Creature 243: Liphistiidae

Description:
Liphistiidae are a family of spiders which don't have a common name.

These spiders are remarkable because they remain morphologically very similar to 290 million year old fossils from the same suborder. This means they have a very highly conservative body plan. Their venom glands are tiny and for a while biologists believed they didn't have them. They lack parts of the respiratory system which are present in all other spiders. They live in tiny tube-like borrows and make use of trapdoors like many other spiders. 

Over the last 300 million years they have really got the whole trapdoor technique down packed.

Distribution:
Liphistiid spiders are found in East and South East Asia.

Classification:
Liphistiidae have been placed in a spider suborder called Mesothelae and are the only living spiders in this group. There are 3 extinct members of this group, all of which have a fairly highly conserved morphology. This suborder is the most basal group of spiders (i.e. it is the most distant relative of all other species of spiders). There are 8 genera in the family.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae

Image Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liphistiidae
http://www.qldaf.com/forums/spiders-insects-invertebrates-photo-video-lounge-95/liphistius-most-primitive-spiders-alive-76343/

Video Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3sDJnqj7hY

Creature 242: Mellisuga helenae

Insect sized bird

Description:
Mellisuga helenae is a hummingbird commonly called the bee hummingbird, because if you don't look carefully you might confuse it for a large bee.

They only grow to up to 6 cm long and son't weigh more than 2 grams. This makes it the smallest bird in the world. Like other hummingbirds they beat their wing in a figure 8 formation and do it so fast that they appear as a blur. They can complete 200 strokes per minute. They can fly at speeds of nearly 50 km per hour. Their tiny heart can beat up to 1200 times per minute. They are important pollinators of several flowers and are also highly dependent on them for energy. They will also opportunistically eat arthropods.

Distribution:
The bee hummingbird is endemic to the Caribbean, particularly Cuba.

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
Order: Trochiliformes
Family: Trochilidae
Genus: Mellisuga 
Species: Mellisuga helenae 

Image Links:
http://www.factzoo.com/birds/bee-hummingbird-smallest-bird-in-the-world.html

Video Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqDEcSZxEGQ

Creature 241: Hymenoepimecis argyraphaga

A wasp which uses a spiders web.

Description:
Hymenoepimecis argyraphaga is another of those parasitoid wasps which controls the minds of their victims in order to feed their young.

Its specializes in  feeding the spider Leucauge argyra to its young. This parasitoid wasp is relatively merciful to its hosts in comparison to others like Ampulex Compressa, Ichneumon eumerus  or Pepsini. Their sting only temporarily paralyzes their host, giving the female enough time to attach their eggs on the abdomen of the spider. When the egg hatches the juvenile latches on to the spider. It feeds of the body fluids of the spider while it grows and matures.

Once it has grown large enough it injects chemicals into the spider's brain which cause it to alter its normal web building behavior. Instead of weaving their sticky thread they will build multiple structural threads and anchor thread. The web is then strong enough to support the cocooned wasp for days in good or bad weather, giving the wasp enough time to mature into an adult. Just before entering the cocoon, the wasp will kill and eat the spider for the nourishment.

Distribution:
Hymenoepimecis argyraphaga is endemic to Costa Rica.

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Ichneumonidae
Genus: Hymenoepimecis
Species: Hymenoepimecis argyraphaga

Image Links:
http://observationsofanerd.blogspot.com.au/2009/06/this-weeks-sci-fi-worthy-parasite_18.html
http://mentalfloss.com/article/51970/meet-wasp-turns-spiders-zombie-construction-workers
http://mentalfloss.com/article/21716/7-more-zombie-animals

Creature 240: Ornithoptera alexandrae

Largest butterfly

Description:
Ornithoptera alexandrae is commonly known as the Queen Alexander Birdwing.

The Queen Alexander Birdwing has the largest wingspan of any butterfly in the world. The female wingspan can get over 25 cm in length.

Top: Female, Bottom: Male.

The Queen Alexander Birdwing displays extreme sexual dimorphism, with both the males and females exhibiting impressive but completely different color displays.

Distribution:
The Queen Alexander birdwing is restricted to Oro Province, Papua New Guinea.

