Often mistaken for a strange bear-cat hybrid, the binturong is a secretive mammal native to Southeast Asia’s dense rainforests. With its shaggy black fur, prehensile tail and unmistakable buttery scent, this arboreal creature is both peculiar and captivating. What is a binturong? The binturong (Arctictis binturong), sometimes known as the ‘bearcat’, is neither bear nor […]
Tag: insects
It drinks an animal’s tears – and has a terrifying way of getting them
Not all moths are harmless buffoons dashing themselves into porch lights and clumsily scattering pollen as they flit from flower to flower. The Madagascar tear drinking moth (Hemiceratoides hieroglyphica) has no compunction about plunging its barbed proboscis into the eyes of slumbering birds in a quest for vital nutrients. Researchers documented three cases of the […]
“The uninvited guest sinks its syringe-like mouthparts into the meaty organ and begins draining it of blood.” Discover the gruesome tongue-eating parasite
Luckily for us, the parasite, Cymothoa exigua, which is a type of crustacean called an isopod, is not interested in human flesh. It lives in the Pacific Ocean off the coasts of Mexico and Central America, and only infests fish. Beginning life as a swimming form called a manca, a young isopod attaches itself to […]
Can spiders really be beautiful? Definitely! Meet the world’s prettiest, most stunning spiders, from bright blue tarantulas to vivid peacock spiders
They may send shivers down the spine of arachnophobes, but not all spiders are the stuff of nightmares. From dazzling dancers no bigger than a grain of rice, to velvet-coated rarities that look more like toys than terrors, these eight-legged wonders prove that beauty comes in the most unexpected forms. Here are some of the […]
“It screams, chatters and whistles”. It might look like a dog but it definitely doesn’t sound like a dog with its freaky, spine-tingling vocals…
Sure, dogs bark, growl and howl. But did you know they can scream, chatter and whistle, too? The dhole or ‘whistling dog’ is a formidable and co-operative hunter that relies on these strange vocalisations to communicate with pack members across dense vegetation and bring down prey far larger than itself. With a russet coat and […]
“It feeds on your blood for a week before you even notice – and then leaves behind a rare and life-threatening disease…”
A whopping 31 million Americans are bitten by ticks each year – and the number is on the rise. According to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report from April this year, weekly rates of ER visits for tick bites are the highest for this time of year since 2017 in all parts of the US, apart from […]
“As it lurks behind the trapdoor, a twitch on the trip wire alerts it that something tasty has just walked past…”
The global family of trap-door spiders, relatives of tarantulas, are also fond of burrowing. They have a special row of teeth that are adapted to help them dig holes to make a home even in very dry soil and sturdy legs to assist with the excavation. They construct a tunnel, around 15cm (6in) in length, which […]
“The longer it stays latched onto your skin, the more toxin it pumps in until your legs start to give way and your face and breathing muscles begin to freeze…”
If you’re strolling through grasslands in Australia, South Africa and the US Rocky Mountains in spring and early summer it’s important to check that you haven’t picked up an unwelcome and dangerous hitchhiker. The paralysis tick is a blood-sucking insect, the adult female of which has a nasty added extra – a powerful neurotoxin in […]