Kavaledurga Fort is a slice of forgotten history amidst the Western Ghats. The Fort is a marvellous piece of engineering that includes complex defences and arrangements for rainwater harvesting. I had been to this fort several times. One of the most memorable trips was when my good friend Ashokavardhana and I purchased a new Honda … Read more
Who would consider ants farmers? Farmer is not a vocation naturally assigned to these tiny insects. The fact is that they herd and care for aphids to keep a much-loved food in constant supply. Aphids and ants on plants are as interdependent as Idli & sambar. I saw this Camponotus Ant on the underside of … Read more
I found these major workers of Weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) hunting a nymph of a cockroach. As these nymphs grow they are compelled to moult their cuticle, a process known as Ecdysis. After moulting, an arthropod is described as teneral, a callow; it is fresh, pale and soft-bodied. They are pretty vulnerable to attack by … Read more
Spiders are a far cry from the monsters people make them out to be. Spiders as a group consume more bugs than birds do. In our house, we enlist help from spiders, specifically Huntsman spiders (Heteropoda cf. venatoria) to keep our house as cockroach-free as possible. The male huntsman you see here was hunting a … Read more
I found a bunch of Blue Mud Dauber wasps in my garden sleeping on a dry vine. These Blue Mud Daubers, Chalybion bengalense are pretty common blue household wasps we encounter at home. Even though these are solitary wasps, males have a habit of sleeping in a group together. I was using my Canon EOS … Read more
I found these cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis) on a dry tree branch at Gurupura. They were all huddled together over a marshy land there. I wanted to create a dramatic contrast with dark background and a rim light for these white birds. It was 4PM with bright light all around. I had Canon EOS 5D … Read more