Dead Leaf Butterfly! (Kallima inachus)

Contributed by: Lauren Bradley

Autumn is right around the corner, and what a beautiful season it is! Here in Florida, we see the occasional red or yellow leaf during the autumn months, but really, all we can hope for is some cooler weather, and even that isn’t guaranteed. The Kallima inachus seems to agree with us humans in admiring the beauty of autumn, as they have evolved to imitate dead leaves! (Thus giving them their common name, the dead leaf butterfly). 

"If their lives are short, they are merry," and "they still continue on singing till they die." - Benjamin Banneker

Photo by lalo_pangue on Flickr. 

To Live Forever? The Mesmerizing Case of the Immortal Jellyfish

By Cat Chapman

As the hub for digitization of U.S. natural history collections, iDigBio aims to engage our community in promoting a more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and actively anti-racist community. To that end, the iDigBio team focused on issues of Education, Outreach, Diversity, and Inclusion has compiled this reading list to begin conversations in the classroom, in museum collections, and among colleagues. 

Contributed by: Libby Ellwood, Austin Mast, Robert Bruhn and Kevin Love

Contributed by Cat Chapman

Have you ever been out on a walk through nature, or even in your neighborhood, and saw what appeared to be a clump of tiny leaves, debris, or lichen… only to see it move?

Upon closer inspection of this mysteriously motile clump of detritus, you may see that it has tiny little legs underneath it. It’s alive!

Meet the trash bug!