Notices by kho (kho@shitposter.club), page 3
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Monday, 12-Feb-2024 13:18:06 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. -
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Sunday, 11-Feb-2024 16:49:58 JST
kho
Lol woops my pets got in the last one but whatever
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
Bull ants, a native of Australia, are unquestionably one of the world’s most remarkable ants and as far these species of ants go, they are the giants in every sense of the word. Being the largest in the country, there are not many ant species that can match up to bulldog ants.
Aside from their striking size, the behavior is one of the things that make bull ants differ from other species. Being exceptionally aggressive, they are known to attack large ants and sink their teeth into humans for defending themselves. Their eyesight is simply incredible, and it lets them hunt their prey from distances up to 3 feet.
Bull ants or bulldog ants are immensely known for their aggressive behaviour. Their sting is extremely powerful. And, the venom produced by them has the potential to cause anaphylactic shock in the victims that are allergic to ant stings. If the allergic reaction is severe, it can prove fatal, if left untreated. -
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Saturday, 10-Feb-2024 03:53:16 JST
kho
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
Joro spiders are big spiders about the size of the tip of your thumb. Their long skinny legs can reach a span of 3-4 inches. Instead of being all black or all brown like most spiders, their females are very colorful. Their backs are black with yellow stripes and a red splotch, there are red markings on the stomach as well. Joro spiders have striped legs, with bands of yellow and blue. Besides their color what makes them stand out is their giant golden webs. They are part of the orb-weaver family and can weave large intricate 3-D webs.
In 2014 people reported seeing this unusual spider and their enormous webs in Georgia. Scientists confirmed that it was the East Asian Joro spider. It is unlikely they ballooned across the ocean to get here. Scientists think it is most likely that these spiders hitched a ride on a shipping container and started reproducing here. It is likely that they used the ballooning technique to disperse through Georgia and South Carolina.
The majority of ballooning is done by spiderlings. A few days after hatching, large groups of baby spiders will take to the air. Their main purpose is to spread out and find new places to live but they also do it to avoid cannibalism from other spiders and to increase the availability of resources.
Ballooning spiders operate within the planetary electric field. When their silk leaves their bodies, it typically picks up a negative charge. This repels the similar negative charges on the surfaces on which the spiders sit, creating enough force to lift them into the air. And spiders can increase those forces by climbing onto twigs, leaves, or blades of grass. Plants, being earthed, have the same negative charge as the ground that they grow upon, but they protrude into the positively charged air. This creates substantial electric fields between the air around them and the tips of their leaves and branches—and the spiders ballooning from those tips. -
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Friday, 09-Feb-2024 06:02:41 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. -
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Thursday, 08-Feb-2024 10:05:23 JST
kho
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
Lauriea siagiani, also known as the pink hairy squat lobster or the fairy crab, is a species of squat lobster in the family Galatheidae, genus Lauriea. Despite its name, L. siagiani is not really a lobster, but instead belongs to a group of crabs called the Anomurans.
They live on Giant Barrel Sponges and don’t usually like to get their photo taken. They’re a little bit shy. These squat lobsters are remarkably colored, with their intense pink body, purple spots, and bright yellow hairs that protrude in all directions. Lauriea siagiani has been recorded from Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan.
Hair squat lobsters also use their tiny stature for mischief and steal their food from anemones – a risky affair, considering anemones wield toxins and are aggressively defended by their clownfish residents. They also instinctually wrap their tails up under themselves for protection, which gives them their distinctly squat appearance. -
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Thursday, 08-Feb-2024 09:27:28 JST
kho
@Moon Dunno if it's some kind of marketing stunt or not, but here's a slapped together article about it https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/sukihana-confuses-musician-for-magician-in-bobbi-althoff-interview-video/ar-BB1hV3qP -
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Wednesday, 07-Feb-2024 03:39:39 JST
kho
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
The Australian tiger beetle, Cicindela hudsoni, was clocked running at a remarkable 2.5 meters per second. That's the equivalent of 5.6 miles per hour and makes it the fastest running insect in the world. Running a close second is another Australian species, Cicindela eburneola, which ran an impressive 4.2 miles per hour.
On its lower back, the larva has a pair of large, forward facing hooks, used to anchor the organism to the substrate. Further, it has mandibles for prey capture which originate below its eyes.
