Tag Archives: Beckys Squares

Seven-eleven Crab

A Seven-eleven crab in the waters off Hawaii

The Seven-eleven Crab (Carpilius maculatus), is easier to identify than it is to see. That’s because it’s mostly active at night. This one was probably on its way to its daytime resting spot when I saw it. It gets its name from the prominent red spots on its shell, two behind each eye and three on the back, with the other four generally less visible along the rear, though two of those are clear in this photo.

Posted for Becky’s Squares: Seven. See more responses here.

The Numbers Game #37

The SSV Makani Olu sailing off the Kohala coast in Hawaii
The SSV Makani Olu sailing off the Kohala coast.

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 158. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Also, seven photos posted for Becky’s Squares: Seven. See more responses here.

A square deal for bugs

A Seven-spotted ladybug on a leaf in Hawaii
A Seven-spotted Lady Beetle pauses on a leaf.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘All about bugs.’ See more responses here.

Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Seven. See more responses here.

The bugs in the next gallery were all on the same Monstera leaf, which had accumulated falling flowers from a palm tree.

Lurking

A Spotted Coral Blenny peeks out from a head of Cauliflower Coral in Hawaii

I took this photo of a head of Cauliflower Coral because I was happy about how healthy it looked. Then I saw that I was being watched. This Spotted Coral Blenny was wedged into the coral head, as they do, clearly waiting for me to move on.

Well, it is the last of the month, so time for me to move forward into June and for the blenny to go about his business.

Posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning. See more responses here.

Mauna Kea Silverswords

A Mauna Kea Silversword plsnt growing near the visitor center

Next door the Mauna Kea Visitor Center is an enclosed area where Mauna Kea Silverswords (Argyroxiphium sandwicense subsp. sandwicense) grow. These silverswords are closely related to species found on Mauna Loa and Haleakala on Maui. All silverswords are at risk of extinction. The reasons are the usual suspects: humans, feral sheep and goats, climate change. They also suffer from a lack of genetic diversity. The current burgeoning population of more than 8,000 has been produced from only six wild plants.

Silverswords can grow for 30 years or more, but once they bloom, they die. I haven’t seen a Mauna Kea Silversword blooming, but I was lucky enough to see Mauna Loa Silverswords blooming not long after I moved to the island (here). The second photo shows one of those plants in bloom. It was over six feet tall!

A silversword blooms on Mauna Loa.

Posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning. See more responses here.