Desert Survival Strategies: A Collage for LMAC #217

in Let's Make a Collage3 months ago (edited)

217 revised gif.gif

My collage is dedicated to @deirdyweirdy, who noted that my recent pictures have become increasingly dour. In this week's picture, life wins and there is a bright tomorrow :))

The collage began, of course, with the template offered by @shaka for this past week's LMAC Collage Contest (#217).

Template by @shaka
txjkBh6 - Imgur.jpg

My challenge, when I saw the template, was to come up with an upbeat concept. I didn't have to look far for inspiration. My daughter had given me three cactus plants. They are sitting by my office window, and one of them had produced a flower. Here's a picture of my cacti...notice the little petal on the central cactus.

cactus on my dresser.jpg
@agmoore

Hence, in my collage there were desert flowers. There was life, and a strategy for survival.

Survival Strategies in the Desert

I thought of this collage, and planned it, before I knew the specific species that would be represented. I understood, on general principal, that a thriving ecosystem is comprised of different elements that support each other. Therefore, the collage shows a spider that retreats from the midday sun. This spider finds refuge under the welcoming embrace of a plant. Also present in the picture are plants that greet the glaring midday sun with flowers.

After making the collage, I searched for examples that could illustrate these three aspects of the collage
1.) There is a flower species that blooms in bright sun.
2.) There is a spider species that seeks shelter from midday sun.
3.) There is a plant species that offers refuge to spiders in a mutualistic relationship.

Baja Fairy Duster Calliandra Californica (Plant That Loves the Sun)
Calliandra_californica_kz1 Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz 4.0.jpg
Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz. Used under CC 4.0 Attribution Share Alike International License

The information in this paragraph is taken from Gardening Know How: "Growing fairy duster prefers a sunny area, the hotter the better." This plant may tolerate the shade, but it loves the sun. It also loves water. Plant in a sunny spot in the garden and you will see the birds flock to it. "Hummingbirds flock to the fairy duster plant, as do wrens, finches, and other birds that live in the desert environment."

Solifugid: Camel Spider (Spider That Avoids the Sun)
Solfugid in veld near Uniondale Western Cape jonrichfield 3.0.jpg
Credit: jonfichfield. Used under CC 3.0 attribution share-alike international license

I have read on some sites that the solifuge is not a true spider. However, the Denver Museum of Natural History refers to the solifuge as an arachnid. According to the Museum website, the solifuge is the sixth most diverse order of arachnid, and yet little is known about its biology. The spider does retreat from the sun, though. Its name, 'solifuge', is derived from Latin and means, Those that flee from the sun.

The following information is taken from the website, Bug Eric Blogspot. The solifuge favors arid regions and is largely nocturnal. If you want to discover one in the daytime, flip over a rock or plant and you will find the spider hiding. These spiders are voracious, effective hunters, and run very fast. "Their jaws, or chelicerae, are the largest for body size among the group of animals that possess these specialized mouthparts". (This last bit of information about jaw size was obtained from Phys.org.)

Common Lantana Lantana Camera (A Plant That Shelters Spiders)
Lantana_camara_kz02 Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz 4.0.jpg
Credit: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz. Used underCC 4.0 Attribution Share Alike International License

A chapter in the book Behavior and Ecology of Spiders explains that spiders and plants often interact to the benefit of both. "Spiders derive benefits from plants such as shelter and access to insect prey. In turn, they can protect plants against herbivory...Specific spider–plant associations are mutualistic if spiders provide protective or nutritional benefits, thus improving plant fitness, and if plants provide shelter and suitable foraging sites to spiders."

One plant that fits this mutualistic description is the common lantana. The spider Evarcha culicivora is attracted to the plant because of phytochemicals released by the common lantana. The young in this spider species feed on nectar. The mature spider feeds on insects--insects that would be injurious to the plant. Also,the spider uses the common lantana for mating.

An interesting aside to this discussion is the benefit to people from this plant/spider mutualism. Apparently the spider has an appetite for vertebrate blood, which it obtains indirectly by feeding on the female anopheles mosquito. It is this female mosquito which most commonly transmits malaria.

My Collage

I borrowed from Pixabay and from the LMAC Image Gallery, LIL, as I made my collage. Thank you @yaziris and @muelli from LIL.