The beetle's forewings are hardened to form a protective layer known as the elytra and are fused to the hindwings. The species has two large eyes that together make the head wider than the thorax, underneath which a pair of filiform antennae are attached. Surrounding the mouth is the labrum, onto which sharp projections and maxillae are attached next to a pair of sickle-like mandibles with both compound and simple teeth arranged along its length.
It has been observed that at high speeds, tiger beetles experience temporary blindness when chasing prey. This is because the beetle cannot gather enough photons that reflect its prey to form an image of it, resulting in a stop-start mode of hunting made affordable by its high speeds. As a predator living in dry, saline environments, the C. hudsoni eats almost anything it can capture such as other beetles, caterpillars and ants while also taking advantage of other, larger meals as scavengers. -
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Feb-2024 04:27:47 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. -
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Monday, 05-Feb-2024 13:01:32 JST
kho
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
The white-lined sphinx moth, Hyles lineata, is a common sphingid moth that occurs throughout most of North America, from southern Canada down to Central America. It does not survive our harsh winters but moves up from the south most springs.
This is a large, stout-bodied moth with a furry brown body crossed by six white stripes. It has long, narrow, triangular forewings and shorter hindwings, with a wingspan of 2½ to 3½ inches. Each dark olive brown-colored forewing has a broad tan band going from the base to the tip of the wing, crossed by a series of thin white stripes along the wing veins. The black hindwings are bright reddish-pink in the middle.
The adults are primarily nocturnal fliers but are sometimes seen during the day, too. With their large, plump bodies and relatively small wing surfaces, they must beat their wings very fast, compared to butterflies, in order to stay aloft. By beating their wings rapidly, these agile fliers are able to hover like a hummingbird in mid-air.
In poor light they can easily be mistaken for hummingbirds as they hover at tubular flowers, sipping nectar with a long proboscis. They are especially attracted to scented flowers.
The caterpillars are quite variable in color but all have a pointed horn at the back end. This horn may be yellow or orange, sometimes with a black tip. This is not a stinger and the caterpillar is harmless to humans. -
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Monday, 05-Feb-2024 12:54:18 JST
kho
been painting my house all weekend and my dog is over it -
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Sunday, 04-Feb-2024 12:26:38 JST
kho
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
The samurai wasp is native to northeast Asia where brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) comes from. It was not intentionally released in North America, but got introduced accidentally, likely the same way as BMSB by being stowed away in shipping containers, planes or any other means of transportation.
The samurai wasp is adapted to parasitize stink bugs only. It cannot attack any other species.
These wasps are tiny, only 1/8 of an inch, about the size of a sesame seed. They cannot sting people and most people will never see them in nature. They track BMSB eggs flying around in tree canopies, hiding among leaves of crops or taking shelter under barks of trees. They are hard to find and see with the naked eye. -
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Saturday, 03-Feb-2024 03:58:52 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. -
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Friday, 02-Feb-2024 03:37:21 JST
kho
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
Melanoplus viridipes, the Green-legged Locust, is a species of spur-throated grasshopper in the family Acrididae. It is found in North America.
This is a short-winged grasshopper. The body length of males ranges from 17.5 to 18.5 mm. Females are larger, ranging in length from 21.5 to 25.5 mm.
Adults are characterized by solid green forelegs and midlegs; black lateral stripe running the full length of the pronotum; and short wings covering less than half of the abdomen (this combination of characteristics is diagnostic). In addition, the lower half of side of the pronotum is white and the top of the pronotum is either all black or black with white patches. -
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Thursday, 01-Feb-2024 06:25:06 JST
kho
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
The male and female Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) look very different from one another. The adult female has short wings and is big and heavy. The male has long wings and is small, light and active. The male is able to fly and will do so readily, but the female is unable to fly.
In an 1886 observation from the journal "Science," entomologist Leland Ossian Howard noted that on placing a male mantis with a female, the female systematically proceeded to eat the male's left leg, left eye and right leg, and then decapitate and eat his head. The male, keep in mind, was attempting to mate with her the whole time -- which she eventually acquiesced to, with her headless and mostly legless partner. While Howard stressed that he'd never seen it before, he also rather breathlessly stated, "It seems to be only by accident that a male ever escapes alive from the embraces of his partner" -
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Wednesday, 31-Jan-2024 04:26:38 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. -
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Tuesday, 30-Jan-2024 05:15:57 JST
kho
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
Arctia plantaginis, the wood tiger, is a moth of the family Erebidae. Several subspecies are found in the Holarctic ecozone south to Anatolia, Transcaucasus, northern Iran, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, Korea and Japan. One subspecies is endemic to North America.
