Are some animals not very magical?

[Jill]

Yeah, I hear they grow them even bigger in Australia! I guess the beauty is in the eyes of the beholder but I would rather see one than eat one!!

[Constance]

Posted by Jill (here)
Yeah, I hear they grow them even bigger in Australia!

You reminded me of a comedy piece that Danny Bhoy performed here in Australia.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=BnBAXMiIiis

[Jill]

'The Bagworm Moth Caterpillar collects and saws little sticks to construct elaborate log cabins to live in'

[RunningDeer]

Posted by Jill (here)
'The Bagworm Moth Caterpillar collects and saws little sticks to construct elaborate log cabins to live in'

I've never heard of the Bagworm Moth Caterpillar. Purty cool! It helped remind me of the walkingstick. I've only seen two in my travels.

Description: Walkingsticks are slow moving, wingless, and stick-like, with long, slender legs and long thread-like antennae. Their color, form and behavior allow them to hide from predators. They vary in color from green to brown and may grow to be almost 4 inches long (Diapheromera femorata (Say)) although one Texas species grows to almost 7 inches long (Megaphasma dentricus (Stål)), the longest insect in the United States!

No other species can be confused with walkingsticks. They do not have front legs modified for capturing prey as do praying mantids and the thread-legged bug (Heteroptera: Reduviidae).

Life Cycle: In the fall, black or brown seed-like eggs are dropped by females to the litter below host plants. Nymphs hatch in the spring and develop through several stages (instars) before becoming sexually mature adults. One generation is produced each year. Walkingsticks occasional defoliate some trees and shrubs.

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[rgray222]

Even tho this beast might be very magical I thought this would be the best place to showcase his/her skills.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=pEzX8rXzzps

[DeDukshyn]

Posted by Jill (here)
'The Bagworm Moth Caterpillar collects and saws little sticks to construct elaborate log cabins to live in'

[Jill]

Deep Sea Worms under Electron Microscope:

[Jill]

An unusual looking bug - Eulagisca Gigantea, found in the Antarctic Ocean, can measure up to 30 cm

[DeDukshyn]

 
Giant aquatic isopods ... I believe they are related to the common wood louse (which are actually kinda cute), but 100x bigger and much more ominous looking ...

[DeDukshyn]

Posted by DeDukshyn (here)
 
Giant aquatic isopods ... I believe they are related to the common wood louse (which are actually kinda cute), but 100x bigger and much more ominous looking ...

Actually I have a story about one of these critters ...

A work friend of my ex's went to some tropical location - either Mexico or Hawaii (I wasn't paying attention), and anyway, before he left he asked her if she wanted something from the location and she just said, "Bring me some sand". So she came home from work with a small jar full of sand and seawater one day - which the guy had scooped up for her from the beach and brought back for her.

About a week later, the kids claimed there was a creature in the jar. Sure enough we could see evidence of some wee little critter that liked to stay hidden in the sand. A couple months later and it got quite a bit bigger!

While it definitely preferred to remain hidden in the sand we could occasionally see that it looked like, and was about the size of, a common wood louse (an inch long or so, maybe a bit longer).

I don't know what the heck it was eating in the jar as we didn't ever open it, but it did die after about three or four months living in the jar. Might have grown up to be one of these bad boys, who knows, but it was definitely an isopod of some sort.

[Sue (Ayt)]

Posted by RunningDeer (here)
Walkingsticks are slow moving, wingless, and stick-like, with long, slender legs and long thread-like antennae. Their color, form and behavior allow them to hide from predators. They vary in color from green to brown and may grow to be almost 4 inches long (Diapheromera femorata (Say)) although one Texas species grows to almost 7 inches long (Megaphasma dentricus (Stål)), the longest insect in the United States!

No other species can be confused with walkingsticks. They do not have front legs modified for capturing prey as do praying mantids and the thread-legged bug (Heteroptera: Reduviidae).

Life Cycle: In the fall, black or brown seed-like eggs are dropped by females to the litter below host plants. Nymphs hatch in the spring and develop through several stages (instars) before becoming sexually mature adults. One generation is produced each year. Walkingsticks occasional defoliate some trees and shrubs.

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I got a good pic of this fellow on the windshield of our jeep one day - The largest one I ever saw!

[RunningDeer]

Posted by Sue (Ayt) (here)
I got a good pic of this fellow on the windshield of our jeep one day - The largest one I ever saw!

Attachment 46071 Attachment 46072

......That's A-mazing, Sue!

♡

[Jill]

A Goliath Bird Eating Spider. I've seen some pretty big tarantulas in the Amazon and they are the stuff of nightmares. I've heard the Goliaths are actually "gentle", non-aggressive creatures but still wouldn't want to run into one.

[Jill]

The "invisible" world is not pretty:
'This is a Face Mite. These micro guys live in your pores, feed on skin grease and mate on your face while you sleep.'

[Ernie Nemeth]

Absolutely gruesome!

I have made it a point, NOT to ever see these animals so that I don't have trouble falling asleep. Worked for forty years...until now.

[RunningDeer]

Tardigrades Are the Toughest Animal on Earth that can Survive Space and Volcanoes (3 min)

Tardigrades, also known as water bears or moss piglets, are the toughest and probably the weirdest animal species on Earth. Tardigrades are eight-legged micro-animals that can withstand just about anything, from mass extinctions to the vacuum of outer space, to the pressure of the Mariana Trench, the deepest point on Earth, and radiation 1,000 times stronger than humans can handle.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=IH3ABle9k7A

[Jill]

Posted by Ernie Nemeth (here)
Absolutely gruesome!

I have made it a point, NOT to ever see these animals so that I don't have trouble falling asleep. Worked for forty years...until now.

Sorry - I agree! However, this is the "not so magical world" and although these critters' pictures make me cringe and feel repulsed, I do have a (maybe unhealthy ) fascination with them. I suppose if one looked on the positive side, we could credit these mites with being a great clean-up crew for our skin and they do have a very short shelf life. Now I'm gonna post a really cute picture on the "Animals are Magical" thread!!

[DeDukshyn]

(wasn't sure where to post this, but here might do)

Meanwhile in Canada ...

Farmer catches lynx in his chicken coop in the act of killing his new chickens, he so grabs him by the scruff of the neck like he was a kitten and scolds him like a bad dog. He then relocated the lynx along with the two chickens it had already killed - he said it was rather skinny and extreme hunger is likely what drew it to his farm. Nice guy ... but don't try this at home folks.

Link to story: (Scroll down for the video)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...coop-1.5923089


Fun fact: when I was younger I lived just down the road from this guy's farm. My bus stop was literally at the corner of his farm.

[Jill]

Poor bat!! I hope whoever took the photo pried this guy off his face. Nature can be brutal.

'These specialised parasites (batflies) have co-evolved with their bat hosts for millions of years. They have developed a flat, hard body to prevent being crushed & velcro-like hairs & claws to hang on to their hosts' fur.'