View allAll Photos Tagged Aggregation
There are many species of Sweat Bees and, during my heydays of bees (2012-13), I would go to the Carquinez Straight where they were plentiful and thriving in the flields of wild cone forwers, wild hibiscus, and even wild snapdragons and morning glories. (Yes, you'll see them when I get to "W.") These are truly wildflowers, and probably have been near the Martinez Marina, grasslands, and the meeting of the Alhambra slough (fresh water) with the Strait (brackish to salt water). Oddly, I got few photos of plain ol' honey bees, but metallic sweat bees were plentiful. The bee in this image is about an inch long, but many of them were tiny, perhaps as little as a half-an-inch.
The genus Agapostemon (literally "stamen loving") is a common group of Western Hemisphere sweat bees, most of which are known as metallic green sweat bees for their color.
They are members of the family of bees known as Halictidae. Like other sweat bees, they are attracted to human sweat, and they use the salt from the sweat for nutrition. They are generally green or blue, especially the head and thorax. Sometimes the abdomen in females is green or blue although it may be striped, and most males have the yellow-striped abdomen on a black or metallic background. They superficially resemble various members of another tribe, Augochlorini, which are also typically metallic green.
Interestingly, all species of Agapostemon nest in the ground, sometimes in dense aggregations. Some species are communal such as A. virescens. In this and other communal species, multiple females share the same nest entrance, but beneath the common entrance burrow, construct their own portion of the nest. Thus each female digs her own brood cells and collects pollen and nectar to fashion the pollen ball upon which she will lay an egg. (Note: most bumblebees are also ground nesters. There's a whole lot to learn about insects, but there's just so much time...)
The Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31) is the nearest large galaxy to our own Milky Way and one of the most magnificent objects in the night sky. Visible as a faint small smudge from a dark site on a moonless night, M31 is a gigantic aggregation of hundreds of billions of stars at a distance of about 2.5 million light years.
Once thought to be a nebula inside our own Galaxy, its true nature was discovered by Edwin Hubble in 1925, which measured the distance of this "island universe" by studying a special class of pulsating stars known as Cepheids (his estimated distance was more than half smaller than the present value but still large enough to put it well outside the extent of our own Milky Way Galaxy).
M31 is classified as a spiral galaxy with its galactic plane inclined about 13o to our line of sight, and it is therefore seen nearly edge-on. It has a number of smaller satellite galaxies, the most prominent of which are M32 (the bright, star-like concentration above and to the left of the nucleus) and M110, the more extended bright patch below and to the right of the nucleus). Astronomers have found evidence of a massive black hole at the center of this galaxy (as is the case for our own Milky Way).
They have also calculated that we are in a collision course with our grand neighbor in space - approaching each other at a speed of about 100 Km/sec, the two galaxies will collide in about 3 billion years and maybe merge into a giant elliptical galaxy.
I can’t really know if E.T.’s home was the Andromeda Galaxy, but I can tell you that this galaxy is exceptional, either through a telescope or in deep sky photographs.
I wish you all health, happiness and clear skies!
Image Details:
Telescope: Orion EON 80/500 mm ED refractor with TS 0.79 Reducer/Corrector
Mount: Modified Vixen Sphinx (NexSXW)
Camera: Canon EOS 600Da
Light frames: 13 x 5 mins, ISO 800, Custom WB, no filter
Guiding: Skywatcher Evoguide 50/240 mm with Lacerta Mgen-3 autoguider
Date & Location: 13/10/2023 - Chalkidiki, Greece (Bortle 4)
Processing: PixInsight, Adobe Photoshop
The zebra shark (Stegostoma fasciatum) is a species of carpet shark and the sole member of the family Stegostomatidae. It is found throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific, frequenting coral reefs and sandy flats to a depth of 62 m. Adult zebra sharks are distinctive in appearance, with five longitudinal ridges on a cylindrical body, a low caudal fin comprising nearly half the total length, and usually a pattern of dark spots on a pale background. Young zebra sharks under 50–90 cm long have a completely different pattern, consisting of light vertical stripes on a brown background, and lack the ridges. This species attains a length of 2.5 m. Zebra sharks are nocturnal and spend most of the day resting motionless on the sea floor. At night, they actively hunt for molluscs, crustaceans, small bony fishes, and possibly sea snakes inside holes and crevices in the reef. Though solitary for most of the year, they form large seasonal aggregations. The zebra shark is oviparous: females produce several dozen large egg capsules, which they anchor to underwater structures via adhesive tendrils. Innocuous to humans and hardy in captivity, zebra sharks are popular subjects of ecotourism dives and public aquaria. The World Conservation Union has assessed this species as Endangered worldwide, as it is taken by commercial fisheries across most of its range (except off Australia) for meat, fins, and liver oil. There is evidence that its numbers are dwindling. 24707
When manatees are seen in a group, it is either a mating herd or an informal meeting of the species simply sharing a warm area that has a large food supply. A group of manatees is called an aggregation. An aggregation usually never grows larger than about six individuals.
