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Crap I forgot to post this here again --- Arthropod of yesterday!!
Fen Raft Spider -
Also known as the Great Raft spider, this European species is found mostly in the United Kingdom.
According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, this species is vulnerable because there are only three populations of the Fen spider known in Suffolk, East Sussex, and near Swansea.
Great Raft spiders are among Britain’s largest, colored in brown or black with creamy or yellow bands along the abdomen. They have hairy legs to help them move along the surface of the water and can use them to catch fish and tadpoles.
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Owlflies are one of the "ugly ducklings" of insects. The grotesque larvae are voracious predators in leaf litter and on trees. They sit and wait for prey to stray in between their oversize mandibles, seizing them and feeding on the body liquids within. The adults are elegant strong-flying insects which are sometimes confused with dragonflies.
Adult owlflies can be distinguished from other lacewings and similar insects by the long antennae (almost as long as the wing length) which have a large often bi-coloured club at the tip. As with most other lacewings the wing veins fork where they meet the margin of the wing.
Larvae are similar to antlion larvae, but are usually more flattened, and do not build pits to capture prey. The sides of the larval body have finger-like lateral processes on both thorax and abdomen. The mandibles have more than one large tooth on the inner margin.
Both adults and larvae are predators. Adults hawk flying insects in much the same way that dragonflies do. Larvae are sit and wait predators of many invertebrates, although they will move in response to nearby movement of potential prey to assist in prey capture.
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Athropod of today!!!!!!!
Water strider legs are covered in thousands of microscopic hairs scored with tiny groves. As reported in National Geographic, “These groves trap air, increasing water resistance of the water’s striders legs and overall buoyancy of the insect.”
The water skipper’s legs are so buoyant they can support fifteen times the insect’s weight without sinking. Even in a rainstorm, or in waves, the strider stays afloat.
If a water strider’s legs go underwater, it’s very difficult for them to push to the surface.
Their legs are more buoyant than even ducks’ feathers. The strider’s legs do more than repel water; they’re also configured to allow efficient and rapid movement across the surface.
As with all insects, the water strider has three pairs of legs. The front legs are much shorter, and allow the strider to quickly grab prey on the surface. The middle legs act as paddles. The back legs are the longest and provide additional power, and also enable the strider to steer and “brake.”
The buoyancy and paddling legs allows striders to be fast. Very, very fast. The National Geographic article reports striders are capable of “speeds of a hundred body lengths per second. To match them, a 6-foot-tall person would have to swim at over 400 miles an hour.”
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🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
Phymata fasciata
This type of assassin bug is a very potent predator. It’s one of the few types of bugs of this genus that can take on prey a few times larger than its 1-inch body.
Bugs of these species are tan or brown. They have a body that appears wrinkly, often confused with leaves or tree bark.
This allows these bugs to remain undetected on flowers or trees where many types of insects approach them unknowingly.
Bugs of the species have a very potent bite.
They often eat powerful large insects such as wasps, hornets, and bees such as bumblebees.
However, these bugs cannot be seen as truly beneficial to any type of habitat as they also eat honeybees.
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The blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) is known for its color and delicious flavor. The crab's scientific name means "savory beautiful swimmer." While blue crabs do have sapphire blue claws, their bodies are usually duller in color.
Like other decapods, blue crabs have 10 legs. However, their hind legs are paddle-shaped, making blue crabs excellent swimmers. Blue crabs have blue legs and claws and olive to grayish blue bodies. The color comes mainly from the blue pigment alpha-crustacyanin and the red pigment astaxanthin. When blue crabs are cooked, heat deactivates the blue pigment and turns the crab red.
Mating and spawning occur separately. Mating occurs in brackish water during warm months between May and October. Mature males molt and mate with multiple females over their lifespan, while each female undergoes a single molt into her mature form and only mates once. As she nears the molt, a male defends her against threats and other males. Insemination occurs after the female molts, providing her with spermatophores for a year of spawning. The male continues to guard her until her shell hardens. While mature males remain in brackish water, females migrate to high salinity water to spawn.
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The aptly named Toxic Reef Crab (also referred to as the Devil Crab), Zosimus aeneus, can be so toxic as to kill within a few hours of consumption and has been reported to be used by Pacific Islanders as a means for suicide. This crab's muscles store two of the most lethal toxins— tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin.
These gorgeous crabs are easy on the eyes but be sure to avoid them on the dinner plate. Eating a crab will kill the diner in a matter of hours.