Wood tiger moths have coloring reminiscent of the tiger and are found in many parts of the world. In this new effort, the researchers took a closer look at how they ward off predators by collecting multiple specimens and bringing them back to the lab for study.
Prior research had shown that the moths excreted fluid from glands on the backs of their necks—a good location for warding off birds, their main predator. Birds eat moths and catch them by grabbing them by the back of the neck. Anecdotal evidence had suggested that when birds grab a wood tiger moth, they tend to let it go, and have been seen trying to clean their beaks afterwards. Other anecdotal evidence also suggested that ants tend to avoid the moths, likely due to fluid excreted from the moth's anus.
The moths produce different fluid deterrents to ward off different types of predators. -
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Monday, 29-Jan-2024 03:56:10 JST
kho
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
Braconid wasps are Mother Nature's way of keeping pests like hornworms under control. These parasitic wasps disrupt their host insect's development, effectively stopping the pest in its tracks. Braconid wasps are parasitoids, meaning they eventually kill their hosts.
Although we're probably most familiar with the larger braconid wasps that live on hornworms, there are actually thousands of braconid wasp species throughout the world, each infecting and killing certain types of host insects. There are braconids that kill aphids, braconids that kill beetles, braconids that kill flies, and of course, braconids that kill moths and butterflies.
Braconid wasps use a remarkable weapon to disable the defenses of their host insects – a virus. These parasitic wasps coevolved with polydnaviruses, which they carry and inject into the host insects along with their eggs. The polydnaviruses have no negative affects on the braconid wasps, and reside within cells in the wasp ovary.
When the braconid wasp deposits eggs in a host insect, she also injects the polydnavirus. The virus is activated in the host insect, and immediately goes to work disabling the host's defenses against intruders (the intruders being the braconid wasp eggs). Without the virus running interference, the wasp eggs would quickly be destroyed by the host insect's immune response. The polydnavirus allows the wasp eggs to survive, and the wasp larvae to hatch and begin feeding inside the host insect. -
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Sunday, 28-Jan-2024 03:41:03 JST
kho
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
The Six Eyed Sand Spider (Sicarius hahni) is a medium-sized spider found in deserts and other sandy places in southern Africa. It is a member of the Sicariidae family and close relatives of this spider are sometimes found in both Africa and in South America. Its nearest relatives are the Recluse spiders (Loxosceles) which are found worldwide.
The Six Eyed Sand Spider is also known as the six-eyed crab spider due to its flattened stance and laterigrade legs. The venom of this spiders bite is said to be the most dangerous on record.
The Six Eyed Sand Spider is covered in small hairs, called setae (a stiff hair, bristle or bristle-like process or part of an organism), which serve to hold particles of sand. This provides effective camouflage even when the spider is not buried.
The Six Eyed Sand Spider does not roam in search of prey, it simply lies in wait for an insect or scorpion to pass by. When one does, it seizes the prey with its front legs, kills it with venom and eats it. The Six Eyed Sand Spiders do not need to feed very often, an adult Six Eyed Sand Spider can live without food or water for a very long time. -
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Sunday, 28-Jan-2024 01:12:50 JST
kho
Another Saturday morning at work :akkotired: thank God January is nearly over -
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kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Saturday, 27-Jan-2024 10:10:34 JST
kho
🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
Whiteflies are soft-bodied, winged insects closely related to aphids and mealybugs. Whiteflies are not true flies although they look fly-like. They actually belong to the same order of insects as scales, aphids, and mealybugs: the order Homoptera.
Whitefly adults resemble tiny moths and are covered with a whitish powder. Species identification can be made by examining the wing markings. The first instar nymphs resemble scales, but they become a transparent yellow-green and settle once they reach the second and third instar stages.
Whiteflies are “true bugs” (Hemiptera) that feed on plant sap, much like aphids. Adults are very small (1/16 - 1/10 inch) with powdery white wings. Females lay eggs directly on the undersides of plant leaves. The eggs hatch into tiny “crawlers” that walk a short distance before settling at a feeding location. These nymphs lose their ability walk, and remain in the same location for the rest of their development until they pupate and emerge as winged adults (Figure 1). The entire whitefly life cycle takes about 3 weeks under favorable conditions, allowing populations to build quickly. Whiteflies do not have a dormant stage that can withstand freezing temperatures. In climates that have winter freezes, such as Kentucky, whiteflies are year-round pests only in greenhouses.
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