Have always wanted to find a large aggregation of these little ladybirds. This wasn't especially large, but the most I've seen on a structure (previous sightings were in grass, so not as impressive). Interestingly, they were all on this one fencepost! I checked dozens of others either side, but not a soul to be found on them!
Abbey Wood - Shropshire
[co-lo-ny]
-any group of individuals having similar interests, occupations.
-an aggregation of bacteria growing together as the descendants of a single cell.
-a group of organisms of the same kind, living or growing in close association.
The Firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus) is a common European bug, which is on the northernmost edge of its range in Britain and is the sole member of its family (Pyrrhocoridae) to occur here. This very distinctive species is usually brachypterous in Britain, but macropterous adults have recently been recorded.
The Firebug is historically very rare and known only from a single Devon population, but many other colonies have been recently reported from Surrey, Sussex, Essex, Suffolk, Kent and Bedfordshire, most of which are probably the result of accidental introductions. The appearance of macropterous individuals capable of flight may allow the species to spread here much more effectively in the future.
The Firebug is usually associated with Tree Mallow and lime trees, feeding on the fruits. It forms dense and conspicuous aggregations in the spring, prior to mating.
timing was not so good. It will be better to choose a day with less wind and with better sunlight direction. I will take this place again.
Ectemnius is a genus of wasps in the family Crabronidae. 188 species are known.
Ectemnius species excavate nest tunnels in pieces of dead wood such as stumps, fallen tree trunks, rotting logs and sometimes building timbers or posts with the help of the mandibles. Nesting aggregations can be large and dense, and sometimes more than one female has been recorded using a common nest entrance. In most species the brood is supplied with Diptera from several different families.
Geladas form some of the largest aggregations of any non-human primate, moving around together like one big extended family. Since grass is so abundant, there is little competition for food.
A group of manatees is called an "aggregation" or sometimes a "herd." Manatees are generally solitary animals, but they do gather in groups especially in warm water refuges during the winter or in areas with an abundance of food. Manatees do not have a specific mating season but can mate year-round. However, peak mating activity often occurs in spring or summer when water temperatures are warmer. Female manatees reach sexual maturity at around 5 years old, while males mature later, around 7-9 years old. Gestation lasts about 12 months, and calves are usually born singly.
Die durch ihre Färbung sehr auffallende Art wird meist einfach Feuerwanze genannt, sie wird im Volksmund aber auch als Schuster- oder Feuerkäfer bezeichnet, also irrtümlich für einen Käfer gehalten.Die Gemeine Feuerwanze erreicht eine Körperlänge von 6,5 bis 12 Millimeter.
The firebug, Pyrrhocoris apterus, is a common insect of the family Pyrrhocoridae.
They are frequently observed to form aggregations, especially as immature forms, with from tens to perhaps a hundred individuals.
We have a nesting aggregation of the Tawny Mining Bee (Andrena fulva) in our Staffordshire garden. Lots of females are emerging from the nest burrows at the moment. They're lovely anyway, but even more so when in a pristine condition like this.
The Whimbrel, a large shorebird, is the most wide-ranging of the curlew species and the only one that nests across both the Nearctic and Palearctic.
The Whimbrel nests in loose aggregations in open habitats that vary from wet lowlands to dry uplands. This long-lived wader is monogamous and territorial, with mates sharing incubation of four eggs. Nesting success and density vary with habitat; little is known of fledging success. In feeding, the Whimbrel takes advantage of the short, intense flush of insects in the arctic summer as well as berries left from the previous growing season.
