Spiders list among some of the most feared animals on earth, but is this reputation fair? It is true that some, including all on this list, can inflict a painful bite in the right conditions, but there are many myths surrounding venomous spiders and their perceived deadliness. Firstly, it is not the case that there are a […]
Tag: invertebrates
Why do cockchafers have such weird, feathery antennae?
Cockchafers, along with stag beetles, dung beetles, dor beetles and scarabs, have the last three to seven segments of their antennae expanded into flat, plate-like leaves, which sit in a distinctive fan-like arrangement. Antennae are the olfactory sense organs of insects, and this formation greatly increases the surface area available for the chemosensors. Insects usually need to […]
Emperor penguin and Antarctic fur seal declared Endangered
Emperor penguins and Antarctic fur seals are both now categorised as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The IUCN Red List previously categorised Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) as Near Threatened but satellite images suggest that around 10 per cent of the population (more than 20,000 adults) was lost between 2009 and 2018. The population is expected […]
An invasive guava is muscling out Madagascar’s forests — and lemurs are helping
Madagascar is renowned for its lemurs, which are threatened due to hunting and deforestation. Restoring native forests to ensure their survival is critical, but once damaged, forests in Madagascar are vulnerable to takeover by invasive guava trees — whose seeds the lemurs themselves are helping to spread. When the delicious strawberry guavas (Psidium cattleyanum) are […]
Forget gender wars! These bizarre birds have had equality sorted for some 44 million years – watch them in action
The strange-looking Picathartes have lived in the Congo for 44 million years. Bald-headed birds that mate for life and breed in the rainy season, they build their nests out of mud on the underside of overhanging rocks on a cliff or cave roof to stay dry. This has also earned them the alternative name of rockfowls. The ground-loving birds have intriguing ways of […]
It’s called a wader but doesn’t wade – and doesn’t like to fly either. Discover the bird that’s regarded as something of an oddity
The woodcock is surprising in many ways, not least because of its association with woodland habitats, largely nocturnal behaviour and strange display-flight. Related to the snipes, the woodcock has evolved to take advantage of the small invertebrates found under woodland leaf litter and in damp soil. This ground-loving species flies only sparingly, except when on […]
Do worms feel pain and are ants happy? Why the science on invertebrate feelings is evolving
Does a worm feel pain if it gets trodden on? Does a fly ache when its wings are pulled off? Is an ant happy when it finds a food source? If so, they may be sentient beings, which means they can “feel”, a bit or a lot, like we do. Invertebrate sentience is becoming an […]
Most Conservation Funding Goes to Large, ‘Charismatic’ Vertebrates Instead of Lesser-Known, Threatened Species: Study
Larger, dynamic animal species like rhinoceroses and elephants get a lot of well-deserved attention. But they also get the lion’s share of global conservation funding, leaving threatened species that are not as well-known to fend for themselves. A 25-year study led by researchers at University of Hong Kong (HKU) has found that, of the nearly […]