Predators!

Although I get to see a few chrysalids around my small garden every year, not every butterfly can come into the world. There are predators lurking amidst the leaves. I started this blog with the birth of the Common Crow butterfly.These jewels look most striking when they're new and green. You can see how the colour changes as the days go by. After waiting eagerly for the final emergence, you can imagine my disappointment at the sight of the little opening on the chrysalis.

It must've been this spider lurking around here to suck the life out of an unborn butterfly.

And talking about spiders, looks like it's a spider eat spider world.

And here's a damselfly feasting voraciously on the remnants of what looks like a fly!

Skywatch Friday

Welcome to Skywatch Friday where bloggers from across the world post photos of sky shots. This scene was taken in Delhi from my cousin's balcony on the sixth floor. I thought the outline of the bell hung from the balcony roof overlooking the bustle of south Delhi and the pale blue sky would make a blogworthy capture.:)

My thanks to the Skywatch team. To see more skyscapes click here:- http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Skipper!

We see a lot of skippers around here but most of them are either grey or brown. Skipper butterflies are named so because of their quick, darting flight habits. They belong to the family Hesperiidae. Skippers are found all across the world and there are about 3500 different kinds.

This one was on a potato plant in my sister's garden. Checking my favourite bug website (www.thaibugs.com), I found out that it's called the Fulvous pied flat. I love that mix of brown, cream, and mustard on its wings. And I rarely get to photograph them with the wings spread out like that. What a treat it was to be able to get a shot like this!:)

The Common Indian Tree Frog

The other day as I went to open the front door in the morning, guess who was at my doorstep? This little tree frog that I had seen a few times before was looking a little lost and didn't know which way to go!;) I helped it out with a little stick (on which it climbed) and then I placed it next to my Monstera plant. It quickly grasped a new leaf and stayed like that for several minutes giving me the opportunity to take several shots.

The Common Indian tree frog/Polypedates maculatus is mostly brownish, yellowish, greyish, or whitish with darker spots and markings. They are about 7 to 8 centimetres in body length. Their call is a sudden short and rapid series of rattling rats-tats. It is widespread throughout Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Srilanka as well as western and southern Bangladesh. Its range might also extend to China and Myanmar.

They have dry roosts that they may use regularly. They wipe themselves with skin secretions consisting of mucus and lipids that help in reducing moisture loss. When temperatures are higher, they secrete from the skin, pant and adopt lighter colours. (Source: Wikipedia).

Here are some facts about frogs that I found online:-

Frogs shed their skin several times a year. They also eat their skin.

A group of frogs is called an army and a group of toads is called a knot!

In Brazil, the world's only fruit eating frog leaps with its mouth wide open at ripe fruit hanging on trees.

The world's biggest frog is the Goliath frog/Conraua goliath. They can grow to nearly a foot in length.

                                                                                                      

Skink!

Now that it's winter, it's a common sight to see a skink or two basking in the morning sun. I saw this one the other day in a neglected part of my back yard. There's only some kind of growth here so it must've been happy with the sunlight.

Skink is a small ground-dwelling lizard easily recognized by its glossy scales. It has enlarged symmetrical shields on the head, a broad flat tongue, and movable eyelids. The small limbs and elongated body gives it the appearance of snakes. Skink is striped, cross-barred, or spotted and lacks the ability to change colour but the male skinks acquire red or orange hues during the breeding season. These skinks are the most common lizards of the world with over six hundred species. About half the species of the skinks lay eggs, and the rest of them bear living young. These reptiles are generally insectivorous.
Source: www.indianet.zone/45/skink.htm

Had it not been for the limbs,this one could have been easily mistaken for a snake. I get startled sometimes, but one look at the limbs and I breathe a sigh of relief! Now I'll be on the lookout for another kind, the striped one. You might be interested in reading about the Writhing Skink here.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.~ Victor Hugo
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Pretty Little Moth

I came across this moth in the early hours one morning two years ago in my parents' yard. It was only recently that I found out what it's called. I checked out my favourite bug site www.thaibugs.com. It's a zygaenid moth called Pidorus gemina. This was the one and only time that I came across a moth with a colouration of this kind.

A Lizard And A Frog

Common garden lizard

Lizards are seen throughout the year but now that the temperature has come down  they like to bask in the sun. And every time I go out to the back yard or the front yard, I see a few of them in various stages of basking-in-the-sun.  Here's one I saw the other day on a stack of to-be-reused-old window frames.

You can see from the picture that there's a bit of old skin left on this lizard's neck. Unlike snakes, lizards shed their skin in patches. Before lizards shed their skin they tend to look dull and white patches appear on their bodies. Lizards eat the skin that comes off and the nutrients in it are beneficial for them.                                                                                                                                            

            

And here's a backyard resident, so called  because that's where I often see it. I'm happy with the butterflies, bees, and dragonflies, but it's nice to see some more variety around my yard.