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Page 49 of 85· Showing 1441–1470 of 2,526
Venomous sting causes intense long-lasting pain similar to a wasp sting — anaphylactic deaths from Myrmecia stings (3-6 per decade in Australia) make the genus one of the deadliest ant lineages on Earth.
Millions of convergent lady beetles cluster in tight high-elevation aggregations in the Sierra Nevada — visible orange-red mats covering hectares of mountain slope from autumn through spring.
Hundreds of millions of overwintering convergent lady beetles are commercially COLLECTED each spring from Sierra Nevada aggregations, refrigerated, and shipped to gardeners across North America for aphid control.
The species' identifying feature is the pair of CONVERGING WHITE LINES on the pronotum behind the head — distinguishing convergent lady beetles from European seven-spot ladybirds and Asian multicolored lady beetles.
Each adult beetle consumes 50+ aphids per day; a single larva consumes 200-400 aphids during its development. Major beneficial natural-control agent of aphid pests.
Wing-cover spots are highly variable across populations — typically 13 spots, but ranging from 0 to 13 individuals across the species' range.
Eastern lubbers exude a foul-smelling FOAM-PRODUCING toxic chemical defense from thoracic glands when threatened — alkaloids and phenolic compounds make them unpalatable to most predators.
Despite being grasshoppers, lubbers are FLIGHTLESS — the wings are reduced to vestigial pads (the species name 'microptera' means 'small-winged'). Adults cannot fly.
Juvenile lubbers emerge in spring in dense single-file marching processions across roads and lawns — hundreds of jet-black-and-red nymphs looking like miniature wagon trains.
She is one of the LARGEST grasshoppers in North America — 5-8 cm body length, with females substantially larger than males.
Adults are bright yellow with bold black markings (warning coloration — aposematism); juveniles are jet-black with red stripes (a different warning color scheme).
The great black wasp's 'check-the-burrow' ritual is the textbook example in PHILOSOPHY OF MIND (Dennett 1984) of how apparently intelligent behavior is revealed as rigid algorithmic programming — coining the term 'Sphexishness'.
Female wasps paralyze katydids and grasshoppers with precisely-aimed venom stings to the ventral nerve ganglia — leaving prey alive but immobile, to be eaten alive by the larva over several days.
She is one of the LARGEST solitary digger wasps in North America — 25-35 mm body length, jet-black with smoky blue-black iridescent wings.
Moving the prey a few centimeters from the burrow entrance while the wasp is inspecting causes her to RESTART the inspection ritual — the loop can be repeated dozens of times without the wasp breaking out.
She is a major beneficial natural-control agent of katydid and grasshopper populations — one female may provision 15-25 prey items per nest.
The Indian red scorpion is widely regarded as the WORLD'S MOST LETHAL scorpion — historical untreated childhood case fatality rates exceeded 30-40% in rural India before prazosin therapy.
Venom triggers a catastrophic 'AUTONOMIC STORM' — massive simultaneous activation of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems producing pulmonary edema, cardiac arrhythmias, and cardiogenic shock.
Prazosin (an antihypertensive drug) was discovered to be specifically protective against the cardiac effects of the venom — its introduction as standard of care has reduced fatality rates from 30-40% to <5%.
Responsible for hundreds to thousands of childhood deaths annually across rural India and Nepal — most stings occur to children sleeping or playing on the ground at night.
Lives commonly in proximity to human dwellings — under rocks, in roof thatch, in stored crops, and in piles of leaf litter close to rural homes.
Tiger beetles sprint so fast they go TEMPORARILY BLIND — the photoreceptors cannot keep up with the rate of incoming visual information during peak velocity. They stop periodically to recalibrate visually before sprinting again.
Cousin species Cicindela hudsoni holds the world arthropod speed record at 9 km/h — equivalent to a human running 168 km/h when scaled for body size.
Six-spotted tiger beetles are brilliant METALLIC EMERALD GREEN — one of the most-photographed beetles in Eastern US macro nature photography because of the iridescent coloration.
Tiger beetle larvae live in vertical burrows in soil — they anchor with hooked dorsal armor at the burrow entrance and ambush passing prey with sickle-like jaws.
Despite the name, the six 'spots' on the wing covers are highly variable across individuals — some lack spots entirely. The metallic green color is the more reliable identification feature.
Twelve-spotted skimmers have 12 DARK WING SPOTS — three on each wing in alternating bands. The pattern is conspicuous in flight and at rest, making the species instantly recognizable.
Mature males develop WHITE FLASH PATCHES between the dark wing spots — the white reflects sunlight in territorial displays at pond edges.
She is one of the LARGEST skimmer dragonflies in North America — 5-6 cm body length, 8-9 cm wingspan.
She is a major beneficial mosquito predator — adults hunt aerial insects in continuous patrol flight; naiads consume mosquito larvae over 1-2 year aquatic development.
