana if you have any ideas

a couple varying orb weavers: orchard orb weaver, yellow garden spider, and spiny orb weaver!

and golden orb weavers!! you can see the gold silk, the one on the right was fixing her web and eating(?) the damaged threads!

That caterpillar is absolutely precious. It's one of the emperor butterflies - they have cute lil horns. In your area either a hackberry emperor or a tawny emperor.

VERY nice collection of spiders. The southeast is very lucky to have such a huge range of cool spider species. Please blow them all a kiss from me.

[windpurr]

I had some crazy luck with my butterfly pictures got a lot of tawny emperors and one green June bug swaming a tree and go some pretty good pictures.

[skyrim-forever]

The Dragonborn's Inferno

Since my silly little post about wanting to write a crossover TES/Divine Comedy garnered a lot of interest I decided to go ahead and give it a shot! This is a little scene I'm working on for Canto I of Inferno.

Tagging those who showed interested in reading: @greyborn2 @lucien-lachance @thana-topsy @naturalbornlosers @ladytanithia @alicehealer @abstractredd @saffronornah @faenamoonseeker @notoriousbastardlover @alpha-centauriiae <3

Thank you so much for your interest it was really motivating, I hope you enjoy!

Canto I

Ascended half-way up the mountain  I found myself obscured in snow Confused, and I knew I lost the way

There was no way to tell where I was The snow blowing wildly in the wind To remember it sends a shiver down my spine

The wind so biting, but not worse than death itself Arkay’s embrace had eluded me that day For there was good to be found on that mountain

The wind had cleared to let me see That I was at the Throat of the World All of Tamriel within my vision

I could see much further than any time prior From the Adamantine Tower in High Rock To the festering jewel of Black Marsh

But the view did not remain mine alone For from behind me came the roar of a troll A frost troll, one that I had recognized 

Having fought this valiant foe before I was surprised to have found it again Especially now, on one such day

The troll lunges for my arm Narrowly dodging it’s fearsome claws I went to ready an attack

I did not have time to go on the offence For a golden figure appeared between the troll and I Reduced it to nothing but dust 

“Have mercy on me you, you the man before me” I shouted to the figure A figure which transformed into a man

A man of simple robes And medium length tawny hair Stood before me, his smile warm

“No longer a man, but in my mortal life I was one. I was born in the Imperial Province A commoner, meant to fulfill a divine purpose.

My youth was spent in debauchery, Until I found the Divines. Who never intended for me to rule.”

How could I have not known? I open my mouth to speak Fearful of stuttering in his presence

“For you are Emperor Martin Septim, 

The leader, the martyr, who died for Tamriel. You who embodied Akatosh in that great battle.”

I finished my statement by bowing Grateful that he had appeared to me To know that I did not walk this plane alone

“I come to you now, in my true form, Despite it all, in my heart I am but a priest, acting in his will”

Gesturing for me to stand up,  I obeyed the Emperor To which he spoke again to me

“You who have lived a thousand lives Dragonborn does not cover the extent of you life” The Avatar of Akatosh tells me

“You who have been Listener and Guildmaster, Moon-born and Vampire,  Stormcloak and Legionnaire”

I was humbled by his kind words That the Hero of the Oblivion Crisis And last true Emperor, would even speak to me

“You flatter me my liege But I stand but a humble individual Graced in your divine light”

And I continued to speak my praises “You who, along with the Hero of Kvatch Succeeded in destroying Mehrunes Dagon”

Through the grace of Akatosh, he laughed A slight chuckle in good will Divinity had only increased his kindness

“I say nothing that is untrue friend,  For I who has always known you,  See in my heart you, truly, as Akatosh’s chosen”

The Avatar of Akatosh himself Saw me as an equal, even if my actions  Pale in comparison to his

“Please, my Emperor, tell me about that day! The day Kvatch was attacked!” I plead with him

A warm smile emerged on his face “I’m afraid most memories have left me, Memories of my dear friend are gone.”

“Though I may not remember their name, Nor do I remember their face, I do remember the warmth of their friendship”

His eyes closed, basking in the memories “But I do not you are not unlike them Both prisoners burdened by destiny”

A moment of silence fell between us I waited for the last Septim to break it To which he did

“We must make haste Dragonborn,  For I have been asked to guide you. Another divine quest is asked of you”

And so we left that mountain The highest point in Tamriel Followed his lead into the void.