They have evolved excellent camouflage skills, allowing them to blend seamlessly with their rocky reef environments. This adaptation helps them avoid predation by blending into their surroundings.
These crabs are primarily nocturnal, displaying heightened activity during the night. They tend to retreat to their hiding places during the day to minimize exposure to potential predators.
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This incredible arachnid most frequently goes by the appropriate and descriptive common name of the Long-Horned Orb Weaver. Macracantha is a genus of Asian orb-weaver spiders recognized as containing the species, Macracantha arcuata, although some schemes also recognise inclusion of Gasteracantha hasselti in this genus.
Macracantha is notable for the extremely long, curved spines on the abdomens of female members of the genus. The females of this genus have tough, shell-like abdomens armed with three pairs of spines. The spectacular middle (median) spines project upward and outward, curving in toward each other along their length. They are up to three times as long (20–26 mm) as the abdomen is wide (8–9 mm).
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The rosy maple moth has a variable coloration. In most cases, it is white, yellow, or cream-colored, with some amount of pink at the outer and inner portions of the wings.
Adults emerge in the late afternoon and mate in the late evening. Females begin laying eggs at dusk the next day in groups of 10-30 on leaves of the host plant. Eggs hatch in about 2 weeks and feed gregariously when young. Older caterpillars feed alone. Fully-grown caterpillars pupate and overwinter in shallow underground chambers.
Larvae are greenish white with an orangish-brown head. There are two elongated black horns on the second thoracic segment (the second segment behind the head). A ring of tiny black spines encircles each abdominal segment; the ones on the top and sides are very short, but the ones lowest on the sides are longer. Spines on the hind end of the caterpillar are longer. Sometimes there is a pinkish-red patch on each side of the hind end (abdominal segments 7 and 8). In some stages, lengthwise stripes run down the body.
Range: Nova Scotia west through Quebec to Ontario and Minnesota; south to Dade County, Florida, the Gulf Coast, and east Texas.
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Yellow-bellied Bee Assassin
These bugs (Apiomerus flaviventris) are known to resemble bees. They represent a species known for its enhanced polychromatism which means it exhibits multiple colors.
The lower part of its body is yellow with black stripes while its legs are red. Its head is black.
Yellow-bellied Bee Assassin bugs are known to kill bees. They spend the day on flowers where they await for bees to approach.
The bugs are also known for laying a large number of eggs embalmed in an off-putting pheromone that keeps predators away.
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Pyrops candelaria (Laternaria candelaria and Fulgora candelaria in older literature) is a species of planthopper often placed in the tribe Laternariini. This species has been recorded from: Guangdong, Guangxi, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Laos, Thailand and other parts of southeast Asia. It is the type of the genus Pyrops erected by Spinola in 1839.
Like all Fulgoridae, P. candelaria feeds on plant sap: including longan and lychee trees (Sapindaceae), among others. Its long, slender proboscis is used to pierce tree bark to reach the phloem.
Members of this genus are sometimes called lanternflies (although lanternflies do not emit light) because of their notable 'cephalic process'. They are often sought-out by collectors, attracted by their fore wings, yellow-orange hind wings with a black zone around the wing tips, a reddish head and cephalic process with white spots.
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Ghost shrimp are appropriately named because they are totally transparent, and they are sometimes called Glass shrimp. Despite their shrimp-like appearance, they are actually more closely related to crabs. Though they are small, reaching up to three to four inches, Ghost shrimp can dig burrows that can be four feet deep. They are an important part of intertidal ecosystems, because they drive oxygen into the sand as they burrow, which helps organic matter to decompose, enriching the sediment, and ultimately providing food for more creatures.
Their transparent nature is used as a defense mechanism in the wild. It’s very difficult for most of their natural predators to spot them as they scavenge the bottom of the riverbed.
Beady little eyes can be found poking out from either side of the rostrum base. Look a little further, and you’ll see two pairs of antennae. One pair is long while the other is short.
The antennae are usually clear like the rest of the body, though you might see some light coloration on a few ghost shrimp. They act as sensory organs that help them navigate the environment and gather some crucial information about the chemical composition of the water.
Below the shrimp’s head, you’ll find six flexible segments. They’re much softer and more flexible than the tougher carapace. Look closely, and this section may look very familiar to you.
It looks like any other shrimp that you might have eaten, albeit much smaller. The first five sections are attached to the pleopods, which are limbs used for swimming. The final sixth section holds the tail.