And one photo that I had contributed to the LIL Gallery:

As is always the case, I had a false start. Here is what that looked like:
317 frame6.png

I chucked that picture (after I had made a GIF from it!), got up the next morning and made the collage featured at the top of the page and below.

217 revised gif.gif

LMAC and LIL

LIL is not only a valuable image resource for the Hive community, but is also a way for community members to participate in LMAC. Anyone on Hive can contribute to the library and everyone can borrow from it. Learn about the procedure here.

Every week we offer prizes to fifteen finalists in the contest, but it's not only the prizes people create for. I personally spend hours giving vent to my imagination, though I don't compete in the contest. Others in the community have also developed the habit of 'speaking' through collage.

This week's contest has concluded. However, anyone can make a collage, freestyle, anytime and post it in the community, outside of competition. We love art :) The contest resumes again on Thursday, July 4.

As @shaka has said many times, everyone is an artist. I may not be an artist in the technical sense, but LMAC allows me to nurture my own unique artistic voice.

Thank you for reading. Peace and health to all

Sort:  

My survival strategy:
A thermos with plenty of water
A compass
An umbrella
Cereal bars
Lots of luck
(lots of luck)
I said lots of luck
A little more luck just in case
Let's go.......
3 cacti later
HELP I RAN OUT OF WATER, THE UMBRELLA WAS DAMAGED BY A STRONG WIND, I ATE IN LESS THAN A DAY THE CEREAL BARS, THE COMPASS WAS WITH BATTERY AND I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO RECHARGE IT.
HELPPPPPPPPP
mysteriously disappeared

😂

Hilarious. Thanks for that!

Excellent post @agmoore, you made good use of examples and images of what can be found in the desert to give life to this collage, it was great. On the other hand, solifuges are really interesting and many species are very well adapted for desert life and, as you rightly mention, they are not spiders but arachnids like scorpions, mites, among others. I loved the photos of your cacti, they look great.

Hope you have a good Thursday, lately the days go by so fast.

Hello @abneagro,

Thank you for the kind words about my blog. I think I could have made a very good entomologist if I had taken that path in youth. The insects fascinate me--nature attracts me and is never a boring subject.

Thank you for clarifying the correct status of the solifuge. You remind me that spiders may be arachnids, but not all arachnids are spiders :)

I love my cacti😇. They are not only beautiful but they make me think of my daughter, who gave them to me for my birthday.

The days do go by fast. No matter the circumstance, we should use each of them to the fullest.

Very warm regards,

Your friend AG

Well, that's a mighty fine collage, and no mistake! You might not need that compilation of my best jokes after all:)
What an ingenious simulacrum we inhabit where organisms interact in symbiosis.🙃 If only we humans could work out how it's done.

Thank you for the dedication. One of my beaus who was studying photography once dedicated to me the first photograph he developed. Romantic you might think, were you not aware that the photo was of a brick wall!

the photo was of a brick wall!

😅

You did motivate this collage. My husband agreed with you...they were getting grim. No point in that, is there?

If only we humans could work out how it's done.

Of course, the spider is there to commit murder😁 I think that might give us pause.

I'm pleased to have inspired suck a striking creation. It has been said that I'm a good motivator. and for that, I thank Tom Sawyer's story of painting Aunt Polly's fence which taught me a valuable life lesson: If you can motivate others to do the job, you don't have to do it yourself.

I saw this and felt like if I was walking through the Far West in some cowboys movie🤠.

Great collage!

Hi @gabmr. It does look like a scene from a cowboy movie😄

Thanks for stopping by and for the kind assessment of my collage.

I went for a walk inside the nursery, you can also see my post about it, exactly the same view I saw there and the flowers and plants look beautiful too.

I'll have to take a look at that post.

Thanks for stopping by, @djbravo

I love how you have mixed those images
Your collage looks so good that way
Keep it up!

!sbi status @agmoore

Hi @agmoore!

  • you have 204 units and 0 bonus units
  • your rshares balance is 715199552930 or 0.220 $
  • your next SBI upvote is predicted to be 0.073 $



    Have you seen our website?
    It's a great resource to check your Hive SBI levels, along with your history of who has sponsored you and what upvotes we have provided you!