This week: A photographer takes dreamy images of mushrooms from his backyard. Plus, see some creepy camouflage, a peek at a hidden river adventure, and a glimpse at glowing fields of fireflies.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JAN VERMEER

While sheltering in his Netherlands home at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, nature photographer Jan Vermeer discovered a world of fungi all around him.

Vermeer was delighted to spot his favorite fly agaric mushroom in his neighbor’s yard. “I asked him if he would mow around them when he cut his grass, so I could make an image,” he writes. The result is the photo above. See more fantastic fungi here.  

More nature photos:
— America has a hidden 740-mile river adventure that’s finally being revealed
— See what the biggest flood on Earth looked like

PHOTOGRAPHS BY DR. DANIEL RUBINOFF

A newly described species from Hawaii wears severed insect body parts like a coat. What is it?

A. Bone collector caterpillar
B. Halloween crab
C. Ozark hellbender 
D. None of the above

COMPOSITE PHOTOGRAPH BY KAZUAKI KOSEKI

Evenings filled with the dancing glow of fireflies have become increasingly harder to spot. There are more than 2,600 firefly species across all continents (except for Antarctica) yet scientists have assessed the conservation status for less than 7% of them. Scientists suspect many species are in decline—but despite unanswered questions, there’s lots of hope. Here’s when and where you can still spot them.    

BEFORE YOU GO: See Australia’s wild beauty (and dark history) on this new Great Walk.

Thanks for reading today’s newsletter, which was edited and curated by Jennifer Baik and Ian Morton. It was produced by Alisher Egamov. Did someone forward this to you? Sign up here to catch next week’s Photo of the Week newsletter.