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Family: Papilionidae
Genus: Ornithoptera
Species: Ornithoptera alexandrae

Image Links:
https://currencewiki.wikispaces.com/Tanisha+Henry+-+Queen+Alexandra+Birdwing+Butterfly
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Alexandra%27s_birdwing

Creature 239: Cymothoa exigua

A crustacean which becomes a tongue

Description:
Cymothoa exigua is an isopod crustacean, which is sometimes called the tongue eating louse.

Some of my regular readers may remember Macrocheles rettenmeyeri, the parasitic mite which replaces the foot of other arthropods. In a similar way this parasitic isopod eats and then replaces the tongue of fish. They enter the fish through the gills and then eat the tongue off. They latch on to where the tongue was and then live off the blood of the fish they have latched on to.

The first member of the species to enter the fish will mature into a male. When a second parasite infects the same fish the first on then becomes female.

Distribution:
Cymothoa exigua is found in tropical waters near coastal areas of the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Isopoda
Family: Cymothoidae
Genus: Cymothoa 
Species: Cymothoa exigua 

Image Links:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/there-is-a-parasite-that-eats-tongues-and-replaces-them-with#.grJbQ0w4D1
http://animalus.blog.pl/2013/12/30/cymothoa-exigua/

Creature 238: Synthetoceras

Unicorns, for real.

Synthetoceras is an extinct mammal which looks a little like a unicorn.

This weird looking creature was about 2 meters long and probably weighed 200 - 350 kilos, so it is a little smaller than a modern horse, but it had horns. It had two laterally oriented horns and much like a unicorn had one central horn above its nose. This horn was pronged. The function of the prong is unknown, but it was probably either for mate competition or for foraging in the ground. Maybe both. Maybe something else altogether. 

Distribution:

Synthetoceras lived in North America around 5 to 13.5 million years ago.

Classification:

Synthetoceras is an ungulate mammal, so it is not too distant from horses, but it is in the artyodactyl group, which means it is more closely related to sheep, deer etc... Their family Protoceratidae is entirely extinct.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Protoceratidae

Genus: Synthetoceras 

Image Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetoceras

http://bbs.uua.cn/thread-114164-1-1.html

Creature 237: Paraponera clavata

The most painful ant sting

Description: 
Paraponera clavata is known as a bullet ant, as its sting feels like you have been shot.

It has the highest pain ranking in the Schmidt index, which is designed for Hymenopteran bites and stings. Their sting contain a paralytic toxins known as Poneratoxins. Some tribes in Brazil use them in an initial rite as young men are required to stick their hand in a glove full of bullet hands and leave it on for 10 minutes. Their hand becomes paralysed and they might be shaking for days afterwards.

Distribution:
Paraponera clavata is endemic to Central America.

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Genus: Paraponera 
Species: Paraponera clavata 

Image Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraponera_clavata
http://www.myrmecos.net/2011/02/28/paraponera-clavata-the-bullet-ant/

Creature 236: Riftia pachyptila

An animal which can't eat

Riftia pachyptila is commonly known as a giant tube worm.

These worms can grow up to two and a half meters long, but several parts of their morphology have been highly modified or reduced to vestigial. Instead of a mouth and digestive system Riftia pachyptila relies on a symbiotic relationship with various microbes. The red tip is a feather-like structure called a plume. It is similar to some gills, except it is used to provide more than just Oxygen, it absorbs various dissolved gases which the microbes need to grow and reproduce. In return the microbes provide the nutrients which the giant tube worm needs to survive. As a result of this the giant tube worm is highly tolerant to certain chemicals such as Hydrogen Sulfide, which its dependent bacteria can metabolize. The plume can be retracted back into a hardened tube for protection.

Distribution:
Riftia pachyptila are found living near hydrothermal vents in the Pacific ocean.

Classification:
Riftia pachyptila is in the same phylum as Earthworms.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Annelida
Class: Polychaeta
Order: Canalipalpata
Family: Siboglinidae
Genus: Riftia
Species: Riftia pachyptila

Image Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_tube_worm
http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2007/rossing_jaco/introduction__the_worm_under_inv.htm

Creature 235: Laniocera hypopyrra

A bird that mimics an insect!

Laniocera hypopyrra is commonly known as the cinereous mourner, which as far as common names go, is not much better than the scientific name. You may have heard of several caterpillars which mimic other animals, especially if you are a regular reader of my blog. Laniocera hypopyrra is a species of bird which mimics a caterpillar.

Juvenile cinereous mourners have feathers which are modified to resemble the color patterns on the highly toxic caterpillars in the family Megalopygidae. They even move their head from side to side in much the same way that a caterpillar sways.

