A return to the rainforest

Images of undisturbed subjects in their natural environment. All subject types.

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pbertner
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A return to the rainforest

Post by pbertner »

A liana entwines itself around a forest giant, using the support to climb to the sunshine where it spreads its leaves:

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A Leaf-mimicking katydid (Typophyllum sp.) camouflaged amongst the leaf litter. (Note that the leaf-mimicking katydids here and in the following image were originally found on a green leaf where they feed at night when predation is less likely, and moved to forest floor to illustrate camouflage, and then returned to their green leaves of origin) :

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Oftentimes leaf-mimicking katydids and camouflaged creatures in general display both sexual dimorphism and polymorphisms. These are physical characteristics which vary between the sexes and between intra-specific individuals, respectively. Theory suggests that this helps prevent predators from developing an efficient search image which would reduce the efficacy of the camouflage.

In this mating pair, the female could be easily overlooked, and the male appears to be a leaf run through with fungal hyphae.

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Mimicry in and of itself is a fascinating biological story, but the lengths to which some species have taken it is extraordinary. What might otherwise be seen as simple predation is actually a more complicated biological natural history story. Herein a female signals to the male using a bioluminescent signature of morse code flashes and pauses to indicate receptivity to mating. However, when the male arrives, he is ambushed by the predaceous female of a completely different species. This aggressive bioluminescent mimicry represents a fascinating hijacking of signal communications.

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Termites building a nest might not appear particularly interesting:

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However, a closer look reveals a life and death struggle between what are two non-predaceous species. For some as yet to be determined reason, the termites were intent on sealing the entrance to a stingless bee nest. As the aperture to the nest slowly narrowed, and the bees threatened to be entombed, the frenzied colony of bees rushed into action, carrying the newly wadded termite nesting material out of their nest. Much to my surprise, and against the odds, the bees persisted in the following days of staving off the termites:

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One doesn't normally think of Orthopterans (crickets, grasshoppers and katydids) as predaceous; however, this cone-headed katydid (Conocephalinae) is a voracious predator, and its powerful jaws are capable of drawing blood to those who are foolish enough to handle them indelicately:

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Parental care is relatively rare within the arthropods, however, there are always exceptions, and these usually result from some form of external pressure. In the case of the stink bugs (pentatomidae) it is parasitization by a variety of micro wasps. A female guards the eggs until shortly after they hatch. Even then the aposematic stink bug juveniles remain clustered together to enhance the effectiveness of their chemical deterrence and aposematism:

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A female drags the mating male behind her as they move from their disturbed perch:

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Thanks for looking and commenting,
Paul

leonardturner
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Re: A return to the rainforest

Post by leonardturner »

Well done, as always! An intriguing and eclectic group of images. The complexities of the natural world seem almost overwhelming.

Leonard

MarkSturtevant
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Re: A return to the rainforest

Post by MarkSturtevant »

Wonderful! These all seem so exotic, and yet we have some similar things up here in the boring north.
We have an aggressive mimic firefly up here as well which does the same thing.
And a similar cone headed katydid. I have long ago learned to handle them with respect, for their jaws can scissor through flesh rather easily. In my boyhood I also learned to not keep them with other insects since they do indeed have a taste for meat.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

Sumguy01
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Re: A return to the rainforest

Post by Sumguy01 »

=D> Very nice.
Thanks for sharing.

pbertner
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Re: A return to the rainforest

Post by pbertner »

Thanks everyone, much appreciated.

Mark - Indeed, the tropics do seem to take common ideas and tropes found within insects and animals in more temperate environments and run with it.

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