On migration the Whimbrel is primarily coastal and oceanic, although some individuals fly overland. Some coastal migrants undergo a nonstop Atlantic flight of up to 4,000 km from southern Canada or New England to South America. Coastal staging areas most critical to migrant Whimbrels have not yet been identified, although flocks of up to 1,000 birds have been documented.
The genus name, Numenius, is Greek for “new moon” (for the crescent shape of the bill); the species name, phaeopus, means “dark countenance”; and the subspecific name is for Hudson Bay.
I think these migratory birds are fascinating. This one was photographed in Peru, but I've seen them in the north coast of Brazil.
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The giraffe is a tall African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus Giraffa. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, Giraffa camelopardalis, with nine subspecies. Most recently, researchers proposed dividing them into up to eight extant species due to new research into their mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, as well as morphological measurements. Seven other extinct species of Giraffa are known from the fossil record.
The giraffe's chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones, and its spotted coat patterns. It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest extant relative, the okapi. Its scattered range extends from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south, and from Niger in the west to Somalia in the east. Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and woodlands. Their food source is leaves, fruits, and flowers of woody plants, primarily acacia species, which they browse at heights most other herbivores cannot reach.
Lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, and African wild dogs may prey upon giraffes. Giraffes live in herds of related females and their offspring, or bachelor herds of unrelated adult males, but are gregarious and may gather in large aggregations. Males establish social hierarchies through "necking", combat bouts where the neck is used as a weapon. Dominant males gain mating access to females, which bear sole responsibility for raising the young.
The giraffe has intrigued various ancient and modern cultures for its peculiar appearance, and has often been featured in paintings, books, and cartoons. It is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as vulnerable to extinction and has been extirpated from many parts of its former range. Giraffes are still found in numerous national parks and game reserves, but estimates as of 2016 indicate there are approximately 97,500 members of Giraffa in the wild. More than 1,600 were kept in zoos in 2010.
GHOST OF THE MOUNTAIN • Dark Country Blues Slide Guitar
- Justin Johnson -
Mount Whitney is the highest mountain in the contiguous United States and the Sierra Nevada, with an elevation of 14,505 feet. The peak is just left of center, I was about 30 miles away as the crow flies when taking this photo.
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To climb Mt Whitney you must enter a lottery for permits. with applicants obliged to choose whether they plan to climb in a day or over multiple days. Results will be announced online March 15, when good or bad news will be posted to hikers’ personal profiles on the website. Last year, 29% of lottery entrants got good news. The year before, 28%.
At 14,505 feet, Mt. Whitney is the highest peak in the Sierra Nevada and the contiguous U.S. The most common path to the top includes 6,200 feet of vertical gain from the trailhead at Whitney Portal, 14 miles west of Lone Pine in Inyo County.
It can be dangerous, especially when snow remains on the trail. The Inyo County Sheriff’s Department reported at least four Whitney climbing deaths in 2021 and 2022, many of them “in spring or early summer due to falls on snow and ice.” Despite drought conditions throughout the West, the National Weather Service and California Department of Water Resources officials have reported an unusually heavy snowpack in the Sierra Nevada so far this winter.
“At higher elevations the snow might linger as late as July,” said Lisa Cox, public information officer for Inyo National Forest, in an email Tuesday. “People will need ice axes, crampons, and additional skills (and training) to travel on snow and ice-covered slopes. This shouldn’t necessarily deter people from going, but [be] prepared to turn around before reaching the destination of your choice, a.k.a the peak.”
The trailhead is 8,374 feet above sea level. From there, the most popular route is a 22-mile route up the mountain and back, including a stretch of 99 switchbacks near the top. In all, the trail typically entails 12-14 hours of climbing (and packing out your own waste in a WAG bag, named for Waste Aggregation and Gelling).
U.S. Forest Service officials call the route “non-technical, but strenuous” when it’s free of snow, which is usually from July to late September.
With the amount of snowfall this winter there may be snow and ice through the year.
One of the most colourful invertebrates in Australia is the Cotton Harlequin Bug (Tectocoris diophthalmus) and it is found throughout the north and east coast. It can be quite common and sometimes form large and impressive aggregations!
Adult females are often an orange colouration whilst males are a mix of red and blue. Pictured is a nymph that boasts striking colours!
They mainly live and feed on Hibiscus plants, where they pierce the stems or fruits with their proboscis and suck out all the sugar rich juices. Have you seen these incredible insects before?
