Stick Mantis (Archimantis latistyla). This is kind of a cheat since mantises have what is known as a pseudo-pupil that, like the Mona Lisa, makes the eyes seem to follow you around the room. It’s actually an illusion made by the way light refracts in the compound eyes.
A small unknown fly. I was lying in the leaf litter looking for small spiders when this little fly landed and stared straight at me; and I decided to take the shot.
More illusionary eyes. These are eye spots on the wings of the large-eyed box owlet moth (Grammodes ocellata), presumably to deter predators.
The Grey Huntsman (Isopeda vasta) is a very large spider that one often finds peeling away eucalyptus bark. They are very sedate (until they aren’t) making close up portraits very easy as long as you hold the piece of bark steady and are willing to risk one suddenly running up your sleeve.
One of my favourite animals of all are ant-mimicking spiders and some of the best are jumping spiders. This is one of the common ones, a polyrhachis ant mimic (Myrmarachne luctuosa). This one is a large gravid female I found while looking for peacock spiders. I could fill this whole post with jumping spiders; they are very aware of their surroundings and find camera lenses extremely intriguing, possibly seeing their reflection in the glass.
Another animal that is always very aware of you are bull ants, which will watch you closely. This one is known as a jumping jack (Myrmecia nigrocincta) but they display this terrifying behaviour only if you disturb the nest. Otherwise they just watch you warily.
Another common species is the small variable lynx spider (Oxyopes variabilis). These too can jump wildly to get away from you, but if you're careful you can catch their typical ambush pose, seen here.
A very handsome lion (Panthera leo) at Melbourne Zoo. I love the calm disdainful look on its face.
Little red flying-foxes (Pteropus scapulatus). I just love that these animals are happy to live in cities and we get to see and hear these amazing beasts nightly.
A beautiful Spectacular Crab Spider (Thomisus spectabilis). These are large for a crab spider, usually hiding flowers waiting for visiting insects, I’ve seen them take prey many times their size, including praying mantis and butterflies.
science based posts are interesting to me