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[colinpurrington]

Steam vents at Volcanoes National Park, one stop on two-week drive around the Big Island. The steam is from rain that seeps down closer to magma. Creepy, and filled with rather alarming warning signs for those with lung problems (because sulphur fumes, hydrochloric acid, etc.). People rarely die, apparently. When they do it’s usually from slipping into hidden vents, or from falling off nearby cliffs (crater rims) … judgement lapses often facilitated by alcohol and complications of being XY.

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Copper underwing (Amphipyra pyramidoides), the 3rd and final photograph from July 30th Moth Night at Hildacy Farm Preserve. For the record, it’s not actually an underwing (i.e., not in genus Catocala). Thanks to Tom Murray for ID.

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Pandora sphinx moth (Eumorpha pandorus), I think. Photographed at Natural Lands Trust's Moth Night at Hildacy Farm Preserve in Media, PA. It was the biggest moth of the night.

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I *think* this is a green arches moth (Anaplectoides prasina), but happy to be corrected. Photographed at Natural Lands Trust's Moth Night held at Hildacy Farm Preserve in Media, PA.

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View of Halema‘uma‘u crater on Kilauea Volcano. On some nights you can see the lava splattering above the rim. Amazing experience, and wonderful to hear the “oooohs” and “wows” whispered in so many languages by fellow visitors at Jaggar Museum viewing area. Volcanoes National Park, Hawai'i Island.

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Enormous Indian banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis) near Rainbow Falls in Hilo, Hawai'i. Some claim this is actually three trees, though I’m not sure how they determined that. Very reminiscent of H. R. Giger’s Alien, when its feeder tendrils have taken over a large room of the base and are busy sucking the life juices out of immobilized crew. Creepy.

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I spent an hour at Hildacy Farm Preserve yesterday trying to get a photograph that had both a bumblebee and a snowberry clearwing moth (a bumblebee mimic), but all I could manage was a bumblebee next to a hummingbird clearwing moth (Hemaris thysbe). But I’m still posting because it’s a moth, and it’s National Moth Week.

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Rainbow Falls (Waianuenue) on the Wailuku River State Park near Hilo, Hawai'i. Beautiful, but to be honest I really just wanted to look for Stimpson’s goby (Sicyopterus stimpsoni), the Hawaiian endemic that has the ability to scale vertical rock faces at waterfalls using suction cups. As if that wasn’t cool enough, they also maintain adorable little gardens rocks. Really. I need to go back.

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Redbud (Cercis canadensis) leaves emerging from a protective plastic tube, one of hundreds at Hildacy Farm Preserve in Media, PA. It’s expensive and labor-intensive, but far easier than enclosing the entire area in a 12-ft deer fence. Restoring wolves and mountain lions would probably work, too, but that might be concerning to preserve visitors.

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Snowberry clearwing moth (Hemaris diffinis) nectaring on wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa). Because it’s Moth Week, apparently. Hildacy Farm Preserve, Media, PA.

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Found this frog hopping around outside my hotel room in Waikoloa, Hawai’i. I’ve never seen such a small frog — maybe ½ cm in length. That round yellow thing under its leg is a grain of sand from coral beach. After about 10 minutes it stopped moving and died … desiccated from the heat and dry air. Probably a greenhouse frog (Eleutherodactylus planirostris) but I’m not positive. Invasive in Hawai'i so don’t be too sad about that death.

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Grove of coconuts near Chain of Craters Road in Volcanoes National Park, Hawai'i. You can’t tell from this photo, but they look odd because the rest of the landscape is black lava. They were planted by the NPS to mark the ancient village of Panau.

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Red slate pencil urchin (Heterocentrotus mamillatus). As the name implies, the radiols are handy for writing on black slate chalkboards. Makalawena Beach, Puu Alii Bay, Hawai’i.

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A happy sight on Hawai'i: a small Asian mongoose (Herpestes javanicus) dead on the side of the road. Mongooses eat eggs and young hatchlings of native birds and turtles … not the rats they were brought to the islands to control. Mongooses are also really hard to photograph when they are alive, so I was extra happy to see this one.

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Semi-translucent gold dust day gecko (Phelsuma laticauda). When viewed on a desktop you can see the vertebrae. I think. Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i.

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Sunset in Kailua-Kona, former capital of Hawai'i. The tall tree at right, amid the palms, *might* be a Norfolk Island pine (A. heterophylla), but it could be a Cook pine (Araucaria columnus), originally from New Caledonia (not Cook Island). I’m sure there’s a way to tell from the branch angle, but they are so often misidentified online that I can’t find a reliable source for reference. Plus they hybridize, which doesn’t help at all. I gather that Captain Cook introduced the Norfolk Island pine to Hawai’i (and other islands) to provide better masts for sailing vessels (they made awful masts, it turned out). But Cook pine has “Cook” in its name so most people assume he introduced the *Cook* pine for masts. I’m actually not sure which story is correct. Cook pines are often sold in the continental U.S. (at Christmas time) as Norfolk Island pines, and this inability to distinguish them probably goes back 100s of years.

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Pair of Hawaiian garden spiders (Argiope appensa). Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i./p>