sciart

62d

Happy 2026 #WorldSnakeDay 🎉🐍

This year decided to do a fan favorite! The Arabian Sand Boa!

Also known as Eryx jayakari, they stay just below surface with only eyes showing, ready to pounce on passing small creatures.

#SciArt #ReptileArt #SnakeArt #NatureArt #WildlifeArt #AnimalArt

Digital sketch study of an Arabian Sand Boa. The Arabian sand boa is a small snake growing to a total length (including tail) of about 38 cm (15 in). The eyes are very small and are located on the top of the head, which has a blunt snout and is wedge shaped. This snake's color is yellowish grey or sandy brown speckled with white flecks and transversely banded with dark marks

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13d

Two new pages of the #carnivorousPlant #zine are up! Click the link for the whole thing :)

Edited to replace the second page where I somehow managed to line up the text around the image without realizing I had duplicated an entire paragraph, because I'm sooo professional.

https://tippitiwichet.wordpress.com/bog-monsters-how-carnivorous-plants-do-the-things-they-do/

#sciArt #tardigrade #wetlands #frogs #goblincore #bogwitch #illustration #humanMadeArt #art #wetlands #ecology #nature

Illustration of a pine barrens tree frog on a blueberry branch, with grasspink orchids and a leaf from Sarracenia minor (a pitcher plant). Illustration has the text:

Humans aren’t the only risk these bog loving species must face. While we don’t usually think of fire when we think of wetlands, many wetland species, including some pines, need an occasional fire to help them thrive. While the fire might threaten the animal and insect species that live there, without it they would loose the wetland habitat they rely on.

Bogs and pocasins may get quite dry in spring or summer, and be prone to fires that keep the growth under control. These fires keep low-growing, sun-loving plants such as flytraps from being overshadowed by growing shrubs. Without such fires, the bogs and pocasins would slowly develop into a forest. Because of these fires, the soil has a high ash content. So, even though they are separate from the water table, some minerals may be present from the ash. However, these minerals are used by the moss itself to wage biological warfare in a bloodthirsty struggle for resources.

At the heart of what makes a bog, we find sphagnum moss. Each strand of moss is an individual plant. They do not have roots, just a main stem with drooping branches full of pointed, tube-like leaves. The leaves have large, empty cells that absorb and hold water, soaking it up like a sponge. It can hold up to 20 times its weight in water. This makes it very effective at filtering the water that passes through it, and it has learned to use this to its advantage.

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A chubby little tardigrade in sphagnum moss, with the moss enlarged to show the detail of a branch and cellular structure in the background with the text:

Like many plants, sphagnum mosses have a trick up their sleeves to give themselves an advantage to compete for resources. Slow growing plants like moss can quickly get overshadowed. However, the moss likes acidic conditions, and can even make conditions even more acidic by absorbing minerals plants love such as potassium and magnesium, and replacing these minerals with hydrogen ions. When we talk about acidity, we are talking about that very thing, how many hydrogen ions are in the environment. The more there are, the more acidic it is.

This not only means fewer minerals are available, but what nutrients are left may become unusable. Acidic water may cause minerals to form bonds with each other. When this happens, they are less likely to dissolve in water, so plant roots are unable to pull them up into the plant, starving the plant of the resources it needs for proper metabolism and building of cellular structures. Plants wither from hunger, and their roots burn in the acidity. Meanwhile, the moss thrives.

Most plants can’t survive in this environment but some, such as carnivorous plants, have adapted to fight back. In a mature bog, the moss rises in little mounds or hills. Plants who can handle the pressure find themselves a cozy home with few competitors, and plenty of moisture from what the moss holds. Some acid loving plants start taking over. This can be anything from grasses to shrubs such as cranberry and blueberry, and trees such as black spruce and birch. Orchids love bogs and pocasins, and are often found growing near carnivorous plants.

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Edited 13d ago

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