The adult looks comparatively boring.

Distribution:
Laniocera hypopyrra is found in tropical South America.

Classification:
The genus Laniocera has traditionally been placed in the family Cotinga, but is now broadly accepted to be a member of the Tityridae.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Tityridae
Genus: Laniocera
Species: Laniocera hypopyrra

Image Links:

http://featuredcreature.com/bizarre-baby-bird-mimics-toxic-caterpillar-escape-predation/

http://novataxa.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/caterpillar-mimicking-laniocera-nestling.html

https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2014/12/10/a-stunning-possible-case-of-mimicry-bird-nestling-resembles-a-toxic-caterpillar-in-appearance-and-behavior/

Creature 234: Hemeroplanes triptolemus

A caterpillar that knows how to bluff

Hemeroplanes triptolemus is a Hawk moth, like the hummingbird Hawk Moth which is in another post. The Hawk Moth's defensive trick is that it mimics a small snake. 

When it feels threatened it inflates its head. Shiny scales on the side of their head reflect light making it look like a snake. These guys would be amazing poker player, because when a predator isn't buying, instead of trying to cringe or flee for their life they double down. They lunge forward and pretend to strike their predators. If the predator gets hit, it doesn't harm them at all, it is just a very brave bluff. In some ways it is similar in appearance to Papilio troilus, which is probably adopting the same strategy.

The adult is a less interesting looking nectar feeding moth.

Distribution:

Hemeroplanes triptolemus is known from Central and tropical South America.

Classification:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Lepidoptera

Family: Sphingidae

Genus: Hemeroplanes

Species: Hemeroplanes triptolemus

Image Links:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/297730225336639348/

http://www.odditycentral.com/animals/hemeroplanes-triptolemus-the-creepy-snake-thats-actually-a-harmless-caterpillar.html

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=74571894

Creature 233: Phoenix dactylifera

The phoenix rises again after 2000 years.

Phoenix dactylifera is one of if not the oldest cultivated fruit in the world, with evidence of them being cultivated as early as 6000 BC. They are commonly known as date palms and as the name suggests they are the sources of the fruit known as dates.

They are highly tolerant to arid conditions growing in many areas of the Middle East and North Africa. Like many arid species their seeds are highly resistant to ageing and can last a long time before conditions are appropriate for them to germinate and grow. So how long can their seed last? The Judean date palm, which is a subspecies of date palm which used to be common in ancient Judea, was believed to have gone extinct around 500 AD. Apparently they used to be a major part of the Judean economy before the destruction of the second temple. They apparently used to form thick forests in their ideal climates and were a very effective agricultural crop given the harsh conditions of the region. In the 1960s a jar of stored date palms from the Fortress at Masada were excavated. They were carbon dated to between 155 BC and 64 AD. They are likely to be from the latter part of this time frame as the siege of Masada ended in either 73 or 74 AD. Three of these seeds were planted in 2005 in southern Israel, and one of them sprouted. Despite the fact that the original leaves that sprouted looked practically dead as they were densely covered in white lines the plant survived and by 2010 the plant grew to 2 meters tall. The plant was named Methuselah as it has lived for so long. Unfortunately date palms require male and female plants to germinate and it is impossible to grow a pure Judean date palm from a single specimen. Methuselah is a male plant and will be crossed with similar date palm subspecies in order to get a hybrid.

Distribution:

Date Palms are probably native to Mesopotamia and the Levant but have been cultivated across in many warm parts of the world both humid and arid.

Classification:
The name for the genus Phoenix is quite appropriate considering that this subspecies has risen again from the ashes of extinction.
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Angiosperms
Class: Monocotyledon
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Genus: Phoenix
Species Phoenix dactylifera

Image Links:
http://brookebenoit.com/2010/08/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judean_date_palm#mediaviewer/File:JudeanDatePalmMethuselah.JPG

Creature 232: Ptilometra australis

An animal that looks like an alien plant

Ptilometra australis is a species of sea lily which has no common name that I am aware of.

Like many other sea lilies, they superficially look more like plants than animals, wut animals they are.They are filter feeders. Their appendages bear long thin filament which are used for trapping food. They have a stalk which in most sea lily species is long and slender but is reduced in this species. The stalk anchors them to the ocean floor.

Distribution:
Ptilometra australis is found off the coast of Eastern Australia. They are found from fairly near the surtface to depths of over 100m.

