Notices by kho (kho@shitposter.club), page 6
-
kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Monday, 12-Feb-2024 13:20:48 JST 
kho
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
Easter egg weevils are flightless beetles native to the oceanic islands of Southeast Asia, with their highest concentration of biodiversity in the Philippine archipelago. While they are found in a wide variety of ecosystems—from coastal forests to cloud forests at elevations up to 3,200 feet (1,000 meters)—their flightlessness restricts populations to their immediate environment. In places where multiple Pachyrhynchus species are present, they evolve to mimic each other.
This type of mimicry, known as Müllerian mimicry, occurs when multiple unpalatable species evolve to share similar external characteristics to deter predators. And though these weevils do not secrete any toxins, their hard exoskeletons are nearly impenetrable to predators (and are even known to break or bend the pins scientists use to collect them.)
While many insects get their warning hues from various pigments—which tend to fade over time—Easter egg weevils have structural coloration, or colorful scales embedded in their cuticles. These brightly colored patterns are made up of layers of tiny, angled discs that reflect light in different directions. -
kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Monday, 12-Feb-2024 13:20:46 JST
kho
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
Biting midges can be a nuisance to campers, fishermen, hunters, hikers, gardeners, and others who spend time outdoors during early morning and evenings, and even during the daytime on cloudy days when winds are calm. They will readily bite humans; the bites are irritating, painful, and can cause long-lasting painful lesions for some people.
A common observation upon experiencing a bite from this insect is that something is biting, but the person suffering cannot see what it is. Biting midges are sometimes incorrectly referred to as sand flies. Sand flies are insects that belong to a different biological group and should not be confused with the biting midges.
Biting midges, primarily the species Culicoides sonorensis, are responsible for transmission of bluetongue virus to sheep and cattle in the U.S. Bluetongue is a serious disease of ruminants. Bluetongue viruses are found world-wide and are transmitted by different Culicoides species in different regions. Many countries that are bluetongue free prohibit the movement of livestock from bluetongue endemic regions. The annual economic damage in lost trade is in the millions of dollars. -
kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Monday, 12-Feb-2024 13:20:43 JST
kho
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
The banded woollybear, Pyrrharctia isabella, is famous for predicting the harshness of the coming winter weather (the wider the black bands, the harsher the winter). It is informally known as the woolly bear, woolly worm, weatherworm, black-ended Bear, and fuzzy wuzzy. The banded woollyworm is also the main feature of a Woollybear Festival each fall in Vermilion, Ohio and a Woolly Worm Festival in Banner Elk, North Carolina.
Mature caterpillars are a little over an inch long and are covered with stiff hairs. Middle segments of the abdomen are covered with rusty red hairs and with black hairs at either end. As the caterpillars grow, black hairs are replaced with orange hairs so that the rusty red band is widest in mature banded woollybears. In fall, these caterpillars seek overwintering shelter under bark, leaf litter or a log, and can survive temperatures as low as -90 F. They overwinter either as caterpillars or they spin flimsy cocoons inside of which they overwinter as pupae.
Male Isabella moths are buff with small black spots. Female Isabella moths have lovely pink hind wings. -
kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Monday, 12-Feb-2024 13:20:41 JST
kho
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
Notonecta glauca, the common backswimmer, any of a group of insects (order Heteroptera) that occur worldwide and are named for their ability to swim on their backs, which are shaped like the keel and sides of a boat. The backswimmer uses its long oarlike legs for propulsion and has an oval-shaped head and an elongated body, generally less than 15 mm (0.6 inch) in length. It is a good example of countershading, as its light-coloured back, seen from below, blends into the water surface and sky. The rest of the body is darker and, when seen from above, blends with the bottom of the body of water in which it lives.
Because the backswimmer is lighter than water, it rises to the surface after releasing its hold on the bottom vegetation. Once at the surface, it may either leap out of the water and fly or get a fresh supply of air, which is stored in a bubble under its wings and around its body, and dive again. The backswimmer is often seen floating on the water surface with its legs extended, ready to dart away if disturbed. It preys on insects, small tadpoles, and fishes, sucking their body fluids through its strong beak.