Pyrrhocoris apterus
The firebug, Pyrrhocoris apterus, is a common insect of the family Pyrrhocoridae. Easily recognizable due to its striking red and black coloration, but may be confused with the similarly coloured though unrelated Corizus hyoscyami (cinnamon bug, squash bug) (see comparison). Pyrrhocoris apterus is distributed throughout the Palaearctic from the Atlantic coast of Europe to northwest China. It has also been reported from the USA, Central America and India. It has been reported as recently expanding its distribution northwards into mainland UK. They are frequently observed to form aggregations, especially as immature forms, with from tens to perhaps a hundred individuals.
Source: wikipedia.
The Blue-gray Tanager is one of the most widespread, and ubiquitous, birds of the humid lowland neotropics. At almost any location between southeastern Mexico and central South America, it is a familiar presence at forest edge, in second-growth, along roads and rivers, in plantations, and even in urban parks and gardens. Blue-gray Tanagers prefer semi-open habitats; they are not found in interior of closed canopy forest, but they can quickly colonize fresh clearings. They are flexible as well in their diet, eating a wide variety of fruit, and also foraging for arthropods. Blue-gray Tanagers typically travel in pairs or small single-species flocks. They may briefly join mixed-species flocks, but do not travel with such flocks; however, Blue-gray Tanagers often join mixed-species aggregations of birds that are attracted to fruiting trees. Adult Blue-gray Tanagers are predominately light bluish gray, with brighter blue margins to the wings and tail. The wing coverts are bright blue on the subspecies that occur from Mexico to northern South America, and in South America west of the Andes; other subspecies have more or less contrasting, whitish wing coverts. The juveniles of all subspecies are duller in color, and closely resemble the Sayaca Tanager (Thraupis sayaca) of eastern South America.
neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/species/...
Acts 2:11 New International Version (NIV)
11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
Ostriches are flightless birds found only in open country in Africa. The largest living birds, adult males may be 2.75 meters (about 9 feet) tall—almost half of that height being in the neck—and weigh more than 150 kilograms (330 pounds). Ostriches are seen individually, in pairs, in small flocks, or in large aggregations, depending on the season. The ostrich relies on its strong legs—uniquely two-toed, with the main toe developed almost as a hoof—to escape its enemies, chiefly humans and the larger carnivores. A frightened ostrich can achieve a speed of 72.5 kilometers (45 miles) per hour.
If cornered, it can deliver dangerous kicks capable of killing lions and other large predators. Deaths from kicks and slashes are rare, with most attacks resulting from humans provoking the birds.
Rietvlei Nature Reserve
Gauteng Province
South Africa
I was very excited to day to spot four Firebugs - Pyrrhocoris apterus - on a walk near Hollesley in Suffolk! They were very fast and sadly this is the best shot I managed!
The Firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus) is a common European bug on the northernmost edge of its range in Britain. It is the sole member of its family to occur here.
Historically Firebugs are very rare and known only from a single Devon population, but many other colonies have been recently reported from Surrey, Sussex, Essex, Suffolk, Kent and Bedfordshire, most of which are probably the result of accidental introductions. The appearance of individuals capable of flight may allow the species to spread here much more effectively in the future.
Usually associated with Tree Mallow and lime trees, feeding on the fruits. It forms dense and conspicuous aggregations in the spring, prior to mating.
Genesis 1:11-12
New International Version
11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
A yellow-headed blackbird surveys a wetland dense with flies of the genus Hydrophorus. They can walk on water, but they were most dense at the edge of the marsh. The dark material at the water's edge is a massive congregation of flies.
I walked around, wondering why birds were not harvesting the flies--the yellow-headed blackbird had no competitors. Are these flies distasteful (to birds)? The marsh seemed to be saline.
I walked around to get a sense of the place and noticed that the flies had no interest in me at all. An occasional fly landed on me, but immediately departed as if I were an unsatisfactory substrate.
A 4-40 machine screw collection in a mix of head styles and lengths..Each screw is of the same outer diameter (#4, 0.112" or 2.845mm) and thread pitch (40 threads-per-inch density, a pitch of 0.025" or 0.635mm).
I have always taken the North American thread sizing standard for granted, but until I wrote this description, I did not know it had a name: the Unified Thread Standard. Ah, the benefits of research. :)
There were so many of these together that from a distance, they just looked like a slight discolouration on the branch. They were all moulting together, then they moved off a short way, where they stayed for a day or so and then completely disappeared.
