Clanis Deucalion hawk moth

Seen at: Village Gunialekh, distt Nainital, Uttarakhand

Elevation: ~1800m

This species of hawk moth was found in the veranda early in the morning. It was calm, and could easily be relocated to the hand, presenting a good opportunity for study. It seemed a perfect pale brown initially, but a magnifying glass revealed finer details on its skin - thin wavy lines, dividing its forewing into tree distinct sections. Its antennae were curved gracefully, and bore no sensory hair, which meant it was likely a female (only males grow these hair as a means of catching pheromones sent out by the females, in moths).

As dawn broke, the moth was threated by an invasion of birds, hence was taken to the woods for relocation. It stayed calm throughout, and had no anxiety attaching itself to a tshirt and being walked around. 

It was placed on a pomegranate tree branch. It then starts to flutter its wings - maybe due to the cold outside, or due to the rhythms with the rising sun.The fluttering goes on for a coupla minutes, picking up intensity, till its forewings become a blur and fully expand, to reveal a spotted hindwing. It got airborne thereafter, and possibly settled on a Sal tree.

It has an interesting distribution map

Resources: 1, 2

The Giant Leaf-footed Bug - Coreida sp./spp.

This sighting dates back to 2007-ish. One fine morning, this shows up in a rocky patch behind the kitchen in the village home. It took a while to figure out what it exactly was - about 7 years. It took that long because of a giant feature on this giant leaf bug which is unlike any - the pronotum (which resemble horns on this one). Even though its id sheet mentions "humeral angles of pronotum broadly expanded", this one had outrageously expanded pronotum compared to what an image search returned.
While earlier identified as Acanthocephala Declivis, the id seems misleading, as it featured no thorny head (that Acanthocephala means). It is safe to say it is one of the family Coreidae (Leaf-footed bugs).

Arthropods > Hexapods > Insects > True Bugs > Pentatomomorpha > Leatherbugs > Leaf-footed bugs

Sulphogeana Sulphurea

This diurnal Cicada was the first colorful discovery (and ID) of the 2017 summers. The first sighting was as an anomaly on a distant branch, which remained unclear even when viewed through the binoculars. Then a few days later, it was spotted much closer, offering a great observation opportunity. It stayed at rest while the pictures were taken.

Sulpho is a root word meaning Sulphur-containing, and elemental Sulphur is yellow in color.. which hints it being named after the beautiful yellow patterns on its body.

Raise a toast (to this blog)

Doing what is long due,
consolidating time scattered in other pursuits,
to index the life all around,
divinity in nature that abounds.