Mosquitoes can fly upside down, Dragonflies can fly backward. Female Emperor Moths find a suitor by emitting a scent that is so potent that a male can home in on its source from nearly seven miles. The Brush footed
butterfly females use their tiny feet to drum on the surface of host plant leaves to taste if they’ve found the correct plant. Orange Margined Blue Butterfly caterpillars secrete a sugary substance in the presence of ants, to gain protection from other insects….
A female mouse can produce 6 babies in a litter and have as many as 10 litters a year. Mice can swim. Mice can squeeze through a slot like opening which is a quarter of an inch wide. Mice have bad vision and cannot see clearly beyond about six inches. Although their eyesight is poor, once rats learn a navigation route, they never forget it. Mice have to build their homes near sources of food because they like to eat 15 to 20 times per day. Both mice and rats are also highly sociable animals. They become attached to each other, love their own families, and easily bond with their human guardians, returning as much affection as is given to them. Many rats will even “groom” their human companion’s hand and would appreciate a massage, a scratch behind the ears, or even a tickle in return.
Bright orange Citronella Ants, found only in North America, make a strong citrus smell when they are threatened. Pheidole ants stink of feces when alarmed. Ants teach other ants how to find food using a poking and prodding technique.When student worker ants of the species Temnothorax albipennis first set out for food, they are accompanied by teachers who run along wit them. The process is slow. The student pauses every once and a while to search for landmarks. When she’s ready to continue, the follower catches up and taps the teacher on the hind legs.
The Anaconda snake is one of the largest snakes in the world. growing as long as 30 feet and weighing as much as 400 pounds. The anaconda snake feeds on large animals, including panthers, other snakes, and crocodiles. When stalking its prey, this snake usually lurks beneath the surface of waters or watches from overhanging branches, waiting for the moment to strike.
The Harpy Eagle is the most powerful bird in the Amazon. It feeds on large to small mammals including monkeys. An adult harpy can grow talons up to seven inches long. Camels are the only mammals with oval (instead of circular) red blood cells. This adaptation allows the red blood cells to expand and not rupture when the camel drinks large quantities of water. Pride Lionesses frequently enter breeding season together and later give birth at the same time which allows them to share nursing and other maternal duties. Hyenas are particularly efficient predators since they are capable of digesting bones, horns and even the teeth of their prey.
Because their necks are shorter than their legs, giraffes must spread their front legs wide in order to reach the water to drink. Their neck veins contain valves and a network of tiny veins to constrict blood flow to their brain when they lower their head to drink in order to prevent blackouts. While all chameleons change colours, young chameleons have far more colours than older ones. Chameleons do not change colours to hide themselves but to communicate to each other as they cannot hear without eardrums of ear openings.
Flat Bark Bugs looks like fungus and feed on fungus growing on the bark of trees. They drop to the ground and disappear in the leaf litter when disturbed. Click beetles get their name for their ability to right themselves if they find themselves stuck on their back. If the insect finds itself upside-down, it arches its body and with a loud click, snaps itself straight, launching into the air. The Red Skimmer Dragonfly uses its first 2 pair of legs as a basket with which it scoops up its insect prey in mid flight.
Millipedes possess two pair of short legs per visible body segment. They are characteristically slow movers and are usually found in damp leaf litter, rotting wood or soil. As part of their defensive behavior, they roll up in a ball to protect their softer underside surface and exudes protective hydrogen cyanide fluid from its sides when disturbed. Tailless Whipscorpion run sideways on six legs, with their front pair having specialised ferocious pincers to catch its prey.
When attacked while on a branch, Leaf beetles will often drop to the ground and feign death. Some worker ants working for the Queen Ant are given a special job of cleaning up rubbish and putting it in a bin. Mosquitoes can fly upside down, Dragonflies can fly backward. Female Emperor Moths find a suitor by emitting a scent that is so potent that a male can home in on its source from nearly seven miles. The Brush footed butterfly females use their tiny feet to drum on the surface of host plant leaves to taste if they’ve found the correct plant.
Orange Margined Blue Butterfly caterpillars secrete a sugary substance in the presence of ants, to gain protection from other insects. Tortricid Moth caterpillars protect themselves by rolling leaves which they then sealed with silk. Clear winged moths imitate wasps by changing their colours, making a buzzing noise and holding their hind legs out behind in flight. The Snout Moth has a special abdominal ear which can detects the sonar signals emitted from bats which are their predators. Geometrid Moth caterpillars , when disturbed, mimic a branching twig by holding on with their prolegs and stretching themselves erect and holding perfectly still. They can often be seen suspended below their food plant by a silken thread.
The Tarantula Mimic Moth mimics the tarantula spider by developing hair on its legs. Moths fly into flames at night as they confuse the light of a stationary flame to that of the moon which it uses in navigation during the night. Deaths Head Hawk Moth has a skull motif on its chest. This moth has a long and strong proboscis able to pierce honey cells of bee hives and suck the honey. They emit the squeaking sounds of bees while doing so. Giant Hunting Ants can even carry twigs in their massive jaws.
Fragile Forktails are small dragonfly-like insects who eat aquatic insects. They “whack” their prey with a hard lower lip that swings out. And then chew it. Pennsylvania Fireflies attract each other with a flashing green light in their abdomens. The females are wingless and flash from the ground. Males fly about trying to locate them. The Patent-leather Beetle is a large shiny black beetle who make a sound by rubbing their wings on their abdomen to communicate danger to other beetles.
When aquatic worms mate, each worm is then able to lay eggs. The Freshwater Leech is a parasite that feeds on the blood of fish, frogs, turtles, and mammals. They detect their prey by the vibrations it makes in the water. The leech comes out of its hiding place and attaches itself to the host animal with its mouth . The Freshwater Leech drinks blood until it is about five times its normal weight before it releases its grip and finds a new hiding place. Freshwater Leeches do not need to eat often. They can go a year or two without a meal. Disc Cannibal Snails live in forests. They prey on other live adult snails, snail eggs, and even dead shells.They find their prey by following slime trails of other snails. Once they capture prey, they drag it to a hidden area to feed. Once a cannibal snail captures its prey, it will often play with it (up to 20 minutes) before carrying it off. It will turn its food around, drop it, and pick it up again many times. Leopard Slugs circle each other, before intertwining their bodies. They do this from a tree branch. Next, the two slugs fall from the branch and hang, suspended by mucus slime. After mating, both slugs lay eggs.
