excentricat
The Other 97%
3K posts
Invertebrates make up 97% of animal species. All animals are worthy of love. More from me at excentricat1.tumblr.com
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excentricat · 4 hours ago
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Cattail toothpick grasshopper (Leptysma marginicollis) with erythrism, a genetic condition that causes an excessive amount of red pigments or lack of non-red pigments in animals. This species is usually brown or green.
Photographed in Mississippi by mcferny
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excentricat · 11 hours ago
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December 24th, 2023
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Mistletoe Beetle (Stephanorrhina guttata)
Distribution: Found mainly in Cameroon and Nigeria, but also throughout nearby central African countries.
Habitat: Found in humid tropical habitats.
Diet: Mainly feed on the nectar and pollen of flowering plants, but will also feed on soft fruit, such as bananas. Larvae feed on the humus within their substrate as well as on leaf mold.
Description: The mistletoe beetle is also known as the spotted flower beetle, so named due to the fact that it's often found on flowers. They are an important pollinator of certain tropical species within their distribution. Their other common name, the mistletoe beetle, stems from their Christmas-like coloration of green and red, with snow-like white specks on their elytra.
Mistletoe beetles are commonly kept as pets, as they are very easy to care for and breed, and due to their small size and non-aggressive nature, many breeding pairs can be kept together. In indoor environments, these beetles prefer mid-to-high temperatures, high humidity and lots of light.
Images by Holger Krisp and Magnus Forsberg.
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excentricat · 12 hours ago
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Christmas beetles in the genus Anoplognathus, Scarabaeidae
All found in Australia
Photo 1 by bargosnows, 2 by donnamareetomkinson, 3 by dianneclarke, 4 by jessat, 5 by flecksy, 6 by dhfischer, and 7 by living_in_fng
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excentricat · 12 hours ago
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Round 2.5 - Cnidaria - Staurozoa
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(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)
Staurozoa is a small class of Cnidarians consisting of just one extant order: Stauromedusae (“Stalked Jellyfishes”) with a total of 50 known species. They are unique among medusa jellyfish in that they do not have an alternation of polyp and medusa life cycle phases, but instead live as an attached medusa stage, with a lifestyle more resembling that of polypoid forms.
Staurozoans are small animals that live in marine environments, usually attached to seaweeds, rocks, or gravel. Their body consists of a calyx, or cup, where they take in their prey with tentacles that contain cnidocysts (stinging cells). They are umbrella-shaped, oriented upside-down in comparison with other jellyfish, with the tentacles projecting upwards or outwards, and a stalk located in the centre of the umbrella, attached to substrate with an adhesive basal disk. Staurozoans usually have eight marginal arms at the top of the calyx. They are predators, with a diet including crustaceans, chironomid fly larvae, and plankton. After digestion, they eject the remains of their food from their bodies. The color of the staurozoan depends on what they've attached to in their environment.
Little is known about the staurozoan life cycle. They have a lifespan of less than a year and the planula larva attaches to the substrate, developing into a primary (interstitial) polyp that undergoes an apical transformation to develop into its adult body. They reach their adult sizes within several weeks, typically 1 to 4 centimeters in length.
Information on Staurozoa is sparse, and it is one of the least studied groups within Cnidaria. Even so, we have fossil evidence of staurozoans dating back to the Late Ediacaran.
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excentricat · 3 days ago
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Round 2.5 - Cnidaria - Polypodiozoa
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(Sources - 1, 2)
Polypodiozoa is a class of Cnidarians that contains one order: Polypodiidea, one family: Polypodiidae, one Genus: Polypodium, and one species: Polypodium hydriforme. Perhaps other species exist, but P. hydriforme is the only one known.
Polypodium parasitizes the eggs of sturgeon and similar fishes (Acipenseridae and Polyodontidae). It is one of few animals that lives inside the cells of other animals. Polypodium possesses nematocysts and a cnidarian body plan but has an unusual life cycle. It spends most of its life inside the oocytes of acipenseriform fishes. In infected oocytes, Polypodium develops from a binucleate cell into an inside-out planuliform larva and then into an elongate inside-out stolon; the epidermal cell layer is located internal to the body and the gastrodermis is located externally. The embryo, larva and stolon are surrounded by a protective polyploid cell, which also functions in digestion. Just prior to the host’s spawning, Polypodium everts to the normal position of cell layers, revealing tentacles scattered along the stolon. During eversion, the yolk of the host oocyte fills the gastral cavities of the parasite, supplying the future free-living stage with nutrients. The parasitic phase of its life cycle usually takes several years. Finally, upon emerging from the host egg in fresh water, the free-living stolon fragments into individual medusoid-like organisms [images 1 and 2] that go on to multiply by means of longitudinal fission. In summer they form endodermal sexual organs: "female" ones showing ovaria and gonoducts, and "male" ones with simpler organization.