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:rotating_light: ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY :rotating_light:
The Goliath birdeater is the king of spiders. Weighing up to six ounces and with a leg span of nearly a foot, this tarantula is the largest arachnid on the planet.
Goliaths don’t usually eat birds, but they are big enough to be able to—and occasionally they do. “Birdeater” came from an 18th-century engraving that showed another kind of tarantula eating a hummingbird, which gave the entire Theraphosa genus the name birdeater.
Insects make up most of the Goliath diet, but frogs and rodents are on the menu too. Goliaths prowl the Amazon in northern South America. When a Goliath pounces on a mouse, for example, its inch-long fangs act like hypodermic needles, pumping neurotoxins into the hapless prey. The spider then drags the dying animal back to its burrow and begins the digestion process. Spiders can’t ingest solid material, so they first liquefy the prey’s insides, then suck it dry.
Unlike jumping spiders, Goliath birdeaters have bad eyesight. They rely instead on modified leg hairs, sensitive to vibration, to warn them of danger. If a predator like a coati gets too close, the Goliath has an unusual weapon: harpoon-shaped hairs (called urticating hairs) tipped with stinging barbs. The spider rubs its legs together, launching a shower of miniature missiles into the air. The hairs connect with the would-be assailant’s eyes and skin, sending it scurrying.
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🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
Cecropia moths are beautiful silk moths with reddish bodies and black to brown wings surrounded by bands of white, red, and tan. With a wingspan of five to seven inches (13 to 18 centimeters), the cecropia moth is the largest moth found in North America.
In order to find a mate, male cecropia moths must have extraordinary senses. A female moth produces natural chemicals called pheromones, which the male can detect from over a mile away. Females lay over a hundred eggs, although many of the caterpillars won’t live to see adulthood. When the caterpillars hatch, they are black in color. As they go through successive molts, they increase in size and change color from black to yellow to green. At the end of the summer, the five-inch-long caterpillar seals itself into a cocoon and emerges in the spring as a moth. The sole purpose of the adult stage is to mate and lay eggs. Adult moths cannot eat, so if a predator doesn’t scoop them up, they die after two weeks.
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🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
The Happy Face spider has a special design that looks like a smiley face on its belly! It lives on a few islands in Hawaii, and each spider has its own unique pattern. Sometimes, these patterns even change from one island to another. Some don’t have any marks at all! People believe the bright designs might help them stay safe from birds.
The happy-face spider is endemic to the Hawaiian archipelago but is only found on four of the islands: Oahu, Molokai, Maui, and Hawaii.
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The beautiful eighty eight butterfly or diaethria clymena native to South and Central America. They are named after the black and white stripes on their underwing that outline the number ‘eighty eight’. The same numbering found in 12 different species of diaethria butterfly. But the coloring and pattern slightly differs across the species. The upperside of eighty eight butterfly’s wings are black and band of blue and green also appears on their forewings. The underside of their wings have attractive black markings on white and red. The thickness and brightness of the black markings are also varies among different species of eighty eight butterfly.
The eighty eight butterflies are found in small and large group in accordance with circumstances. The active butterflies are also found in human habitations. They also like to rest on rock faces and mineral rich soil. They laid the eggs on leaves of trema plants. The larvaes also feed on the leaves of the host plant. The adult eighty eight butterfly has a wingspan of 35-40 mm. Eighty eight butterflies mainly feed on rotten fruits.
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Snow Crabs have brown or reddish shells with yellow or white undertones, as well as four pairs of legs on the underside. This color shading helps these crabs conceal themselves in the deep seas where they dwell. The four pairs of legs assist these crustaceans move about freely on Alaskan or North Atlantic ocean floors.
The commercial catches of Snow Crab in Alaska are expected to reach 36.6 million pounds in 2020, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The crab has never been short in the Pacific or Atlantic, and NOAA does not consider it overfished.
The migratory habits of these crabs are less well-known than those of other types. The Bering Sea has seen the most significant population movements, with numbers growing steadily throughout the year.
They are distributed across the world via ocean currents. These crabs may be found as deep as 265 feet below the surface in some places and 66 to 265 feet beneath the sea surface in other areas.
They can be found throughout much of Canada, Europe, Scandinavia, northern Asia, and Siberia. The habitat extends from Siberia and Alaska to Korea, with clusters having been discovered in all of these locations.
