Oddities in the animal kingdom

[TeleMad]

___Wasps & hornets who make paper.

 

Speaking of hornets, I saw a show a while back on the National Geographic Channel about enormous hornets in Japan. Did a quick Google on “Japanese hornet” and here’s something from the first hit.

 

”A small but highly efficient killing machine—a hornet two inches long and with a wingspan up to three inches—lurks in the mountains of Japan. The voracious predator has a quarter-inch stinger that pumps out a dose of venom with an enzyme so strong it can dissolve human tissue.

 

Bees, other hornet species, and larger insects such as praying mantises are no match for the giant hornets, which often stalk their prey in relentless armies. Just one of these hornets can kill 40 European honeybees a minute; a handful of the creatures can slaughter 30,000 European honeybees within hours, leaving a trail of severed insect heads and limbs. “ (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1025_021025_GiantHornets.html)

[Turtle]

___Now that is scary! Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase 'gettin' juiced'. I didn't see in the article what kind of nest they have; is it paper do you know? ;)

[Turtle]

Here is where this belongs! :rant:

___On the topic of aquatic creepy-crawlys I have an anecdote from the range of that famed Spotted Owl. While camping on the Green Fork River in Gifford Pinchot National Forest, the kids were catching what they were calling tadpoles. When I went to look at the catch, I thought what they had were leaches, as I had never seen a tadpole like this. Quite simply, they looked like leaches. Years later I was reading some piece or other on native wildlife & I find that this very rare is the only habitat of the only tailed frog known. I haven't been back to look, but I have no doubt those kids caught the tadpoles of the rare tailed frog.

http://www.naturepark.com/tfinfo.htm

They describe the sucker mouth on the tadpoles that made me think they were leeches. Now seeing they are in BC too, I wonder how wide spread they may be. I think I was there in July, so perhaps I'll take a day trip up this year & check for them.

:rant: :eek: :bat: :bat: :bat: :bat: :bat: :bat: :bat: :bat:

:eek:

(circle of life)

[WhitePhoenix]

How about those exploding frogs that German Scientists are studying? They think it is poison. They swell up and explode. It is said their entrials are propelled for up to a metre or 3.2 feet. Possible virus or fundus in the pond. Needless to say the pond has been closed to the public. Sure I want to swim in a pond with frog guts....Okaaay.

[Turtle]

Ice worms!!?? How odd. :)

The Seattle Times: Local News: Ice worms: They're real, and they're hot

Thriving in conditions that would turn most living things to Popsicles, these inch-long earthworm cousins inhabit glaciers and snowfields in the coastal ranges of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. They move through seemingly solid ice with ease and are at their liveliest near the freezing point of water. Warm them up slightly and they dissolve into goo. ...

 

North Cascades Glacier Ice Worm research

[freeztar]

Ice worms!!?? How odd.

The Seattle Times: Local News: Ice worms: They're real, and they're hot

 

 

North Cascades Glacier Ice Worm research

 

Very cool! :) I'd never heard of these!

 

While following the trail, I came across a different type of ice worm...

These worms are assumed to feed on methane hydrates.

 

http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/iceworms.htm

 

"These are not just another common worm in the mud. We now know that these higher-order organisms can live right on methane hydrates. If these animals turn out to be ubiquitous on shallow seafloor gas deposits, possibly worldwide, they could have a significant impact on how these deposits are formed and dissolve in seawater and on how we go about mining or otherwise harvesting this natural gas as a source of energy," Fisher said.

 

"It's very cool that while we're busy speculating about life on other planets we continue to discover new forms of life in the most unlikely habitats on Earth," commented Erin McMullin, a Penn State graduate student and a member of the research expedition that discovered the methane-ice worms. Methane ice, a gas hydrate, forms naturally at the high pressure and low temperature of the deep sea, but is usually buried deep in marine sediment. The Gulf of Mexico is one of the few places where hydrate can be found exposed on the ocean bottom. Occasionally this seeping, solid methane bursts through in mounds, often six to eight feet across.

[Turtle]

Very cool! :) I'd never heard of these!

 

While following the trail, I came across a different type of ice worm...

These worms are assumed to feed on methane hydrates.

 

http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/iceworms.htm

 

:eek: I'd never herd of those! :hyper: I just ran across something saying bacteria may make the methane hydrates. (Underwater volcanism thread I think.)

I first learned about the terrestrial ice worms here in the Casdcades, from the Oregon Public Broadcasting series Oregon Field Guide. The station is doing their fund-raising and re-ran the episode last week or so.

 

Tonight is a must see new episode on invasive species. I already know from previews that my old nemesis, English Ivy, is in high profile. :)

 

Oregon Field Guide — This Week's Episode · Oregon Public Broadcasting

[freeztar]

I managed to find this video on invasive species on the aforementioned site which was quite cool.

 

Oregon Field Guide — Invasive Species: The View from China · Oregon Public Broadcasting

 

Let me know how the new one is.

 

Hmm...maybe we should have an invasive species thread?

[Turtle]

I managed to find this video on invasive species on the aforementioned site which was quite cool.

 

Oregon Field Guide — Invasive Species: The View from China · Oregon Public Broadcasting

 

Let me know how the new one is. :)

 

Hmm...maybe we should have an invasive species thread?

 

We don't have one already!?? To the control panel!!!

 

Will record the show; it's possible they are one in the same. Oh...animal oddities...turtles are pretty odd for having been around so long. :hyper:

[mynah]

Have a look at this video of a Surinam toad (Pipa pipa) "giving birth" through her back.

 

Truly amazing... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCayq56wHSA