When the backswimmer pierces his prey he emits a toxic saliva that subdues the prey, enabling him to suck out the prey's bodily fluids. When he attacks a human, or a dog, there is a painful reaction combined with a burning sensation, comparable to that of a bee sting. -
kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Monday, 12-Feb-2024 13:20:39 JST
kho
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
The Southern hawker is a large hawker dragonfly that is on the wing from the end of June through to October. A common dragonfly of ponds, lakes and canals in the lowlands, particularly near to woodland, it can be seen patrolling a regular patch of water when hunting, or often 'hawking' through woodland rides. Hawkers are the largest and fastest flying dragonflies; they catch their insect-prey mid-air and can hover or fly backwards.
The Southern hawker is mostly black in colour. The male has lime green spots all along the body, pale blue bands on the last three segments of the abdomen, blue-green eyes, and large green patches on the thorax. The female is paler, with pale green spots and brownish eyes.
This dragonfly is found in England and Wales, but slowly spreading into Scotland.
They mate mid-flight before laying their eggs somewhere close by, ideally in the water. There are also proofs that show female hawkers fake their death to avoid male hawkers that they don’t consider worthy for mating. -
kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Thursday, 26-Oct-2023 23:36:34 JST
kho
Fairyflies are very tiny insects, like most chalcidoid wasps, mostly ranging from 0.5 to 1.0 mm (0.020 to 0.039 in) long. They include the world's smallest known insect, with a body length of only 0.139 mm (0.0055 in), and the smallest known flying insect, only 0.15 mm (0.0059 in) long. They usually have nonmetallic black, brown, or yellow bodies. The antennae of the females are distinctively tipped by club-like segments, while male antennae are thread-like. Their wings are usually slender and possess long bristles, giving them a hairy or feathery appearance, although some species may have greatly reduced stubby wings or lack wings altogether. They can be distinguished from other chalcidoids by the H-shaped pattern of sutures on the front of their heads.
Fairyflies include the smallest known insect, Dicopomorpha echmepterygis from Illinois, whose males are only 0.139 mm (0.0055 in) long. They do not have wings or eyes, their mouths are mere holes, and their antennae are simply spherical blobs.
All known fairyflies are parasitoids of eggs of other insects. These eggs are commonly laid in concealed locations, such as in plant tissues or underground. They do not seem to be species-specific when it comes to choosing hosts.
Adult lifespans of fairyflies are very short. Stethynium adults (males and females) may live only one to two days. In Anagrus, depending on the species, lifespan ranges from three to 11 days. Each fertilized (or parthenogenic) female can lay a maximum of about 100 eggs. Access to food can prolong lifespans and increase fecundity. In Gonatocerus, if hosts are not found females can resorb eggs, retaining energy to live longer and increase the chance of finding a host. -
kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Thursday, 26-Oct-2023 23:36:33 JST
kho
The giant leopard moth (Hypercompe scribonia) grows from a red-striped "woolly bear"-type caterpillar to a white-spotted moth large enough to fit comfortably in an adult's hand.
As an adult, the moth is noteworthy in its appearance: Its wings are bright white, with a pattern of black and shiny blue dots (some solid and some hollow) sprinkled across them. It has a wingspan of three inches, and when its wings are spread, you can see its colorful abdomen: The top side is iridescent blue with orange markings, while the underside is white with solid black dots. Its legs have black and white bands. Male moths (they have a yellow band along the side of their abdomens) are approximately two inches long, while females grow to slightly more than half that size.
As a caterpillar, the giant leopard moth grows to approximately two inches long and has shiny black bristles covering its body. Unlike some other "hairy" creatures, these caterpillars' bristles are not urticant, which means that they don't break off in predators when touched, causing irritation and discomfort.
The giant leopard moth can be found across fields, meadows, and forest edges of eastern North America and as far south as Colombia in South America. It is nocturnal, flying only at night, and adults can be seen between April and September. When handled or threatened, it may release drops of foul-tasting yellow fluid from its thorax to ward off predators. -
kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Thursday, 26-Oct-2023 23:36:32 JST
kho
The evolution of the name Colorado potato beetle is curious because the beetle is believed to have originated in central Mexico, not Colorado. It had a series of names from 1863 to 1867, including the ten-striped spearman, ten-lined potato beetle potato-bug, and new potato bug. Colorado was not associated with the insect until Walsh (1865) stated that two of his colleagues had seen large numbers of the insect in the territory of Colorado feeding on buffalo-bur.