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This crab is a species of Lithodid Crab which is a type of king crab. King crabs are different from most other crabs. They are more closely related to hermit crabs and have similar characteristics. Their abdomens are twisted to one side, they have large right-handed claws, and their legs fold backwards, instead of forwards. They are able to walk forwards instead of sideways like most other crab species.
The almost circular carapace can reach a diameter of 13-14 cm. It is covered by large spikes on both the dorsal shell side and the limbs. The color is usually brown or orange. The claws are slender, relative to the body size.
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The Giant Prickly Stick Insect, also refferred to as Macleay’s Spectre Stick Insect, is a large stick insect from Australia and New Guinea. Its scientific Latin name is Extatosoma tiaratum.
This species of stick insect looks more like a cactus than like a twig. Its body is bulky and covered in small spines. On its legs it has big lobes that are also spiked and look like leaves of a desert plant. Extatosoma tiaratum are often light to mid brown, but occasionally you can find green, beige or dark brown varieties. There is also a rare “lichen” type color that can be found in some young Giant Prickly Stick Insect females.
Like most stick insects this species is docile by nature. It is nocturnal and will generally only move during the night.
It has an amazing defense strategy: it will mimic a scorpion when threatened. If they are disturbed, they will curl up their tail to mimic a scorpion. Sometimes they will even raise their front legs to mimic the shears of a scorpion. Predators who are interested in eating a stick insect, see a scorpion and are not willing to take the risk and attack a poisonous scorpion. The stick insect is harmless but just uses its tail to bluff off predators!
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Similar to the animal they’re named after, camel crickets are light to dark brown with a hump-back appearance. They have six legs including hind legs that are often as long as the rest of their body. They also have very long antennae, often longer than their bodies. It is believed this is because they are nocturnal insects and rely heavily on their sense of touch.
Adults are very small, only growing up 1.25” inches in body length. Camel crickets do not have sound-producing structures on their back legs, and adults do not have wings, unlike other cricket species. Their only form of defense is to leap when frightened.
One reason camel crickets are considered household pests is their habit of eating fabrics including curtains and clothing. Homeowners have even reported crickets munching on clothing hung outside to dry.
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🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
Adult wheel bugs (Arilus cristatus) are large (1 to 1-1/2 inches long) light gray to grayish-brown distinctive-looking insects. They get their name from the prominent cog-like toothed ‘wheel’ on their thorax (there can be 8-12 teeth/tubercles on this wheel). They are the only insects in Illinois (or the U.S.) to have such a structure. They also have beak-like mouthparts that arise from the front of their head, which some think resembles an elephant's trunk.
Wheel bugs are a type of assassin bug (family Reduviidae), so they are predators. They have raptorial front legs (like praying mantids) that they will use to grab prey. Once they have captured their prey, they insert their mouthparts into their prey and inject their saliva, which contains chemicals that paralyze the prey and begin digesting it. They will then suck out the ‘juices’ of the insect, like drinking a juice box.
They are generalist predators, meaning they will feed on a wide variety of different insects. They can commonly be found feeding on pests like caterpillars, beetles, sawfly larvae, aphids, and stink bugs, among others. In fact, wheel bugs are one of the few insects that will feed on the invasive brown marmorated stink bug.
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Not all cockroaches want to live near humans. The Brown-hooded Cockroach is a woodland cockroach that prefers the great outdoors to kitchen cupboards pantries.
This small, social insect lives in large congregations inside and around decaying tree trunks, stumps and limbs. Keeping the generations together is the only way of keeping the population alive. Nymphs of the Brown-hooded Cockroach are hatched without the ability to digest cellulose, the chief component of plant cells. Their diet is decaying wood which is made of cellulose, so nymphs need a way to break down wood. Adults rely on cellulose-destroying protozoans in their digestive organs in order to glean nutrition from the wood. In order to ingest the same necessary protozoans, the nymphs must feed on the fecal matter of adults. Without the feces, which harbors the living protozoans, the nymphs would essentially starve to death.
The Brown-hooded Cockroach does not enter buildings with the intention of living there like other nuisance cockroaches. It is not considered a pest. Nature is its preferred domain. As rotting wood comprises both habitat and food, the Brown-Hooded Cockroach is likely to be found in woodlands and forests. Check fallen trees and broken branches that are large enough to hold extended family.©InsectIdentification.org
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🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
Also known as figeater beetles or green June beetles, fig beetles are large, metallic-looking green beetles that dine on corn, flower petals, nectar, and soft-skinned fruits.