Feel free to correct my ID if it's wrong.
Okavango Delta
Botswana
Southern Africa
The blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), also called the common wildebeest, white-bearded wildebeest or brindled gnu, is a large antelope and one of the two species of wildebeest. It is placed in the genus Connochaetes and family Bovidae and has a close taxonomic relationship with the black wildebeest.
This broad-shouldered antelope has a muscular, front-heavy appearance, with a distinctive robust muzzle. The adults' hues range from a deep slate or bluish gray to light gray or even grayish brown. Both sexes possess a pair of large, curved horns.
The blue wildebeest is a herbivore, feeding primarily on the short grasses. It forms herds which move about in loose aggregations, the animals being fast runners and extremely wary.
The mating season begins at the end of the rainy season and a single calf is usually born after a gestational period of about eight and a half months. The calf remains with its mother for eight months, after which time it joins a juvenile herd.
Blue wildebeest are found in short grass plains bordering bush-covered acacia savannas in southern and eastern Africa, thriving in areas that are neither too wet nor too arid.
Three African populations of blue wildebeest take part in a long-distance migration, timed to coincide with the annual pattern of rainfall and grass growth on the volcanic soil short-grass plains where they can find the nutrient-rich forage necessary for lactation and calf growth.
The blue wildebeest is native to Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) rates the blue wildebeest as being of Least Concern.
The population has been estimated to be around one and a half million and the population trend is stable. – Wikipedia
From the south east, I found dense aggregations of wildflowers, but unlike the view from the south west – dominated by yellow stinkweed (see previous post), this view of Factory Butte was dominated by the dark purple blooms of scorpion weed, stretching for miles.
Unusually high precipitation this winter awakened seeds in the soil, creating stunning blooms not seen in recent decades. Both yellow stinkweed and purple scorpion weed are annual plants, so seeds must be able to linger in the soil for many years.
Scorpion weed dominated many of the views from the Henry Mountains north past Goblin Valley State Park to Interstate 70 and west to Factory Butte and Capitol Reef National Park. Don Lusko, a local, long-term local rancher, said that this bloom of scorpion weed exceeded all others for the entire time he has been watching—50 years.
Scorpion weed has numerous common names, including heliotrope, indicating that its flowers track the sun across the sky each day.
The top of Factory Butte is 900 feet above me--it is immense.
So this is a photo that is more for biological interest than art as you can see that the Puffin's face is covered in ticks. It would have been an easy job to Photoshop them out but I thought they were interesting. This is likely to be the Seabird Tick (Ixodes uriae), Uria being the generic name for Guillemots. This tick mainly feeds on seabirds at high latitudes in both the northern and southern hemispheres. In penguin colonies that are inhabited year-round, the ticks have a three year life cycle, but only feed on the penguins for three or four months, hiding in aggregations under stones for the rest of the year. So it is likely that they will only feed on the Puffins during their short nesting period, and will hide in Puffin burrows for the rest of the year when the Puffins are out at sea. The ticks form aggregations and are attracted to these by pheromones and the ticks' excretory product, which helps explain why this was the only tick-infested Puffin that I saw on the Isle of Lunga.
The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus Giraffa. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes have been thought of as one species, Giraffa camelopardalis, with nine subspecies. Most recently, researchers proposed dividing them into up to eight extant species due to new research into their mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, and individual species can be distinguished by their fur coat patterns. Seven other extinct species of Giraffa are known from the fossil record.
The giraffe's chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones, and its spotted coat patterns. It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest extant relative, the okapi. Its scattered range extends from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south, and from Niger in the west to Somalia in the east. Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and woodlands. Their food source is leaves, fruits, and flowers of woody plants, primarily acacia species, which they browse at heights most other herbivores cannot reach.
Lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, and African wild dogs may prey upon giraffes. Giraffes live in herds of related females and their offspring or bachelor herds of unrelated adult males, but are gregarious and may gather in large aggregations. Males establish social hierarchies through "necking", combat bouts where the neck is used as a weapon. Dominant males gain mating access to females, which bear sole responsibility for rearing the young.
The giraffe has intrigued various ancient and modern cultures for its peculiar appearance, and has often been featured in paintings, books, and cartoons. It is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as vulnerable to extinction and has been extirpated from many parts of its former range. Giraffes are still found in numerous national parks and game reserves, but estimates as of 2016 indicate there are approximately 97,500 members of Giraffa in the wild. More than 1,600 were kept in zoos in 2010.
