Time for the unveiling of the sticker sheet! Available to Masters of Disguise, Amazing Mimics, Sticker Mimics, and as an add-on for other tiers!
This is a 4"x6" sticker sheet featuring mimics that I couldn't fit into the book. Here's some details on these amazing animals:
Termite-mimicking Rove Beetle (Austrospirachtha carrijoi): A beetle that lives parasitically inside termite nests. To blend in, it not only smells like a termite but has an overgrown abdomen shaped like a termite's body!
Cheetah Cub (Acinonyx jubatus): Young cheetahs have a poof of gray hair on their backs that make them look like honey badgers. Honey badgers are fearless predators, so most animals stay away from them.
Cinereous Mourner Chick (Laniocera hypopyrra): These birds begin life with fluffy orange feathers that make them look like flannel moth caterpillars, who hide a painful sting beneath their long hairs. The chick even moves like a caterpillar to make the disguise more convincing.
Pinnate Batfish Juvenile (Platax pinnatus): The stunning color and frilly fins makes the fish look like a poisonous flatworm swimming around. They lose this bright coloration when they become adults, instead traveling in schools for protection.
Fungus-mimicking Orb Weaver (Taczanowskia waska): Recently discovered in Ecuador, this spider is unusual because it mimics a dead spider infected by a fungus! It captures unsuspecting insects that get too close.
Buff-tip Moth (Phalera bucephala): A moth that mimics a freshly broken twig. When resting, the moth folds its wings to form a cylinder so that the pale spots on both ends look like splintered wood.
In other news, we're about $400 away from the first stretch goal!
After staring at covers at a book fair, I felt inspired to finish up the cover! Look at all that hand-drawn text!
Digital mockup of the book
If we hit the 2K stretch goal, the cover will be elevated with some glossy spot UV! Share this project with your fellow bug aficionados and let's get that upgrade!
Poll is up for choosing the design for the bookmark!
Here's some deets on the featured mimics!
Peruvian Shield Mantis (Choeradodis rhombicollis): A mantis with leaf-like pronotum and wings. It pretends to be a leaf to ambush unsuspecting insects!
Northern Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium californicum): A small owl with eyespots on the back of its head. The fake eyes fool predators into thinking that the owl is staring right at them, preventing sneak attacks!
Dragon Flower Mantis (Toxodera integrifolia): A stunningly-colored and strangely-shaped mantis. It mimics a long, tubular flower found in the tropical rainforests it inhabits!
Eastern Coral Snake (Micrurus fulvius) & Scarlet Kingsnake (Lampropeltis elapsoides): The coral snake is the venomous model, and the kingsnake is the non-venomous mimic. Most animals don't want to find out the hard way which is which.
Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) & Viceroy Butterfly (Limenitis archippus): Once considered a Batesian mimic of the monarch, more recent research discovered that birds also find viceroy butterflies distasteful. Now monarchs and viceroy butterflies are considered Müllerian mimics!
Red Spotted Nudibranchs (Chromodoris species): Multiple species of chromodorid nudibranchs in Australia are Müllerian mimics of each other, all taking on a similar pattern of white with red spots as a warning of their toxicity.
First place becomes the bookmark design, but if we hit our stretch goal of $2500, the second place design will be available as an alternate option!
For Returning Backers (those who pledged during the Insects A to Z campaign)
Behold, a double mimic! The Costa Rica leaf moth (Oxytenis modestica) mimics a snake when it's a caterpillar and a dead leaf as an adult. It can be found from Guatemala to South America. This sticker will be 2.5" in diameter.
For Early Followers (those who followed the project before launch)
It's a mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus) pretending to be a banded garden spider! Though it's unlikely these two would ever meet, it's fun to imagine how the octopus would try to mimic an arachnid! This sticker will be 3" tall.
If you qualify for either of these, you will receive the sticker as a freebie when you make a pledge! If you are a returning backer and an early follower, you'll get BOTH!