Not much is known about the evolution of Polypodium and how it came to be. Freshwater-living is rare for cnidarians, but not unheard of, as some hydrozoans are also freshwater. The Myxosporeans and Malacosporeans, fellow parasitic cnidarians, also have freshwater representatives.
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excentricat · 3 days ago
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Round 2.5 - Cnidaria - Hydrozoa
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(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)
Hydrozoa is a class of, like the corals, small predatory animals which are sometimes solitary but often colonial. However, unlike corals which are usually a colony of identical polyps, the zooids of hydozoans often take on different forms and specialties within the colony. 90% of the class is taken up by the subclass Hydroidolina which contains the orders Siphonophorae, Anthoathecata, and Leptothecata. The other 10% is the subclass Trachylinae which contains the orders Actinulida, Limnomedusae, Narcomedusae, and Trachymedusae.
Most hydrozoan species include both a polypoid and a medusoid stage in their life cycles, although a number of them have only one or the other. The hydroid form is usually colonial, with multiple polyps connected by tubelike hydrocauli. The hollow cavity in the middle of the polyp extends into the associated hydrocaulus, so that all the individuals of the colony are connected. Where the hydrocaulus runs along the substrate, it forms a horizontal root-like stolon that anchors the colony to the bottom. In any given colony, the majority of polyps are specialized for feeding. These have a more or less cylindrical body with a terminal mouth on a raised protuberance called the hypostome, surrounded by a number of tentacles. The polyp contains a central cavity, in which initial digestion takes place. Partially digested food may then be passed into the hydrocaulus for distribution around the colony and completion of the digestion process. Unlike some other cnidarian groups, the lining of the central cavity lacks stinging nematocysts, which are found only on the tentacles and outer surface. All colonial hydrozoans also include some polyps specialized for reproduction. These lack tentacles and contain numerous buds from which the medusoid stage of the life cycle is produced. The arrangement and type of these reproductive polyps varies considerably between different groups. In addition to these two basic types of polyps, a few colonial species have other specialized forms. In some, defensive polyps are found, armed with large numbers of stinging cells. In others, one polyp may develop as a large float, from which the other polyps hang down, allowing the colony to drift in open water instead of being anchored to a solid surface. Meanwhile, the medusae of hydrozoans are smaller than those of typical jellyfish, ranging from 0.5 to 6 cm (0.20 to 2.36 in) in diameter. Although most hydrozoans have a medusoid stage, this is not always free-living and in many species exists solely as a sexually reproducing bud on the surface of the hydroid colony. Sometimes, these medusoid buds may be so degenerated as to entirely lack tentacles or mouths, essentially consisting of an isolated gonad. The body consists of a dome-like umbrella ringed by tentacles. A tube-like structure hangs down from the centre of the umbrella and includes the mouth at its tip. Most hydrozoan medusae have just four tentacles, although a number of exceptions exist. Stinging cells are found on the tentacles and around the mouth. While individual hydrozoans are quite small, the colonies of the colonial species can be very large, and in some cases the specialized individual animals cannot survive outside the colony. Hydrozoans are essentially multi-celled organisms, with each animal being a cell making up the whole creature.
Hydroid colonies are usually dioecious, which means they have separate sexes—all the polyps in each colony are either male or female, but not usually both sexes in the same colony. In some species, the reproductive polyps, known as gonozooids bud off asexually produced medusae. These tiny, new medusae (which are either male or female) mature and spawn, releasing gametes freely into the sea in most cases. Zygotes become free-swimming planula larvae or actinula larvae that either settle on a suitable substrate (in the case of planulae), or swim and develop into another medusa or polyp directly (actinulae). In hydrozoan species with both polyp and medusa generations, the medusa stage is the sexually reproductive phase. Some species of hydromedusae release gametes shortly after they are themselves released from the hydroids, living only a few hours, while other species of hydromedusae grow and feed as plankton for months, spawning daily for many days before their supply of food or other water conditions deteriorate. Additionally, some hydrozoan species have an unusual life cycle for animals: they can transform themselves from sexually mature medusae stage back to their juvenile hydroid stage.