[cutestbabyanimalbracket]

All round one results are in! Let's say congratulations to our winners, listed from widest to narrowest margin:

72.3 points: Snow Leopard, defeated Grey Butcherbird

68.3 points: Striped Skunk, defeated Australian Pelican

66.4 points: Piping Plover, defeated Keel-Billed Toucan

59.8 points: Black Footed Cat, defeated Barnacle Goose

58.7 points: Masked Lapwing, defeated Eastern Red Bat

58.1 points: Egyptian Fruit Bat, defeated American Bullfrog

53.9 points: Tawny Frogmouth, defeated Star-Nosed Mole

51.8 points: Sea Otter, defeated Australian Magpie

51.0 points: American Alligator, defeated Inchworm

50.5 points: Asian Elephant, defeated Silkworm

50.2 points: Southern Pudu, defeated American Black Bear

49.2 points: Least Weasel, defeated Crayfish

44.7 points: Mini Lop Rabbit, defeated Domestic Guinea Pig

42.9 points: Great Purple Emperor, defeated Pygmy Seahorse

42.2 points: Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec, defeated Tardigrade

42.2 points: White-Tailed Deer, defeated Dumbo Octopus

41.4 points: Pygmy Goat, defeated Arctic Tern

36.8 points: Veiled Chamaeleon, defeated Barn Owl

36.2 points: Leopard Gecko, defeated Orca

34.8 points: Harp Seal, defeated African Forest Buffalo

27.0 points: Spectacled Flying Fox, defeated Gerenuk

26.1 points: Ball Python, defeated Okapi

25.1 points: Wild Boar, defeated Red Fox

22.9 points: Killdeer, defeated English Shorthorn

18.4 points: Clouded Leopard, defeated Capybara

16.4 points: South American Coati, defeated Ribbon Eel

15.6 points: Spotted Hyena, defeated Platypus

15.4 points: Tree Swallow, defeated Wild Turkey

12.4 points: Orchid Mantis, defeated Pygmy Slow Loris

8.7 points: Fairy Penguin, defeated Pygmy Hippo

5.4 points: Giant Pacific Octopus, defeated Aardwolf

2.1 points: Australian Owlet-Nightjar, defeated Spectral Tarsier

I'm gonna take at least a day or two before queueing up round 2. Unless I receive overwhelming feedback otherwise, I will again use a random number generator for the matchups, and use the same graphics (with taxonomic info) for each animal. However,

[rjzimmerman]

These ‘Trash Trees’ Are Actually a Banquet for Wildlife. (New York Times)

Excerpt from this New York Times Op-Ed from Margaret Renkl:

Hackberries are native to Alabama, where I grew up, but I was a child born of the piney woods, and I don’t recall ever noticing a single hackberry in my youth. The trees also grow in South Carolina, where I went to graduate school, but they didn’t register with me there, either. I was a newly transplanted Tennessean before I learned about “trash trees,” as people here call them.

The common hackberry is widespread from New England across to the Dakotas and down through the Midwest and Upper South. The Southern hackberry, a species also known as the sugarberry, blankets the Southeast down through Florida and west into Texas and northeastern Mexico. The two species overlap — and sometimes self-hybridize — in Tennessee. The Nashville naturalist Joanna Brichetto, author of the new book “This Is How a Robin Drinks: Essays on Urban Nature,” calls Nashville “the hackberry capital of the world.”

I don’t know if people call them trash trees in other places, but hackberries are widely disdained in the hackberry capital of the world. Their bark is a rough swath of warts. Their pocked, wrinkled, gall-infested leaves always look a little sick. In spring, their flowers drop to the ground and cover the sidewalks, and in fall their berrylike drupes do the same, without any gorgeous fall color to compensate for the mess.

One of the hackberries’ least desirable characteristics is not, strictly speaking, a feature of the trees themselves. Hackberries are targeted by the invasive Asian woolly hackberry aphid, which like all aphids excretes a sticky form of waste called honeydew. In wet summers, rain washes the honeydew away, but in dry years, the honeydew can accumulate and promote the growth of a soot-colored mold on whatever — car, sidewalk, patio furniture — happens to lie beneath the branches of a hackberry tree. “The mold is absolutely harmless,” Ms. Brichetto said when I asked her about it, “but people freak out.”

Unluckiest of all for a tree trying to survive the built human environment, hackberries have a growing habit that also freaks people out. Hackberries can grow giant horizontal branches that sprawl out across great expanses. Left unpruned, those heavy old limbs sometimes drop onto houses during storms.

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By now you’re thinking, “Yeah, that’s totally a trash tree.” I spent my first years here thinking the same thing.

But then, one fall, I started noticing something about those drupes and those gnarly, pitiful-looking leaves: They were feeding a vast array of my wild neighbors at a time when everybody desperately needs to eat. The locals need to fatten up for the cold winter ahead. The migrators need to fatten up for their long journey.

The hackberry is the host plant for dozens of lepidoptera species: 49 here in Middle Tennessee, according to Ms. Brichetto. Butterflies who use hackberries as a nursery include the tawny emperor, the question mark, the mourning cloak and, of course, the beautiful hackberry emperor. It’s impossible not to love a hackberry emperor butterfly. These gentle creatures will land on your skin to partake of the salt and other minerals in your sweat. The behavior is called puddling, and many butterfly species can be found puddling in the mud. Hackberry emperors will puddle right on your hand.

Combine all the juicy caterpillars dining on hackberry leaves and all the tiny, protein-packed bugs inhabiting the galls and all the fruit the hackberry itself produces, and it becomes clear that a hackberry tree is a banquet set with something for everybody. Including us.