Classification:
Sea lilies are echinoderms, the same phylum as sea stars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers. Sea lilies are members of the order Class Crinoidea, a group which used to be much more diverse. Articulata is the only subclass which survives.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Crinoidea
Order: Comatulida
Family: Ptilometridae
Genus: Ptilometra
Species: Ptilometra australis

Image Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptilometra_australis

http://www.ausmarinverts.net/Echinodermata/Crinoidea/Ptilometra_australis.html

Creature 231: Impatiens bequaertii

Flower that looks like a dancing girl

Today's bizarre creature is another flower that looks like something else, only this time it is not an orchid.

Impatiens bequaertii doesn't have a common name. It looks like a dancing girl. The various lobes of the flowers are often arranged differently giving it the appearance of different dancing poses.

Distribution:
Impatiens bequaertii  is native to East African rain forest. It is rarely cultivated as an ornamental plant in various parts of the world.

Classification:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Angiosperms
Class: Dicotyledon
Order: Ericales
Family: Balsaminaceae
Genus: Impatiens

Image Links:
http://www.strangewonderfulthings.com/260.htm
http://filing.pl/17-kwiatow-ktore-wcale-nie-wygladaja-jak-rosliny/

Creature 230: Dendrogramma

A new kind of animal

There are some people who think that we have a pretty good idea of what lives on Earth. They think that new species are all just similar versions of a previously known species. Every now and then a discovery like this one last year just blows that idea away.

Dendrogramma is a genus of something or other described in 2014 from specimens collected in 1986. It probably took so long to describe because anyone who saw it immediately recognized that it wasn't in their group. The truth is it does not belong to any known group of animals, although it is an animal. Ir has not been formally given its own Phylum yet, but I am pretty sure it will soon.

The long tube like structure carries the mouth while the flat end probably anchors the animal down to a surface. The animal has a gastrovascular system and seems to exhibit bilateral symmetry.

Distribution:
Dendrogramma were collected at 400 and 1000 meters South East of Tasmania.

Classification:

There are two species of Dendrogramma and for now the genus has been assigned to Kingdom Animalia only.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Incerte sedis
Genus: Dendrogramma

Image Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrogramma

Creature 229: Brahmaea

Crazy moth

Brahmaea is a genus of moth commonly called the Brahmin moth, or as a juvenile the Brahmin moth caterpillar.

The adults have some kind of psychedelic pattern which hypnotizes you if you stare at it too long. I used to wonder why venomoth could do psychic moves until I learnt about this moth. But all that is nothing compared to what the juvenile has going on:

I don't think we have figured out what those structures are for, but they do give it a bizarre appearance.

Distribution:
Brahmaea have an oriental distribution meaning they are found in a East and South East Asia including the South East Asian Islands as well as the Subcontinent.

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Brahmaeidae
Genus: Brahmaea

Image Links:

http://www.vlindertjes.eu/en/home-en/141-home-en/breeding-reports/brahmaeidae

http://www.vlindertjes.eu/nl/kweekverslagen/brahmaeidae/brahmaea-certhia

Creature 228: Halorubrum lacusprofundi

My regular readers may remember the post on square arechea. Today I am posting another species of Halobacteria, Halorubrum lacusprofundi .  Halobacteria are a class of archea. This may seem confusing as their name contains the word bacteria, which are completely different from archea. For this reason they are usually referred to as Haloarchea.

Halorubrum lacusprofundi lives in water which is saturated or close to saturated with salt, a very hostile environment for most living things on Earth. They are named after Deep lake in Antarctica where they were found. Deep lake gets to temperatures of -20 degrees Celsius.  Hang on, you're probably thinking, wouldn't the lake freeze over at those temperatures?  This lake doesn't because it is so salty the freezing point is significantly lower than normal. The lake contains an average of 27÷ salt.

Oddly enough the highly specialized Halorubrum lacusprofundi  was not the only microbial species to be found in this ridiculously hostile environment.  Several other species including some algae were found, but I chose to write about this one as it is named after the lake (lacusprofundi meaning deep lake).

Distribution:
As far as I can tell Halorubrum lacusprofundi  has only been found in Deep Lake, Antarctica.