The earliest hydrozoans may be from the Vendian (Late Precambrian), more than 540 million years ago.
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The most well-known solitary hydrozoans, those of the genus Hydra, are seemingly immortal. They do not appear to die of old age, or to age at all, and, like their namesake, they regenerate when severed.
Most hydrozoans live in saltwater, though some live in freshwater, like the Peach Blossom Jellyfish (Craspedacusta sowerbii).
The Flower Hat Jelly (Olindias formosus) is a beautiful species of hydromedusa. The adult form only lives for a few months, typically seen from December to July, off central and southern Japan, and South Korea's Jeju Island. During the day they rest on the sea floor, floating up to the surface at night to hunt for small fish.
The Giant Siphonophore (Praya dubia) is a colonial hydrozoan that can get up to 50 m (160 ft) long, rivaling the Blue Whale in length
There is a siphonophore called the Flying Spaghetti Monster (Bathyphysa conifera) and it looks… you know what I’ll just reblog something in a bit…
The Portuguese Man O' War (Physalia physalis) (image 2) is one of the most venomous siphonophores, whose nematocysts can remain potent for hours or even days after the death of the organism or the detachment of the tentacle. Treatment for sting pain is immersion in 45 °C (113 °F) hot water for 20 minutes. The cnidocyte found in box jellyfish react differently than the nematocyst in the Portuguese Man O' War: Man O’ War nematocysts can discharge more venom if vinegar is applied! Do not pickle the man o’ war.
A lot of hydrozoans just kind of look like jellyfish to the untrained eye which just shows how much cnidarians constantly want to evolve into jellyfish through any means necessary. All this talk of carcinisation; where’s scyphozoanisation? Can we talk about how cnidarians did jellyfish again but this time they’re made out of a bunch of coral? That’s like making lizards again but this time each lizard is made out of thousands of specialized, interconnected fish.
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excentricat · 3 days ago
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Fritz Kühn
Detailstudie Weinbergschnecke (um 1930)
Abzug 1943
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excentricat · 4 days ago
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Ochre Sea Star (Pisaster ochraceus) at Moss Cove in Laguna Beach
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excentricat · 5 days ago
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Round 2.5 - Cnidaria - Cubozoa
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(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)
Cubozoa is a class of cnidarians commonly called “box jellyfish.” There are two orders within the class: Carybdeida and Chirodropida. It is the smallest cnidarian class with roughly 50 species known, though it is likely many more remain undescribed. Cubozoans are infamous for some species having extremely painful and even fatal stings, though many species are not dangerous to humans.
The medusa form of a box jellyfish has a squarish, box-like bell, from which its name is derived. From each of the four lower corners of this hangs a short pedalium or stalk which bears one or more long, slender, hollow tentacles. The rim of the bell is folded inwards to form a shelf known as a velarium which restricts the bell's aperture and creates a powerful jet when the bell pulsates. As a result, box jellyfish can move more rapidly than true jellyfish, and speeds of up to 6 metres (20 ft) per minute have been recorded. The Cubozoan nervous system is more developed than other cnidarians with a ring nerve at the base of the bell that coordinates their pulsing movements. Uniquely, Cubozoans are also the only cnidarians to have true eyes, complete with retinas, corneas and lenses. Their eyes are set in clusters at the ends of sensory structures called rhopalia which are connected to their ring nerve. Each rhopalium contains two image-forming lens eyes. The upper lens eye looks straight up out of the water. In species such as Tripedalia cystophora, the upper lens eye is used to navigate to their preferred habitats at the edges of mangrove lagoons by observing the direction of the tree canopy. The lower lens eye is primarily used for object avoidance. Each rhopalium also has two pit eyes on either side of the upper lens eye which likely act as mere light meters, and two slit eyes on either side of the lower lens eye which are likely used to detect vertical movement. In total, the box jellyfish have six eyes on each of their four rhopalia, creating a total of 24 eyes. Due to this complex nervous system and relatively advanced sensory system compared to other cnidarians, box jellyfish display active, visually-guided, fishlike behavior, rather than drifting on the currents like true jellyfish.
