Scheming Caterpillars

I never thought caterpillars could look scheming, but these guys pull it off, with their hunched shoulders and clicking their feet together.

They're planning something diabolical, and I don't know if I care to be around when they do. Most likely, however, their plans don't extend beyond the leaf upon which they are dining.

Photo source: Igor Siwanowicz

Washed Ashore

Jack saw my post on Herbie's red sculpin that tried to take in more mackerel than it could and was kind enough to send us his own photos.

While wandering the beaches of Fiji (...must suppress bitter feelings of jealousy...) Jack came across this fish (or rather, most of the fish) that had been washed ashore after it died having tried to eat a pufferfish.

I don't typically post on carcasses, but I do so now to illustrate a couple basic maxims of life:

1) Don't eat pufferfish, especially when whole and alive.
2) Even the prettiest places on earth have their grisly moments.

Thanks for the photos, Jack.

When Cheez Goes Bad

Leigh's hit the nail on the head with this one. What happens when you let processed cheese fester in a swamp? You end up with a Giant Chinese Salamander. Thanks Leigh!

Photo source: icanhazcheezburger.com

Rhino Beetle with Rhino Horn

In a case of life immitating fiction, a new species of rhinoceros beetle has been discovered. This is the first such beetle to sport an actual rhino-style horn on its head. And where did we first see a rhinoceros beetle with a rhino horn? In Disney's A Bug's Life.

No doubt other Disney creations are going to be found in the natural world. Scuba divers will encounter talking and scheming clown fish, hunters will be outwitted by sentient deer, and a young princess-to-be will be found to have an entire gang of helpful mice who can sew, clean, and cook.

Thanks for the photo, Wendy.

Photo source: National Geographic

Beware the Paussinae Beetle

There's a cautionary tale to be found in the ecology of the Paussinae beetle, one that I plan on teaching my children.

The Paussinae beetle, also known as the ants' guest beetle or ants' nest beetle, come in a variety of subspecies, but all of them live myrmecophilously (living symbiotically with ants--new word for ya). These beetles are equipped with large antennae which the ants use as handles to move them around. And why are the ants moving them around? Let's get back to that myrmecophilous word.

The beetle secretes a highly volatile substance that the ants can't resist; they gobble and lick it up. This substance appeases the ants and even suppresses the ants' usual aggression towards intruders to the point where the ants drag the beetles into their nests for future dining. The beetles and their larvae feed off food provided by the ants, or on the ant's very own larvae. Some species of Paussinae beetle leave the nest only to breed during ant swarming season.

So, back to my cautionary tale. Beware becoming enamored with or addicted to a thing and inviting it into your home so that it might eat your larvae. Well, you get the point.

Thanks, Ida.

Photo source: Biodiversity Explorer

The Sandworm Is Back

Herbie has followed up on his Atlantic sandworm photos by trying to catch those fangs fully extended. But it's tough: they work them in the blink of an eye, and much like my three-year-old daughter, have no sense for how to play to the camera.

Some of the shots, therefore, are a bit blurry, but gone is the squishy-faced worm. In it's place we have a diminutive, yet somehow epic monster.

Once again watch your step when walking New England coastlines.

Crocodiles Communicate Even Before Hatching

Do all crocodiles hatch looking like their already planning mischief?

They might be. Crocodiles begin chatting to one another, and to their mother, just before they hatch. Researchers assume that it is some sort of communication, signaling that it is time to emerge and begin a long life of immitating a log, ambush hunting, being hunted in turn by over-zealous documentary hosts, and trying not to end up as a pair of boots or luggage.

Photo source: REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang

Gus Wins Ugliest Dog Contest

This year's annual ugliest dog contest at the Sonoma-Marin county fair has come and gone this past weekend, and we have a new winner.

Meet gus. He's 16, has three legs and one eye, and of course, he's a Chinese Crested. Jeanenne Teed, Gus's owner, flew him in from St. Petersburg, FL, for the competition--and it has paid off. He has garnered a cool $16,000 in winnings, and has earned himself and his owner a showing on CBS This Morning in New York city.

Gus, like many other past winners, was adopted (rescued). Teed's daughter discovered the pooch 'housed' in a crate in someone's garage. But the Teeds have big hearts, and took him in. Well done Teeds. I only hope that when I'm discovered in a garage, missing a limb and an eye and in the twilight of my life, that someone will take me in. I don't even mind if you trot me around in front of the press.

Thanks, Ida.

Photo source: AP Photo/The Press Democrat, Crista Jeremiason












Photo source: KNBC - TV