Shiny Flea Beetle (or “Gator Beetle”)

It is scientific tradition, when giving the Latin name of an organism, to follow it, in parentheses, with the name of its discoverer: hence, many Latin names are followed by, say, (Linnaeus), or even just (L), for Carolus Linnaeus, who named so many things. The shiny flea beetle, Asphaera lustrans, was formally named by George…

Hammerhead Flatworm

This is a shovel-headed garden worm, wandering hammerhead worm, or hammerhead flatworm, Bipalium vagum — technically not a worm like an earthworm, but a land planarian. Planaria actually eat earthworms and other invertebrates. Planaria are way too cool and fascinating for me to get fully into here — check out this site (among others) for…

Fairy Inkcap

The fairy inkcap mushroom, also known as trooping crumble cap, is a small white mushroom with a long, thin, hollow stem and an almost round white cap which will eventually turn gray-brown as the fungus ages. It is a “vegetarian” fungus, and typically appears in often quite large clusters around the bases of tree stumps….

Dog Turd Fungus

I ordinarily try not to be crass online, but sometimes you’ve just gotta use a certain phrase. There’s not a lot this squishy, brown, suspiciously cylindrical fungus resembles more than, ahem, dog poop, especially when you step on it (I bet you can guess how I know). The brown color is so strong that yarn…

New Guinea Flatworm

This was a new one on me. I caught it wandering across the bottom of our front door after a rainstorm, and quickly grabbed some photos of the “black worm”. Imagine my surprise when I saw these beady lil eyeballs! Meet Platydemus manokwari, the New Guinea flatworm. Googling it turned up terrifying articles with headlines…