The venom of cubozoans is distinct from that of scyphozoans, and is used to catch prey (small fish and invertebrates, including prawns and bait fish) and for defense from predators. They feed by extending their tentacles and accelerating for a short time upwards, then turning upside-down and pausing their pulsating. Then the jellyfish slowly sinks, until prey finds itself entangled by tentacles. Each tentacle has about 500,000 cnidocytes, containing nematocysts, a harpoon-shaped microscopic mechanism that injects venom into the victim upon contact. Many different kinds of nematocysts are found in cubozoans. When prey is tangled in the tentacles and the nematocysts have fired into it and stunned or killed it, the pedalia folds and brings the prey to the oral opening.
Chirodropida reproduces by external fertilization and Carybdeida reproduces by internal fertilization and is ovoviviparous; sperm is transferred by spermatozeugmata, a type of spermatophore. Hours after the fertilization, the female releases an embryo strand that contains its own nematocytes. Cubozoans are the only class of cnidarian that contains species that perform a “wedding dance” to transfer the spermatophores from the male into the female.
Cubozoans have been around since the Middle Cambrian.
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Propaganda under the cut:
Often described as “the most lethal jellyfish in the world” the Australian Box Jelly or “Sea Wasp” (Chironex fleckeri) is responsible for 64 known deaths in Australia from 1884 to 2021. Being stung commonly results in excruciating pain, and if the sting area is significant, an untreated victim may die in two to five minutes. The amount of venom in one animal is said to be enough to kill 60 adult humans. It is also the largest Cubozoan, with body sizes reaching up to one foot in diameter and thick, bootlace-like tentacles up to 10 feet long.
Irukandji Jellyfish are any of several similar, extremely venomous species of rare box jellyfish. With very small adult sizes of about a cubic centimetre, they are both the smallest and some of the most venomous jellyfish in the world. There are about 16 species of box jellyfish called Irukandji, of which Carukia barnesi, Malo kingi (image 3), Malo maxima, Malo filipina and Malo bella are the best known. People stung by these may suffer severe physical and psychological symptoms, known as Irukandji Syndrome. Nevertheless, most victims do survive.
Wearing pantyhose, full body lycra suits, dive skins, or wetsuits are an effective protection against box jellyfish stings. The stinging cells on a box jellyfish's tentacles are not triggered by touch, but by chemicals found on skin, which are not present on pantyhose or the outer surface of wetsuits, so the jellyfish's nematocysts do not fire. If a tentacle of a box jellyfish does adhere to skin, it automatically pumps nematocysts with venom into the skin, causing the sting and agonizing pain. There is no scientific evidence that urine, ammonia, meat tenderizer, sodium bicarbonate, boric acid, lemon juice, fresh water, steroid cream, alcohol, cold packs, papaya, or hydrogen peroxide will disable further stinging, and these substances may even hasten the release of venom. However, flushing with vinegar can be used to deactivate undischarged nematocysts and prevent the release of additional venom.
Sea turtles, including the hawksbill sea turtle and flatback sea turtle, are unaffected by box jellyfish stings and specialize in snacking on them.
High school marine biology teacher Lisa Peck won an online competition to name the Bonaire Banded Box Jellyfish Tamoya ohboya (image 2), because, she said "I bet ‘Oh Boy!’ is the first thing said when a biologist or layman encounters the Bonaire Banded Box Jellyfish." It has orange and white striped tentacles. Oh boy!
The tiny (1 cm [0.4 in] wide) Mangrove Box Jelly (Tripedalia cystophora) is harmless to humans and feeds on copepods. They are threatened due to habitat destruction.
They have eyeballs for goodness sakes. Why do they have eyeballs. Who gave them the right.
These are amazing, ancient Cambrian creatures that have existed in the seas long before us and will be here long after we are gone. They are smarter than other jellyfish, smarter than we give them credit for, and they are not out to get us. We are not their prey. We are land animals and they are sea animals. If we’re going to keep entering their hunting grounds then it’s up to us to figure out how to adapt to live alongside them.
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excentricat · 6 days ago
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Hairy pie-dish beetle, Helea perforata, Tenebrionidae (darkling beetles)
Found in Western Australia
Photos 1-3 by jmwatson and 4 (for scale) by cal-wood
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excentricat · 7 days ago
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Cerulean chafer beetle, Hoplia Coerulea, Scarabaeidae
Found in France, Spain, Switzerland, and Monaco
Photo 1 by macronocturno, 2 by erlandreflingnielsen, 3-4 by jl__cc, 5 by vhamon, 6-7 by jofree, and 8 (for scale) by alan2016
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excentricat · 7 days ago
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Round 2.5 - Cnidaria - Octocorallia
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(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)
Our first Cnidarians are the anthozoan class Octocorallia. It comprises three orders: Alcyonacea, Helioporacea, and Pennatulacea, containing marine animals with the common names “blue coral”, “soft corals”, “sea pens”, “sea fans”, and “sea whips.”