The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant. There are nine subspecies, each distinguished by their coat patterns.
Their primary food source is acacia leaves, which they browse at heights most other herbivores cannot reach. Giraffes are preyed on by lions; their young are also targeted by leopards, spotted hyenas, and African wild dogs. Giraffe are gregarious and may gather in large aggregations.
I took this shot in Kanana Game Reserve in Botswana's Okavango Delta.
Press Z to view large.
Great snipe (Gallinago media)
From the cycle - Birds of Europe. You can see more my photos from this cycle by entering "Pawel's Birds of Europe" in the search box.
A lek is an aggregation of male birds gathered to engage in competitive displays and courtship rituals, known as lekking, to entice visiting females which are surveying prospective partners to mate with. Before dusk during the breeding season, the great snipe males display at a lek (arena), standing erect with chest puffed and tail fanned out. They may jump into the air, and will produce a variety of rattles, clicks, buzzes and whistles while displaying.
The giraffe (Giraffa) is an African artiodactyl mammal, the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant. It is traditionally considered to be one species, Giraffa camelopardalis, with nine subspecies. However the existence of up to eight extant giraffe species have been described, based upon research into the mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, as well as morphological measurements of Giraffa. The giraffe's chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones, and its distinctive coat patterns. It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest extant relative, the okapi. Its scattered range extends from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south, and from Niger in the west to Somalia in the east. Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and woodlands. Their food source is leaves, fruits and flowers of woody plants, primarily acacia species, which they browse at heights most other herbivores cannot reach. They may be preyed on by lions, leopards, spotted hyenas and African wild dogs. Giraffes live in herds of related females and their offspring, or bachelor herds of unrelated adult males, but are gregarious and may gather in large aggregations. Males establish social hierarchies through 'necking', which are combat bouts where the neck is used as a weapon. Dominant males gain mating access to females, which bear the sole responsibility for raising the young. Giraffe use their 45-50 cm long prehensile tongue and the roof of their mouths in order to feed on a range of different plants and shoots. Giraffes use their dexterous tongues to sort out the nutritious leaves from spiky thorns. Fortunately, a giraffe’s tongue has thickened papillae, which helps to protect it from these vicious thorns. Additionally, thick saliva is also believed to help protect giraffe’s tongue and mouth against the defensive mechanisms of their favourite food. R_15306
We circled the ice floe on which this crabeater seal was resting, waiting for a sign of life. Finally, he lifted one flipper to scratch himself, then went right back to sleep.
The crabeater seal (Lobodon carcinophaga), also known as the krill-eater seal, is a true seal with a circumpolar distribution around the coast of Antarctica. They are medium- to large-sized (over 2 m in length), relatively slender and pale-colored, found primarily on the free-floating pack ice that extends seasonally out from the Antarctic coast, which they use as a platform for resting, mating, social aggregation and accessing their prey.
Green-eyed Flower Bee / anthophora bimaculata. Minsmere, Suffolk. 22/07/20.
My all-time favourite bee species and I only get to see them on the Suffolk coast. They are diminutive in size, ear-splitting in 'hum volume' and have the most beautiful eyes of any UK invertebrate I've ever seen.
(View large and you will see the appeal!)
This pollen-laden male had just returned to it's sealed nest burrow and was scraping back grains of sand with it's back legs. I lay inches away with my macro lens focussed on the action. By using a slow shutter speed, I managed to capture some motion blur at the bee's rear end, whilst securing sharp detail of his wonderful eye.
BEST VIEWED LARGE.
La formación de este fósil de arena oolítico es curiosa, se formó en la era cuaternaria hace más de 100 mil años cuando el mar Mediterráneo cubría toda la zona del Parque Natural, los oolitos son pequeñas partículas esféricas que se forman por agregación de carbonato de calcio en capas concéntricas alrededor de un núcleo formado por un grano de arena en los fondos marinos de mares cálidos a poca profundidad. Después el mar, debido a un cambio climático que hizo subir las temperaturas, retrocedió hasta sus actuales límites, dejando al descubierto la gran duna fosilizada. Luego la erosión del viento, la lluvia y el oleaje del mar han hecho el resto, esculpiendo estas caprichosas formas junto al mar.