The life cycle of the Colorado potato beetle starts with the adult as the overwintering stage and can be as short as 30 days. Adults dig into the soil to a depth of several inches and emerge in the spring. They feed on newly sprouted host plants where they mate. Larvae drop from the plants and burrow into the soil where they construct a spherical cell and transform into yellowish pupae. This lasts from five to 10 days. There are one to three generations per year, depending on latitude; however two generations can occur even as far north as Canada.
Potatoes are the preferred host for the Colorado potato beetle, but it may feed and survive on a number of other plants in the family Solanaceae, including belladonna, common nightshade, eggplant, ground cherry, henbane, horse-nettle, pepper (rarely), tobacco, thorn apple, tomato, and, its first recorded host plant, buffalo-bur. -
kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Thursday, 26-Oct-2023 23:36:32 JST
kho
The American lobster (Homarus americanus) is a species of lobster found on the Atlantic coast of North America, chiefly from Labrador to New Jersey. It is also known as Atlantic lobster, Canadian lobster, true lobster, northern lobster, Canadian Reds, or Maine lobster. It can reach a body length of 64 cm (25 in), and a mass of over 20 kilograms (44 lb), making it not only the heaviest crustacean in the world, but also the heaviest of all living arthropod species. Its closest relative is the European lobster Homarus gammarus, which can be distinguished by its coloration and the lack of spines on the underside of the rostrum. American lobsters are usually bluish green to brown with red spines, but several color variations have been observed.
American lobsters (Homarus americanus) are typically murky brown, green, or light orange. European lobsters (Homarus gammarus) have dark navy blue or purpleish coloring.
Their unique shade is the consequence of a genetic abnormality that results in the overproduction of a certain protein. Because they’re extremely rare, experts put the odds of this coloring anomaly at one in two million. However, these stats are merely guesses.
The odds of finding this two-toned blue lobster are one in 50 million. -
kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Thursday, 26-Oct-2023 23:36:31 JST
kho
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
Yellow garden spiders are large, orb-weaving arachnids, meaning they spin a circular web. Most spiders have two claws on each foot, but orb weavers have an additional claw to help them spin their complex webs. In females, the top side of the abdomen is black with symmetrical patches of bright yellow. The legs are reddish brown at the base and black toward the tips. Males are less striking in appearance—they are smaller with brownish legs and less yellow coloration on their abdomens. Females average 0.75 to 1.1 inches (19 to 28 millimeters) in body length, which is up to three times larger than the males.
These spiders produce venom that is harmless to humans, but helps to immobilize prey like flies, bees, and other flying insects that are caught in the web. The web of the garden spider contains a highly visible zigzagging X-shaped pattern called a stabilimentum. The exact function of the stabilimentum is unknown, but its purpose may be to alert birds to the presence of the web so that they don’t fly through and destroy it by mistake. The spider may eat and respin its web each night.
Inspired by @binkle -
kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Thursday, 26-Oct-2023 23:36:30 JST
kho
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
Stink bugs are invasive, six-legged insects. They are almost two centimeters long with a shield-like shape, and a grayish speckled coating. As the name suggests, these insects will produce a stinky odor when you crush them. Other than the unpleasant smell, stink bugs are only dangerous to certain plants.
Originally, the brown marmorated stink bugs are from East Asia. The insects have become more common in the United States. It’s assumed that these invasive insects got to the United States through shipping.
Although harmless, these bugs can be a nuisance. Stink bugs thrive in warm temperatures and will mostly invade your house during the winter. -
kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Thursday, 26-Oct-2023 23:36:30 JST
kho
The Masked Hunter is a type of Assassin Bug. This family of insects is known for its ability to inflict painful bites on people thanks to a very strong, fang-like beak. This beak is normally used to rapidly stab an insect to death, but it also a weapon of self-defense if it feels threatened. Nymphs, or juveniles, are small and are covered in sticky hairs. Dust, lint, and dirt sticks to the body and legs of the nymph making it look appear more like an alien rather than an insect. This dusty covering makes the Masked Hunter nymph a curiosity to observers who do not know its true identity.