Figeater beetles are generally harmless and actually quite attractive. Many people don’t mind their presence in the garden, but due to their clumsy air-raid flight habits and loud buzzing, they may wear out their welcome in a hurry. In large numbers, they can do more serious damage. Adult figeater beetles lay their eggs 6 to 8 inches (15-20 cm.) beneath the surface of the soil in late summer. The eggs hatch in about two weeks and survive by eating organic matter in the soil until winter. On warm days of late winter and spring, the thumb-sized grubs burrow to the surface where they feed on grass roots and thatch.
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The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail belonging to the swallowtail family, is mostly indigenous to the eastern parts of the United States. The black stripes on its yellow body have perhaps earned it the name “tiger”.
When the wings are opened they are yellow, also having four stripes black in color, mostly prominent in the males. The forewings of the males are black, further decorated with yellow spots lined in a row, while the veins are even black. In females, the body could either be yellow just as the males or it may attain a complete black form, teamed with dark stripes. Moreover, the hind wing even comprises of neatly arranged blue spots.When the wings are closed, the shades are mostly the same with a yellow base with black borders or a full black body as in females.
Eastern swallowtail caterpillars are green with large yellow and black decoy eyespots. They also have orange “horns” they can extend when they feel threatened.
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The common cockchafer is also known as a May bug as they often emerge as adults during the month of May. They are large, brown beetles who spend the first few years of their lives as larvae underground. They mostly come out after the sun has set and can be seen flying around streetlights and lighted windows. If you have a moth trap, you may also find a few of these stumble in, attracted to the bright light.
The common cockchafer is the UK's largest scarab beetle (scarabs include dung beetles and chafers). With its rusty-brown wing cases, pointed 'tail' and fan-like antennae it is unmistakeable. It is a clumsy flier and makes a buzzing sound.
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Black hairy scorpion: This is one of the largest species of scorpions in the U.S., with mature adults growing to about 5 inches long from tip of tail to head. The legs, claws, tail appendage, and underside are all a light yellow color while the top of the cephalothorax is a charcoal black. The tips of the claws are a reddish brown. The body is covered with a light layer of fine, short hairs used to detect movement in its environment.
An unusual feature of scorpions is that they will glow a light blue color when exposed to ultraviolet light at night, helpful when inspecting for them.
Because of its size this scorpion readily preys on other scorpions, most insects, and even small lizards and snakes. This species prefers to create deep burrows to hide in, some as deep as 8 inches, and from these it emerges at night to hunt. Females retain their eggs with the young born within them, and as the first instar nymphs emerge they are guided up onto the back of their mother, where they remain for the first 3 weeks. From 25-35 young may be normal and the adult scorpions may live up to 6 years. The venom is considered to be relatively mild and about as painful as the sting of a honeybee.
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Odontomachus, otherwise known as trap-jaw ants, belong to the carnivorous variety of ants, and you find them in subtropical and tropical regions all over the world. The general name for this variety of ants is trap-jaw ants in the Odontomachus species. They have a pair of big and straight mandibles that can open as wide as 180 degrees. There is an internal mechanism that locks the jaws in position. When the sensory hairs located on the interior of the mandible are touched, they sense the prey or object and abruptly shut on them. The ant got its name from these strong and fast mandibles. The prey is either maimed or killed by the mandibles, permitting the ants to take it back to their nest. It is possible for the Odontomachus to once again snap and lock its jaw in case a single bite is insufficient, or for cutting bigger size prey into bits. Besides, they are able to perform slow and smooth movements of their mandibles for building nests and nurturing the larvae.
Trap-jaw ants are vigorous hunters and their stings are poisonous. Their jaws are strong enough to launch them in the air.
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Darkling beetles (family Tenebrionidae) of the Namib Desert, located on the southwest coast of Africa, live in one of the driest habitats in the world. But some species of Darkling beetle can get the water they need from dew and ocean fog, using their very own body surfaces.
Micro-sized grooves or bumps on the beetle’s hardened forewings can help condense and direct water toward the beetle’s awaiting mouth, while a combination of hydrophilic (water attracting) and hydrophobic (water repelling) areas on these structures may increase fog- and dew-harvesting efficiency. For certain species of Darkling beetle, the act of facing into the foggy wind and raising its rear end up in the air (known as fog-basking behavior) is thought to be just as important as body surface structure for successfully harvesting water from the air.
kho
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