One of the new features at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden is a butterfly hut. In it are rows of chrysalises and, after the appropriate time, newly-emerging Monarch Butterflies. I took this photo to capture one such, but somehow, neither the butterfly or chrysalises can be distinguished. Instead, there’s reflections and layers of plants and mesh and glass at different levels, which I rather like.
The Asian Spiny-backed Orb-weaver Spider (Thelacantha brevispina) is an introduced species. Here, they’re known as crab spiders, which is how I’ve always referred to them, but they’re quite different to true crab spiders.
These are two different spiders, but give a good view of how they look, top and bottom.
A family settles in for the day under a palm tree at Anaehoʻomalu Bay, which is commonly referred to as A Bay for obvious reasons.
This Northern Cardinal looked splendid against the blue sky, and I also liked how he used his tail for balance.
Juvenile Bigeye Emperors have bold markings, which gradually fade and disappear entirely in adults, to be replaced by some yellow tinges.
These large fish are notable for their ability to hang motionless in the water, often in large groups.
Bamboo arches over a stream in Akaka Falls State Park.
The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 192. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
I saw this moth (Eligma narcissus) resting on a piece of pipe and knew it was something I hadn’t seen before. A name like that suggests trouble, but I’m not sure how much. I couldn’t find much online, and nothing about its presence in Hawaii.
It’s a native of tropical Asia, and some subtropical spots in that part of the world. Its larvae feed on Ailanthus species as well as Canarium species. And that’s about all I know!
Graham's Island 