Classification:
Kingdom: Archaea
Phylum: Euryarchaeota
Class: Halobacteria
Order: Halobacteriales
Family: Halobacteriaceae
Genus: Halorubrum
Species: Halorubrum lacusprofundi 

Image Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halobacterium
http://www.biotechniques.com/news/Antarctic-Microbes-Survival-Tricks-Revealed/biotechniques-341689.html?autnID=323692#.VUY7M_mqpBc

Creature 227: Grylloblattodea

Insects that live on ice

Grylloblattodea are either an order or a suborder of insects, depending on who you ask. You can call them ice crawlers or rock crawlers.

There are a confusing group, even their name suggesting that they have some characteristics of both crickets and cockroaches.

Most insects thrive in hot weather, but these guys have evolved specifically to increase their metabolism in the cold. Their optimal living temperature is between 1 and 4 degrees Celsius. They live close to the soil among sheets of ice and sometimes even among glaciers. They feed mostly on dead arthropods.

Distribution:
Ice crawlers can be found in mountainous regions of Northern Asia and the West of North America.

Classification:
As I mentiones there are some entomologists who think the Grylloblattodea should be an Order unto themselves, but for now I am happy to call them a suborder of Notoptera, which also includes Mantophasmatidea. The closest relative to the Notoptera is probably either Dermaptera or Orthoptera or both.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Notoptera

Image Links:

http://entomology.osu.edu/bugdoc/Shetlar/462/462InsectOrders/Orders16.htm

http://tolweb.org/Grylloblattidae/8256

Creature 226: Myctophidae

Look at the pretty lights

Myctophidae are a family of deep sea fish known as lantern fish.

They are called lanternfish because of their tendency to light up like a lantern. As they live so far below the ocean surface that light cannot penetrate to their depth they need light patterns for sight to be useful in recognizing other members of the same species for mating. Some of these light patterns can be quite spectacular.

Lanternfish are actually quite common in the deep ocean and probably make up the majority of the fish species down there. They are known to follow a classic diel vertical migration pattern.

Distribution:
Lanternfish are found in all the world's oceans at depths of between 400 and 900 meters.

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Myctophiformes
Family: Myctophidae

Image links:

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/5276/slender-lanternfish

http://www.collectionpicture.stockmd.net/441752-lantern-fish

Top ten update

The top ten has been updated again. Check it out here

Creature 225: Dinochelus ausubeli

A mean looking claw

Dinochelus ausubeli is a recently discovered (2007) lobster which is sometimes called the terrible claw lobster.

It has several long, narrow tooth-like spikes on the inside of margin of their claws.  The right claw is grossly elongated and is several times larger than the left claw. We don't know what they use this freaky looking claw for.

Distribution:

The terrible claw lobster was found off the Phillipine Island of Luzon at a depth of about 250 m.

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Family: Nephropidae
Genus: Dinochelus
Species: Dinochelus ausubeli

Image links:

https://www.tumblr.com/search/dinochelus%20ausubeli

Creature 224: Helicocranchia pfefferi

Not a real face

Description:
I'll let you guess what type of creature Helicocranchia pfefferi  is from this picture:

Done looking? This is an unusual species of squid called a banded piglet squid. It looks a bit like an animal with a cartoon face, but that is not a face at all. Its tentacles look like hair while colour patterns form what looks like eyes and a mouth an a fin like flap forms what looks like a nose. Like many deep sea creatures it can produce light. The young quite a bit different to the adults.

Distribution:
The piglet squid can be found in trapical waters all over the world and in the temperate North Atlantic. They lusually live between 100 and 200 m below the surface getting deeper as they get older.

Classification:
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Mollusca
Class:Cephalopoda
Order:Teuthida
Family:Cranchiidae
Genus:Helicocranchia
Species:Helicocranchia pfefferi

Image Links:
http://www.haberler.com/gulen-yuzlu-domuz-murekkepbaligi-haberi/
https://ferrebeekeeper.wordpress.com/tag/pelagic/

Creature 223: Tetragnatha guatemalensis

A cobweb problem

Description:
Tetragnatha guatemalensis is a species of spider which, as far as I know, doesn't have a common name.

They are a species of spider which commonly live in large colonies. I  there colonies several different spiders build communal 'sheet' webs, often adding constructing webs between two other webs. The strength of structural spider webs mean that these communal webs can get quite large.

