#pennata

[otus-scops]

Melanargia galathea / Le Demi-Deuil, sur Stipa pennata / Cheveux d'Anges.

Causse Méjean, France.

Le 07 juillet 2023.

[vrgssmncht]

MEDITERRANEAN CONEHEAD MANTIS OR EMPUSA PENNATA FOR DAY TWO LETS GOOOO

[critter-captures]

Darwin's rhea (Rhea pennata), family Rheidae

Also known as the lesser rhea, it is the smaller of the two species of rhea. Together they are the only extant species within their family.

Avifauna, taken July 2024

[noodle-necks]

Lesser Rhea (Rhea pennata)

© Steven Hopp

[pulsethebabyoctopus]

[mutant-distraction]

Conehead praying mantis (Empusa pennata), photo taken by Marta Albareda.

[raventroll80]

I just found out that there’s a species of glowing moss! It called Schistostega pennata!

I found the image on In Defence of Plants.com

[tenth-sentence]

It was cooked and eaten before my memory returned.

"Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology of the Countries Visited During the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle Round the World, 1832-36" - Charles Darwin

[onenicebugperday]

Mediterranean conehead mantis, Empusa pennata, Empusidae

Photographed in France by Bernard DuPont

[herpsandbirds]

Conehead Mantis (Empusa pennata), family Empusidae, Portugal

photograph by Frank Vassen 

[witheon]

Some sketches of Insect au spy!

He's a Empusa pennata, better known as the conehead mantis.

[homunculus-argument]

Not a bug, but apparently Finland also has glowing cave moss called Aarnisammal (Schistostega pennata). I saw an info sign about it in Helvetinjärvi (National Park in Ruovesi).

Saddly, it isn't bioluminescence. The moss has just optimized its light collecting and reflects usuless wavelenghts back towards the source which gives the moss "a greenish-gold glow".

It seems that the English name for it is goblin gold.

Ooh yeah, that's something I have heard of. In the name, the word aarni is a very, very archaic old word for treasure of some sort. It's only met in combination with other words, such as aarnituli - a will-o'-the-wisp that hovers above buried treasures as a magical marker of the place. The word "tuli" is simply "fire", so aarnituli is simply to the mythical treasure what a torch is for human settlement.

And fascinatingly enough, the word aarni is also part in aarnikotka - gryphon, combining aarni with kotka, eagle. Finnish folklore does not naturally have griffins of any kind, so whoever needed to come up with a finnish name for the heraldic symbol considered it more necessary to clarify that this beast is an eagle-like creature that guards treasures, not that the ass end of it is a lion.

To clarify for the english-speakers present, in aarnisammal, the latter word of the name just means "moss", any kind of moss. So much like aarnituli is "a fire that marks the location of some great, supernatural treasure", aarnisammal is "a moss that grows somewhere around (the same kind of) great, supernatural treasure". So back in the day, people saw something in the woods that glows in the darkness in ways that nothing naturally should (as far as they understood), and made the educated guess "whatever that is must belong to the world of ghouls and unnatural spirits, and while it's alluring, I should probably not fuck with it."

Also as a bonus translation about the name of the national park: "Helvetinjärvi" literally just translates to "Lake of Hell." Like the christian Hell.

[noncompliantcyborg]

Let's Talk Sea Slugs: Rostanga pulchara

Rostanga pulchara is a small species of dorid nudibranch commonly found grazing on the red sponges that give it its color.

The adult below was 16mm long and 8mm wide, but they can grow to as large as 33mm long (Jensen et al 2018).

Above - Adult Rostanga pulchara collected from Cattle Point Intertidal, San Juan Island by Babonis Lab, Summer 2022.

Above - Closeups of Rostanga pulchara. Left - mantle showing the texture and shape of the tubercles. Center - gills. Right - rhinophore.

Along with size and color, a defining characteristic of the nudibranch is its uniquely shaped rhinophores (Jensen et al 2018). One is pictured above on the right.

A good way to find them in the wild is to look for the sponges that they eat. Two of these species are the velvety Clathria pennata and the "volcano-shaped" Acarnus erithacus (Jensen et al 2018). Both sponges are encrusting and highly pigmented.

The pigments from the sponge not only color the adult nudibranchs, but also their eggs (Jensen et al 2018). This can be seen in the early embryos below.

Above - Rostanga pulchara embryos, 2-cell and 4-cell stages. Viewed on 6/21/2022 under 40x magnification. The center 2-cell embryo was 111 microns across.

A week and a half later, these embryos had developed close to the point of hatching.

Unhatched veliger larvae, with visible shell anViewed on 7/1/2022 under 40X magnification. The center embryo measured at 125 microns across.

These nudibranchs, like many others, have a larval form called veligers. These veligers have shells and big ciliated lobes.

Hatched veliger larvae. Viewed on 7/7/2022 under 40X magnification.

Hatched veliger larvae from the same clutch of original eggs. Viewed on 7/13/2022 under 20X magnification. The larvae on the right was measured as 194 microns across the veler lobes and 178 micros from the top of the shell down to where the veler lobes exit the shell.

Sources:

Personal lab notes and obervations.

Jensen et al. Beneath Pacific Tides. MolaMarine, 2018.

All photographs by JA Fields, do not repost without express written permission.

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[pupucino]

What is your favourite moss?

Schistostega pennata, it glows in the dark!

photo source

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Renowned Rheas

A distant cousin to the ostrich and the emu, rheas or ñandus are a group of birds belonging to the genus Rhea, consisting of the common rhea ( Rhea americana) and the lesser rhea (Rhea pennata). Also included as either a subspecies or a seperate species is the puna rhea ( Rhea tarapacensis). This group is found in the southern half of South America, typically in open grasslands or sparse woodlands.

Like their flightless relatives, rheas are large, flightless birds characterised by a small head, long neck, and long legs. Adults of the common rhea species can reach up to 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) tall and 27 kg (60 lbs), while the smaller species only reach 1 m (39 in) and 29 kg (63 lbs). All members of the rhea group have dull grey or brown coloration. Males are typically larger than females, although both possess large clawed feet which are used for outrunning or out-kicking predators like cougars (Puma concolor) and pampas cats ((Leopardus colocolo), which often go after nests or chicks.

Rheas are largely herbivorous, and spend most of their days grazing. Their diets consist of grass, cacti, saltbrush, and the occasional small lizard or insect. Outside the breeding season they can be found in flocks of 10-100, with individuals taking turns watching for potential threats while the others graze. During the breeding season, from July to January, males fight each other with their sharp claws and beaks to gain dominance. The victor mates with up to 12 females, each of which produces a clutch of 20-40 eggs each season.

 Once the eggs are laid, the males provide all the care for the offspring. These eggs are laid once every 48 hours, and most are moved to a nest for protection. However, some eggs are left to rot, and the flies they attract serve as food for the brooding males and their chicks. Eggs take about 30 days to hatch, and the young are taken are of for an additional six months. Rhea fathers are extremely territorial, and will become aggressive even towards other females, all while guarding several broods of chicks. Once they reach independence at six months old, chicks join a group of young adults, though they don’t become sexually mature until they’re about two years old. In captivity individuals can live up to 13 years.

Conservation status: The greater rhea is considered Near Threatened by the IUCN, while the lesser rhea is classified as Least Concern. Their main threats are habitat destruction and increased hunting and nest poaching from humans.

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Photos

Dave Curtis via eBird

Konrad Wothe

Mehgan Murphy

[francescointoppa]

C - Cardamine heptaphylla (Vill.) O.E.Schulz - Dentaria pennata (Brassicaceae)