souroborosnny

My Huernia zebrina, a succulent from Southern Africa, finally bloomed!

Like their close cousins, the carrion plants, another group of African succulents, they have a vague dead animal smell, and are pollinated by flies. One of the common names for this plant is the little owl. 

Family Apocynaceae

[image credit]

That's right - it's glacier mice. One of my favorite things maybe on the entire planet. Let's talk about these freaky fuzzy little rats!!

Glacier mice are balls of moss that live in large herds like this in a few select glaciers. They are moss all the way through, with a center consisting of dead moss matter, implying that they begin as small growths of moss and simply accumulate over time, like snowballs. However, their outside surface is alive and well on all sides. Glacier mice have been observed, through tagging and tracking, to roll across the glacier like a majestic herd of wildebeest, exposing all of their sides to the sunlight. They trundle along at a pace of about 2.5 cm per day. That's 30 feet in a year! They're really schmovin'! Certainly further than most mosses can claim to travel.

What's really exciting, though, is that they all move in the same direction, and we're not sure why or how. Scientists experimented to try and attribute their coordinated behavior to wind, sunlight, and the direction that their grazing ground slopes, but to no avail. They speed up, slow down, and change direction in unison, based on some mysterious moss code that we haven't cracked yet.

Cross-section of a glacier mouse. Note the dead moss matter inside, and the short gametophytes on the outside, adapted to harsh winds and sunlight. [image credit]

We have figured out how they roll, though - while the moss ball sits on the ice, it insulates the ice directly underneath it, protecting it from melting. This forms a little pillar of ice that the moss eventually rolls off of. The insulating power of glacier mice also gives it the wonderful ability to host all kinds of microorganisms that otherwise wouldn't survive the glacier's harsh conditions, and their ability to move makes it possible for microorganisms to spread from one habitable spot to another. They're like a bunch of little tardigrade passenger ships, braving the dangerous glacier to go where no water bear has gone before!!

Glacier mice have been found to consist of several moss species, most of which must reproduce asexually in order to survive in the dry climate. They've been observed to live for at least six years, but are projected to live much, much longer. I love them. So much. I hope they know that I love them!! I LOVE THEM!!!!

Bulbform

Rainbow Leaf Beetle (Spilopyra sumptuosa), family Chrysomelidae, SE QLD, Australia

Beelieve it or not, this blue bee is the real deal! 🐝 Meet the blue carpenter bee (Xylocopa caerulea). This large bee can reach lengths of up to 1.1 in (2.8 cm); compare that to a European honey bee which typically grows up to 0.7 in (1.8 cm) long! Unlike honeybees, this critter doesn’t live in large hives, but instead spends most of its time alone. This insect can be found in parts of India, China, and Southeast Asia where it plays an important role in pollinating its habitat. 

Above: Carriola witti

Moths of the genus Carriola have a very unusual appearance, as their wings are covered in translucent patches that reveal a delicate network of greenish-yellow veins. The green coloration is caused by the haemolymph (the insect equivalent of blood) that passes through these veins when the moth's wings are initially unfurled.

Above: the male form of Carriola thyridophora, with a close-up of the hyaline windows and bright green veins on its wings

The males of this genus typically have brown or beige borders around their wings, while the females have pink or white borders instead. The hyaline windows in each wing also tend to be much clearer and more extensive in the females, which gives their wings a lacey appearance.

Above: the female form of Carriola seminsula

This article describes the adaptive benefits of wing transparency in moths:

The coevolutionary arms race between prey and predator has generated some of the most striking adaptations in the living world, including lures, mimicry and camouflage in prey. Transparency, by definition, constitutes the perfect background matching against virtually all types of backgrounds. Transparency is common in pelagic environments where there is no place to hide.

Above: genus Carriola

Carriola tussock moths can be found in many different countries throughout Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines and Malaysia. Some of these moths are also found in China, India and Sri Lanka.

Above: Carriola seminsula

This is one of my favorite moths, tbh. I love it when moths have hyaline windows on their wings, and this genus is especially beautiful and bizarre.

Sources & More Info:

Nota Lepidopterologica: Review of the Genus Carriola with Descriptions of Four New Species

Singapore Biodiversity: Carriola ecnomoda

iNaturalist: Genus Carriola

BioRxiv: How Transparent Wing Windows Reduce Detectability in Moths

Journal of Evolutionary Biology: Transparency Improves Concealment in Cryptically Colored Moths (PDF)

Butterfly of the day Arachnis picta

(Image links because as much as it pains me I've never seen one of these beauties irl: 1 2 3)

Insane color moth!! These are reminded me of some kind of ice cream