They are by no means the only species of spider which does this, but these guys have set a record. In October 2009 a waste water treatment plant in Baltimore was over-run by an enormous colony of spiders. The colony had formed a variety of structures reinforcing a colonial web which was found throughout the 4 acre facility. There were an estimated 107 million spiders in the colony and an estimated 80 million of them were Tetragnatha guatemalensis. There are around 6 million people in the entire state of Maryland.

Distribution:
Tetragnatha guatemalensis can be found in various locations across North and Central America. They love man made structures.

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Family: Tetragnathidae
Genus: Tetragnatha
Species: Tetragnatha guatemalensis

Image Links:

http://eol.org/pages/1193587/overview

http://texasento.net/Social_Spider.htm

http://www.examiner.com/article/monster-spiderweb-covers-4-acres-of-baltimore-plant-with-100-millions-spiders

Creature 222: Triatominae

An assassin bug which feeds off you!

Description:
It's time for another assassin bug. This one is a subfamily called Triatominae or commonly called kissing bugs or cone-nose bugs.

Most assasin bugs are specialist hunters employing a myriad of cool tricks to capture and kill other arthropods for food. These guys  suck the blood of vertebrates, and yes that includes you. They are called kissing bugs because of their unusual inclination to bite you on the lip.

Bites from a Triatomine assassin bug are only mildly painful and while they don't produce any harmful toxins they have been known to carry some nasty diseases which they can transmit into your body, most notably chagas disease.

Distribution:
Triatomine assasin bugs have a pantropical distribution but a most diverse and most abundant in the Neotropical region.

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Family: Reduviidae

Image Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triatominae

http://www.bestalliedhealthprograms.com/news/tropical-bugs-found-in-texas-increasing-the-spread-of-chagas-disease

Creature 221: Leucochloridium paradoxum

A parasite which puts on a show

Description:
Leucochloridium paradoxum is a parasitic flatworm which uses snails as a intermediate host and birds as the definitive host.

These flatworms usually infect snails as juveniles via bird droppings. Once inside a snail they begin to mature in the digestive system. When they are nearly ready to reach adulthood the worm will move to the snails antenna, preferably the left antenna.  It then reduces the light sensitivity in the snail so it spends More time out in the open making it easier prey for a bird.

But it doesn't stop there. The flatworm changes the colour of the antenna to something more like a tasty caterpillar so the birs will be more attracted to them. They also cause the antenna to pulsate and change color so they are more noticable to birds. Watch it happen here:

Their ultimate objective is to cause the snail to get eaten so they can reach adulthood and reproduce in their definitive host.

Distribution:

Leucochloridium paradoxum is found in Northern and Central Europe.

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Platyhelminthes
Class: Trematoda
Order: Strigeidida
Family: Leucochloridiidae
Genus: Leucochloridium
Species: Leucochloridium paradoxum

Image Links:

http://parasitophilia.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/leucochloridium-paradoxum.html

Video Links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWB_COSUXMw

Creature 220: Bipes biporus

A weird mole-worm-lizard

Description:
You may have heard of Bipes biporus under the name of Mexican mole lizard.

If you are wondering what it is, I assure you it is a lizard. It just looks like a weird worm. They grow up to 24 cm in length and live underground feeding of subterranean insects like ants. They occasionally make trips to the surface after heavy rain.

Distribution:
Mexican mole lizards are endemic to the Californian peninsula,  Mexico.

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
Order: Squamata
Family: Bipedidae
Genus: Bipes
Species: Bipes biporus

Image Links:

http://www.reptilespics.com/bipes-biporus/

http://www.bluechameleon.org/Photo%20&%20Image%20Stockpile%20-%20BCV/WEB%20-%20Bipes%20biporus.htm

Creature 219: Antirrhinum

Freaky seed pods

Description:
Antirrhinum is a genus of commonly cultivated garden plants known as snapdragons.

The flower looks fairly ordinary in itself. It earned the name snap dragon because when the lateral margins are squeezed it looks a little like a dragon opening its mouth.

If you think that is cool wait until you see the skull shaped seed pods:

Distribution:
Species of Antirrhinum can be found in Europe,  North Africa and North America.

Classification:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Angiosperms
Class: Dicotyledon
Order: Lamiales
Family: Plantaginaceae
Genus: Antirrhinum

Image Links:

http://www.tandmwholesale.com/AntirrhinumOrientalLanterns

https://honeydos.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/something-to-talk-about/

http://www.kuriositas.com/2013/07/the-dragons-skull-macabre-appearance-of.html