artois's Favorites

Gargoyle mantis

About 70mm long. I posted the profile to show "horn" on "nose". Colouring of legs reminds one very much of a rain spider - at first glance it looks like the discarded skin of a spider.
What would the function be of the growth on its head? I see some of the mantids can unfurl their antennae. These look a bit thin but I suppose if you look like this anything is possible. Fascinating creature.

Long tongue - sweet tooth

Very meticulously visits each flower and remembers each so not to waste valuable energy. That long proboscis is inserted all the way and only takes about one second to get at the nectar and then move on.
Pic 4 shows how the fly's face comes into contact with the anthers and pic 5-7 shows the purple pollen adhering.

Cederberg Cave Katydid

Someone in our party had stumbled upon these huge 'cave crickets' on an earlier trip, and took us to see them. I was expecting a cricket, and was delighted to instead see huge katydids. This female was 60mm with her ovipositor. With her long legs spread out, was 150mm, her antennae as long again. They move quietly in the dark chambers made by a water course passing through boulders.
Getting home and looking it up I was happy to see that they were described by Piotr Naskrecki. He says they aren't predatory but move out of the caves at night and eat plants. These are the only known cave-dwelling katydids, from his blog:
"they are highly gregarious, often found in clusters of 20-30 individuals of various ages. The caves they prefer are cold, maintaining the chilly temperature of 12°C (54°F) throughout the year. Their habitat cannot be occupied by bats or hyraxes, which probably quickly do away with the tasty, surprisingly very slow-moving insects, thus limiting the number of available caves (interestingly, when exposed to higher temperatures they become phenomenal jumpers)."

See her swinging her bolas: https://youtu.be/DKMrKwTNV5k

Some more wonderful photos of this lady by photographers much better then moi. She is quite a celebrity!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/101951926508391/permalink/4394361263934081/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/101951926508391/permalink/4397220953648112/

Observed and photographed by my colleague Mike Morrison. A rare find usually associated with deep water in the tropics. This specimen was 3 m in length, 300 mm from spine to belly and 75-100mm thick and was estimated to weigh around 50 kg.

The first, second, and third of five Urechis caupo that had been discovered in a small stretch of the muddy shore to the bay's main channel. They were extracted from their dens via a clam gun at low tide during mid-day.

Washed up at Omaha estuary.

The biggest and weirdest looking jellyfish I have ever seen!

Although it came in my daughter's favourite colours she wasn't keen to touch it!

What is that smaller whitish jellyfish next to it? Is it part of it or a different individual?

Hericium erinaceus is a rare fungus which grows as a parasite on the trunks still alive or dead deciduous trees, mostly oaks, beeches and birches (often in places crust fracture or break off branches), preferentially in forests with high humidity. Native to North America, Europe and Asia. In Europe the fungus is widespread, but everywhere is rare. It's body reaches a size of 20 cm and a weight of 1.5 kg. Hericium erinaceus is a choice edible when young, and the texture of the cooked mushroom is often compared to seafood. It often appears in Chinese vegetarian cuisine to replace pork or lamb. Sliced the mushroom can also be breaded and prepared like a vegetarian schnitzel. Its taste is reminiscent of veal or poultry meat with slightly fruity aromas of coconut and lemongrass. This mushroom is cultivated commercially on logs or sterilized sawdust and is available fresh or dried in Asian grocery stores. In folk medicine, it used for the treatment of chronic gastritis, esophageal cancer, stomach cancer, leukemia. In oriental medicine is used as an antiseptic, immunostimulant, growth stimulator and for regeneration processes of the nerve cells. Hericium erinaceus (also called lion's mane mushroom, bearded tooth mushroom, satyr's beard, bearded hedgehog mushroom, pom pom mushroom, or bearded tooth fungus). It is called hóu tóu gū (simplified: 猴头菇; traditional: 猴頭菇; lit. "monkey head mushroom") in Chinese. In Japanese it is called yamabushitake (山伏茸; lit. "mountain priest mushroom"). In Vietnamese it is called nấm đầu khỉ which literally means the same as hóu tóu gū (monkey head mushroom). In Korean it is called "노루궁뎅이버섯, "Norugongdengi-beoseot", literally "Deertail Mushroom".

Hericium erinaceus - редкий гриб, который растет на стволах ещё живых или павших лиственных деревьев (дуб, бук, берёза), как раневой паразит (в местах разлома коры или отломанных сучьев), предпочтительно в лесах с высокой влажностью. Естественное произрастание - Северная Америка, Европа и Азия. В Европе гриб широко распространен, но везде редок. Плодовое тело достигает размера 20 см и веса 1,5 кг. Молодой ежовик гребенчатый съедобен, текстура приготовленного гриба напоминает морепродукты, вкус - телятину или мясо птицы со слегка фруктовыми ароматами кокоса и лимона. В китайской вегетарианской кухне часто используется для замены свинины или баранины, ломтики грибов панируют и готовят как вегетарианские шницели. Выращивается коммерчески на бревнах или стерилизованных опилках и доступен свежий или сушеный в азиатских продуктовых магазинах. В народной медицине используется для лечения хронического гастрита, рака пищевода, желудка, лейкемии. В восточной медицине применяется как иммуностимулятор, стимулятор роста и регенерации отростков нервных клеток, антисептик. Народные названия: Грибная лапша, Дедова борода, Львиная грива (англ. lion's mane mushroom), гриб Пом-Пом (фр. Pom-Pom blanc). Часто гриб называют «обезьяньей головой», это перевод китайского названия «хоутоугу» (кит. 猴头菇 пиньинь hóutóugū). Распространено и японское его название «ямабушитаке» (yamabushitake, яп. 山伏茸 ямабуситакэ).

Lesser false vampire bat, Megaderma spasma, roosting in the water tower at Popham’s Arboretum, Dambulla, Sri Lanka. Widespread from the Indian Subcontinent to SE Asia.

I previously incorrectly identified this as Megaderma lyra.