The Masked Hunter adult has a small head, with moderate length antennae and a short, stout beak. It is dark brown to black and elongate oval in shape. They primarily eat Bed Bugs and are active at night. Sightings of Masked Hunters indoors are usually a result of a bed bug presence inside the home. To eliminate the Masked Hunter, its food source -bed bugs- must be removed. -
kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Thursday, 19-Oct-2023 22:52:56 JST
kho
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 (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Thursday, 19-Oct-2023 22:52:55 JST
kho
The attention-grabbing term of Scorpion-Tailed Spider fits this amazing arthropod. Although riveting, it’s not the only name applied to it, though. That’s because it’s also known by such terms as scorpion orb weaver and simply the tailed spider. The astonishing tail, though, remains its most distinctive physical attribute. This also represents another form of gender-based physical difference. That’s because only the females develop this body part. This appendage increases in size with each molting.
The females can arch this bendable tail over their backsides, which gives them the appearance of irate scorpions and prompts would-be attackers to keep their distance. But it’s all an act: The tail cannot sting and this spider is mostly harmless to humans -
kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Thursday, 19-Oct-2023 22:52:53 JST
kho
The Rosalia batesi is one of the longicorn beetles. The name Rosalia means a beautiful young woman. The Rosalia batesi's body is a beautiful blue with black spots. When they die, their body turns a rusty red, not leaving a trace of their living beauty.
The Japanese endemic longicorn beetle, R. batesi, is distributed over most of Mainland Japan and has an important function of decomposing dead hardwood in the Japanese forest ecosystem. This species is very popular in Japanese culture, owing to its spectacular appearance and color:
Rosalia batesi was featured as one of the insects in the video game Resident Evil in Insects Puzzle Room on 1st Floor of the Mansion.
Rosalia batesi was also featured as one of the collectable insects in the 2020 video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
It also appeared as a beetle saved by Doppio in Episode 26 the 2018 TV anime series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind. -
kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Thursday, 19-Oct-2023 22:52:52 JST
kho
Madagascan sunset moth, a day-flying species of the Uraniidae family, is indigenous to Madagascar as its name suggests. However, initially, experts regarded Bengal or China to be its place of origin that was ruled out eventually. Described in 1773, entomologist Dru Drury considered it a butterfly and put it in the Papilio genus. Later, in 1823, Jacob Hubner identified it as a moth, placing it in the Chrysiridia genus. Bright and colorful, mostly due to its wings, the moth generates an impressive and appealing appearance.
The larva has a whitish-yellow body spotted in black and also red feet covered with black hairs. The five pairs of prolegs of the caterpillar are fixed to the third, sixth, and tenth abdominal segments. On the other hand, its six real legs remain attached to its thorax. On hatching, they mainly feed on the tissues situated in the middle of the veins of the leaves. Eventually, they start consuming many other things like fruit, tendrils, petioles, young stems, and flowers. They spin silk that is a part of their adaptation strategy, helping them cling on to their host plants’ leaves.
The animal gets its name because of the sunset-colored patches near the bottom of the hindwings. The hindwings are also banded with blue, and there are green bands, dots, and stippling on the forewings.
The iridescent areas of its wings are caused by a trick of light instead of pigment. But its colorful wings aren’t just for the pleasure of human beings. They warn would-be predators that the moth is toxic. The caterpillar exclusively eats the leaves, flowers, and fruit of Omphalea shrubs, which are full of alkaloids.
Though collectors would love to get their hands on one of these pretty moths, the Madagascan Sunset moth isn’t as rare as it might be. This is because of the Malagasy people’s belief that it represents the souls of their ancestors, and to kill it would be a desecration. -
kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Thursday, 19-Oct-2023 22:52:24 JST
kho
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. -
kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Thursday, 19-Oct-2023 22:52:23 JST
kho
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. -
kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Thursday, 19-Oct-2023 22:52:23 JST
kho
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. -
kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Thursday, 19-Oct-2023 22:52:22 JST
kho
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.
All ０７６萌ＳＮＳ content and data are available under the