Saturday, January 28, 2012
The Helixed Veiny Slime Mould
This interesting protist is marked by its extensive and visible black veins, and by its practice of expelling of unusually large spores, each with their own intricate double helixed vein systems. It is most commonly found near garbage, particularly among sweet food wrappers or any kind of sweet waste.
The Maxim, or Doorknob Anemone
We do not currently have any pictures of this specimen. Do you have one to submit?
The maxim, or doorknob anemone is a luridly bright purple creature that thrives in rare tide pools along the eastern coast of Newfoundland. When startled, it closes up into a tight ball, then aims to confuse its attacker with pithy sayings which it poops out of a small hole in the center of the ball or 'knob'. These are generally written - ingeniously - in the attacker's own language. Some have been found lying about the shores (they harden when they are exposed to the air) written in Seagull, Crab, and Golden Retriever, in addition to human languages.
The maxim, or doorknob anemone is a luridly bright purple creature that thrives in rare tide pools along the eastern coast of Newfoundland. When startled, it closes up into a tight ball, then aims to confuse its attacker with pithy sayings which it poops out of a small hole in the center of the ball or 'knob'. These are generally written - ingeniously - in the attacker's own language. Some have been found lying about the shores (they harden when they are exposed to the air) written in Seagull, Crab, and Golden Retriever, in addition to human languages.
The Watering-Can Devil, or Latching Beetle
This giant beetle has a marvelous system of disguise. Over many centuries in England, overhearing villagers tell stories of garden devils of various kinds, it developed a hind end which resembles a cackling red devil. The beetle latches upside down onto the insides of watering-cans, its nose sucking up the water and its devilish rear scaring off anyone who happens by. In moist climates they’re a minor nuisance, but in arid lands they are one of the more pesky of garden pests.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Tumbleweed Bug
We do not currently have any pictures of this specimen. Do you have one to submit?
You may have already heard of the Tumbleweed Bug. It evolved in southern New Mexico, biologists theorize, from a single deformed offspring of the Walking Stick Bug, whose mutated extra stick bits somehow attracted a female. From there it became all the rage (over millennia) to have more and more stick bits on the body, until finally the bug became too stick-y to walk - a state of being to which it brilliantly adapted by acquiring the skill of rolling with the wind.
You may have already heard of the Tumbleweed Bug. It evolved in southern New Mexico, biologists theorize, from a single deformed offspring of the Walking Stick Bug, whose mutated extra stick bits somehow attracted a female. From there it became all the rage (over millennia) to have more and more stick bits on the body, until finally the bug became too stick-y to walk - a state of being to which it brilliantly adapted by acquiring the skill of rolling with the wind.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)