Like other corals, octocorals are colonial organisms, with numerous tiny polyps embedded in a soft matrix that forms a visible structure. The matrix is composed of mesogleal tissue, lined by a continuous epidermis and perforated by numerous tiny channels. The channels interconnect the gastrovascular cavities of the polyps, allowing water and nutrients to flow freely between all the members of the colony. The skeletal material, called coenenchyme, is composed of living tissue secreted by numerous wandering amoebocytes. Although it is generally soft, in many species it is reinforced with calcareous or horny material. Octocorals resemble the stony corals in general appearance and in the size of their polyps, but lack the distinctive stony skeleton. Each polyp has only eight tentacles, each of which is feather-like in shape, with numerous side-branches, or pinnules. The polyp is largely embedded within the colonial skeleton, with only the uppermost surface, including the tentacles and mouth, projecting about the surface. The mouth is slit-like, with a single ciliated groove, or siphonoglyph, at one side to help control water flow. They are filter-feeders, with individual polyps catching plankton and other particulate matter using their tentacles.
Octocorals reproduce by coordinating a release of sperm and eggs into the water column; this may occur seasonally or throughout the year. Fertilized eggs develop into larvae called planulae which drift freely as plankton before settling on the substrate and developing into the more sessile corals, cloning themselves over and over to become a colony of polyps.
Octocorals have existed since at least the Ordovician Period. The Cambrian Pywackia has been interpreted as an octocoral in the past, though this is disputed.
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Propaganda under the cut:
Bioluminescence is found in 32 octocoral genera, a trait estimated to have evolved 540 million years ago and evident in fossils, the earliest emergence of bioluminescence in a marine environment!
Blue Coral (Heliopora coerulea) is the only octocoral known to produce a massive skeleton. The skeleton is formed of aragonite, with individual polyps living in tubes within the skeleton.
Some octocorals contain algae, or zooxanthellae. This symbiotic relationship assists in giving the coral nutrition by photosynthesis.
Many animals depend on octocorals for shelter. Pygmy Seahorses not only make certain species of gorgonians their home, but also closely resemble their hosts, making them well camouflaged. Two species of pygmy seahorse, Hippocampus bargibanti and Hippocampus denise, are obligate residents on gorgonians. H. bargibanti is limited to two species in the single genus Muricella.
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excentricat · 8 days ago
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I want you all to know that even when your favs don’t win I have still forced many people to look at and read about them. And so have you, if you reblogged their poll.
This is a tournament, so like… obviously we can’t give every animal the same amount of points or we’re not going to get anywhere. I’m sad that some of my favs are already out. I’m sad my beloved Australian Lungfish has been left behind already. I’m very sad that millipedes were ranked so low.
But I’m happy that I’m going to get to share a lot of different birds and arachnids and insects with you in Round 3, and I’m going to get to learn about a lot of fish myself. The fun part about this tournament is that regardless of whether they move on to the next round; I’m still writing a pretty wordy post about each group and finding nice pictures to represent them with and then I’m making people look at it. We’re learning about these animals together regardless of whether they move on or not. And because the voting is ranked choice, even if your favorite didn’t make it through, I hope you still have some investment in the ones that did.
I’m just putting a heck of a lot of effort into this tournament so I hope y’all are getting something out of it even if some of us are disappointed!
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excentricat · 10 days ago
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Yellowjacket-Mimicking Moth: this is just a harmless moth that mimics the appearance and behavior of a yellowjacket/wasp; its disguise is so convincing that it can even fool actual wasps
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This species of moth (Myrmecopsis polistes) is one of the most impressive wasp-mimics in the world. The moth's narrow waist, teardrop-shaped abdomen, black-and-yellow patterning, transparent wings, smooth appearance, and folded wing position all mimic the features of a wasp. Unlike an actual wasp, however, it does not have any mandibles or biting/chewing mouthparts, because it's equipped with a proboscis instead, and it has noticeably "feathery" antennae.
