Tag: meet the

Meet the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect

Photo credit: Rod Morris http://www.rodmorris.co.nz

Dryoceocelus australis lives solely on an island group in Australia. They were thought to be extinct after 1930 until two dozen were spotted again in 2001. The IUCN lists them as critically endangered currently.

Read more here about the conservation efforts by zoos in Australia to ensure the species survival.

Pair bonding between the male and females has been reported, but is not definitive. Anecdotal evidence suggests the Lord Howe stick insects are gregarious and thus finding a male and female together may just be the expression of this trait. Research from Patrick Honan in 2008, examined 9 pairs from the Melbourne Zoo found that the behavior was consistent for each pair daily, but varied depending on the pair. Some pairs were always found together, but in some cases the female would be found in the nesting box and the male outside the nesting box.

Finally, here is an amazing video of hatching Lord Howe island stick insects from Zoos Victoria if you haven’t seen it already.

Lord Howe Island Stick Insect hatching from Zoos Victoria on Vimeo.

“Meet the…” is a collaboration between The Finch & Pea and Nature Afield to bring Nature’s amazing creatures into your home.

 

Meet the Alligator Snapping Turtle

Alligator Snapping Turtle, Photo Credit: Melissa MB Wilkins (CC BY-NC 2.0)

The Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macroclemys temmincki) is the largest freshwater turtle. It has a pointed break and a vermiform (wormlike) tongue, which acts as a lure for fish as the turtle sits on the murky bottoms of ponds and bodies of water.

Check out a video of the Alligator Snapping Turtle feeding courtesy of ARKive.

“Meet the…” is a collaboration between The Finch & Pea and Nature Afield to bring Nature’s amazing creatures into your home.

Meet the Sunda Flying Lemur

Photo Credit: Norman Lim, National University of Singapore
Photo Credit: Norman Lim, National University of Singapore

The Sunda Flying Lemur (Galeopterus variegatus) is not a lemur AT ALL (but still a primate). It looks like part eyes-too-far-apart squirrel and part kite. This crazy thing glides like nobody’s business from tree to tree all night long eating up fruits, leaves and flowers. The skin flap that allows the animal to glide is called a patagium and when the limbs are stretched to pull it taut this creates a parachute-style extension.

This Southeast Asian superstar, animal-kite hybrid is able to glide across the span of 100 meters while its own body length is just under 40 cm (not counting the tail)! 100 meters……just repeat it to yourself again….yeah that’s incredible. Continue reading “Meet the Sunda Flying Lemur”

Get your groove on with the Peacock Spider

Part 1:

Part 2: Remix

High fives to Jurgen Otto for this work.

“Meet the…” is a collaboration between The Finch & Pea and Nature Afield to bring Nature’s amazing creatures into your home.

Meet the Flying Fox

There are about 60 species in the genus Pteropus and these bats are known generically as flying foxes. They are typically fruit and nectar fiends and can forage over a 40 miles radius. This seems incredible, but some of the larger species have wingspans reaching over a meter and a half.

Check out the video from National Geographic below:

“Meet the…” is a collaboration between The Finch & Pea and Nature Afield to bring Nature’s amazing creatures into your home.