The formation of this oolitic sand fossil is curious, it was formed in the Quaternary era more than 100 thousand years ago when the Mediterranean Sea covered the entire area of the Natural Park. Oolites are small spherical particles that are formed by the aggregation of calcium carbonate. in concentric layers around a core formed by a grain of sand on the seabed of warm seas at shallow depths. Then the sea, due to a climate change that caused temperatures to rise, retreated to its current limits, revealing the large fossilized dune. Then the erosion of wind, rain and sea waves have done the rest, sculpting these whimsical shapes next to the sea.
The giraffe (Giraffa) is an African artiodactyl mammal, the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant. It is traditionally considered to be one species, Giraffa camelopardalis, with nine subspecies. However the existence of up to eight extant giraffe species have been described, based upon research into the mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, as well as morphological measurements of Giraffa. The giraffe's chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones, and its distinctive coat patterns. It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest extant relative, the okapi. Its scattered range extends from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south, and from Niger in the west to Somalia in the east. Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and woodlands. Their food source is leaves, fruits and flowers of woody plants, primarily acacia species, which they browse at heights most other herbivores cannot reach. They may be preyed on by lions, leopards, spotted hyenas and African wild dogs. Giraffes live in herds of related females and their offspring, or bachelor herds of unrelated adult males, but are gregarious and may gather in large aggregations. Males establish social hierarchies through 'necking', which are combat bouts where the neck is used as a weapon. Dominant males gain mating access to females, which bear the sole responsibility for raising the young. Giraffe use their 45-50 cm long prehensile tongue and the roof of their mouths in order to feed on a range of different plants and shoots. Giraffes use their dexterous tongues to sort out the nutritious leaves from spiky thorns. Fortunately, a giraffe’s tongue has thickened papillae, which helps to protect it from these vicious thorns. Additionally, thick saliva is also believed to help protect giraffe’s tongue and mouth against the defensive mechanisms of their favourite food. R_11267
The Mitchell Grass Downs Bioregion spans 335 320 square kilometres of predominantly treeless plains from Augathella in Queensland to Elliott in the Northern Territory. While it contains some occasional ridges, rivers and gorges, it is mainly deep cracking clay soils supporting highly productive Mitchell Grass grasslands. The Mitchell Grass Downs is leasehold cattle grazing for the most part, with sheep as well in the eastern quarter. Longreach is the major town of the grasslands, whilst other centres are Isisford, Tambo, Blackall, Aramac, Muttaburra, Hughenden, Richmond, Julia Creek, Winton, Boulia, Urandangi, and Camooweal.
Threatened species across this area include the Greater Bilby (Macrotis lagotis), Julia Creek Dunnart (Sminthopsis douglasi), Elizabeth Springs Goby (Chlamydogobius micropretus), Waddy Tree (Acacia peuce), and Sal Pipewort (Eriocaulon carsanii).
Nationally important wetlands across this area include Austral Limestone Aggregation, Corella Lake, Diamantina Lakes Area, Elizabeth Springs, Eva Downs Swamp, Lake de Burgh, Lake Sylvester, Lake Woods, Tarrabool Lake, and Thorntonia Aggregation.
National Parks across this area include Astrelba Downs, Bladensburg, Camooweal Caves, Diamantina, Idalia, Lochern, and the Welford.
Source: Desert Channels Queensland.
When I'm wandering around in woodland, I'm quite used to seeing wee Springtails (Collembola sp.) trucking around under logs and so on, but I rarely come across the marine species. When I was on Skye in June, however, there were lots of them in the brackish pools near the beach. It's fascinating to watch them grouping together and breaking off regularly from the main body .... ping, ping, ping .... as though they are being propelled by some extraneous force. They then form either new groups or re-aggregate with the main group, and so it goes on. I saw several pools with them doing this marine dance while I was there. These are a few of them. This species may be Anurida maritima, but that is not definitive.
This is information from Wiki:
"The entire body of the Collembola is covered with white hydrophobic hairs which allow the animal to stay above the surface of the water on which it spends much of its life. Aggregation is an important aspect of collembolan biology, and A. maritima has been shown to produce an aggregating pheromone. Like many intertidal animals, A. maritima moves in rhythm with the tidal cycle, and has an endogenous circatidal rhythm with a period of hours, using visual cues to orient themselves during their movements."
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