There are many moths that use hymenopteran mimicry (the mimicry of bees, wasps, yellowjackets, hornets, and/or bumblebees, in particular) as a way to deter predators, and those mimics are often incredibly convincing. Myrmecopsis polistes is one of the best examples, but there are several other moths that have also mastered this form of mimicry.
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Above: Pseudosphex laticincta, another moth species that mimics a yellowjacket
These disguises often involve more than just a physical resemblance; in many cases, the moths also engage in behavioral and/or acoustic mimicry, meaning that they can mimic the sounds and behaviors of their hymenopteran models. In some cases, the resemblance is so convincing that it even fools actual wasps/yellowjackets.
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Above: Pseudosphex laticincta
Such a detailed and intricate disguise is unusual even among mimics. Researchers believe that it developed partly as a way for the moth to trick actual wasps into treating it like one of their own. Wasps frequently prey upon moths, but they are innately non-aggressive toward their own fellow nest-mates, which are identified by sight -- so if the moth can convincingly impersonate one of those nest-mates, then it can avoid being eaten by wasps.
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Above: Pseudosphex laticincta
I gave an overview of the moths that mimic bees, wasps, yellowjackets, hornets, and bumblebees in one of my previous posts, but I felt that these two species (Myrmecopsis polistes and Pseudosphex laticincta) deserved to have their own dedicated post, because these are two of the most convincing mimics I have ever seen.
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Above: Pseudosphex sp.
I think that moths in general are probably the most talented mimics in the natural world. They have so many intricate, unique disguises, and they often combine visual, behavioral, and acoustic forms of mimicry in order to produce an uncanny resemblance. Moths are just so much more interesting than people generally realize.
Sources & More Info:
Journal of Ecology and Evolution: A Hypothesis to Explain Accuracy of Wasp Resemblances
Entomology Today: In Enemy Garb: A New Explanation for Wasp Mimicry
iNaturalist: Myrmecopsis polistes and Pseudosphex laticincta
Transactions of the Entomological Society of London: A Few Observations on Mimicry
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excentricat · 14 days ago
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@animate-mush
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I baked some beetle bread!! <3
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excentricat · 15 days ago
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Brenthia Moths: these moths can mimic the appearance and mannerisms of a jumping spider so convincingly that actual jumping spiders will sometimes attempt to court them
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The markings, posture, and movements of a Brenthia moth (genus Brenthia, also known as a metalmark moth) all contribute to its disguise; the moths move around in short, jerky motions that mimic the movements of a jumping spider, and their hindwings are covered in black-and-white bands that strongly resemble the tucked-in legs of a salticiid spider, especially when the moth displays its unique wing position. The disguise serves as a defensive strategy, enabling the moth to avoid being preyed upon by actual jumping spiders.
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In some cases, that disguise may work a little too well, as jumping spiders may actually mistake the moth for a potential mate and then attempt to engage it in a courtship/mating dance (which must be a pretty awkward and bizarre experience for the moth, tbh).
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The resemblance between a Brenthia moth and a jumping spider may not seem terribly convincing to us, as human beings, but as this article explains:
When discussing animals mimicking their predator, it is important to remember that we humans are not the target audience. This means that the imitator may not look too convincing in its mimicry to us, but still manages to trigger a desired response from said predator.
Jumping spiders have also been known to respond to Brenthia moths by exhibiting a territorial display, which is yet another behavior that the spiders generally reserve for other spiders.
This study expands on the adaptive benefits of the moth's disguise:
In controlled trials, Brenthia had higher survival rates than other similarly sized moths in the presence of jumping spiders and jumping spiders responded to Brenthia with territorial displays, indicating that Brenthia were sometimes mistaken for jumping spiders, and not recognized as prey.
The illustration below shows the basic/general resemblance between a Brenthia moth and a jumping spider:
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Sources & More Info:
New Scientist: Moth's Disguise is so Good, Spiders Love it Instead of Eating it
Animal Behaviour: Sheep in Wolf's Clothing
Science: This Moth Could Pass for a Spider
PLOS ONE Journal: Metalmark Moths Mimic their Jumping Spider Predators
Gil Wizen: Jumping Spider Mimicry in Brenthia Moths
Moths of North Carolina: Brenthia pavonacella
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excentricat · 16 days ago
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I get so confused whenever I see an AI-generated sea slug of a species that doesn't even exist, like is the world not beautiful enough for you? Do you care not for Babakina anadoni...?
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Nemesignis banyulensis?
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Bornella anguilla?
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Phyllodesmium poindimiei?
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Sea angel??
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