Biology – Sea Urchin Spines

Darrell Mann

For the first time, a team of Australian engineers has modelled the microscopic mechanics of a sea urchin’s spine, gaining insight into how these unusual creatures withstand impacts in their aquatic environment.

The skeleton of the purple-spined sea … Read More

Biology – Long-Distance Spider Travel

Darrell Mann

On October 31, 1832, a young naturalist named Charles Darwin walked onto the deck of the HMS Beagle and realized that the ship had been boarded by thousands of intruders. Tiny red spiders, each a millimeter wide, were … Read More

Biology – Owl Neck

Darrell Mann

It is one way of seeing the world from a different point of view. This short-eared owl made sure to turn heads, by swivelling its face completely upside down. The bird was captured by wildlife photographer Alain Balthazard … Read More

Biology – Wraparound Spider

Darrell Mann

Time to add more species to the list of animals who have perfected the art of camouflage. Known as the wrap-around spiders, Dolophones is a genus of spider found primarily in Australia and Oceania. The genus contains 17 … Read More

Biology – Fogstand Beetle

Darrell Mann

Stenocara gracilipes, also known as the fogstand beetle, is a species of beetle that is native to the Namib Desert of southern Africa. This is one of the most arid areas of the world, receiving only 14mm of … Read More

Biology – Polysphincta Wasp

Darrell Mann

Wasps. Subject of four previous ezine features. Wasps break records. Evil records. We’ve had two different parasitic wasps (Issue 148 and Issue 184) and this month we hear about a zombie-making species.

Setting off a startling chain of … Read More

Biology – Spittlebug

Darrell Mann

The froghoppers, or the superfamily Cercopoidea, are a group of hemipteran insects in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha. Adults are capable of jumping many times their height and length, giving the group their common name. They are perhaps best known, … Read More

Biology – Long-Tailed Tit

Darrell Mann

Long tailed tits, recognisable by their undulating flight, a tail much longer than its small, pinkish body and generally flying in a small flock, are also known as ‘flying teaspoons’. You generally hear them before you see them … Read More

Biology – Goldfinch

Darrell Mann

Goldfinches are some of the most colourful birds to be found in Europe. They eat seeds and houses. Or, more specifically, the mortar that holds houses together. Why do they do this?

Seeds, while nutritious on the inside, … Read More

Biology – Nuthatch

Darrell Mann

Like many people who watch birds, I have my favourites. The nuthatches that feed outside my office window for instance.

Quirky little birds. Shaped like stubby cigars, with their short tails, thick necks and their characteristic racing-stripe logo. … Read More

Biology – Sailfish

Darrell Mann

The Atlantic sailfish (Istiophorus albicans) is a world-record holding speed merchant twice over. Early measurements of the sailfish’s ability to move through the sea faster than any other marine vertebrate are currently the source of some challenge. What … Read More

Biology – Cat Tongue

Darrell Mann

Cats love to groom themselves almost as much as they love to sleep, spending up to one-quarter of their waking hours cleaning their fur.

The secret to their self-cleaning success? The spines on their tongues are curved and … Read More

Biology – Polka-dot Tree Frog

Darrell Mann

Under normal light, the South American polka dot tree frog (Hypsiboas punctatus) sports a muted palette of greens, yellows and reds. But dim the lights and switch on ultraviolet illumination, and this little amphibian gives off a bright … Read More

Biology – Australasian Grebe

Darrell Mann

Like most grebes, the Australasian grebe is a poor flier and even worse on land due to its short wings and its legs being placed far back on its body. Grebes have large feet with flat rounded “lobate” … Read More

Biology – Mole

Darrell Mann

Despite the havoc they’ve managed to wreak in my vegetable garden this summer, I still maintain a sneaking admiration of moles. Weighing about 100g and having a length of about 12cm, they somehow manage to burrow their way … Read More

Biology – Hedgehog

Darrell Mann

We love hedgehogs here at SI HQ. Despite the fact that helping to feed them can get expensive when a family of twenty-plus taking refuge in our garden decide they like only the best cat food, and only … Read More

Biology – Cordyceps

Darrell Mann

So, picture this. You’re a lowly fungus, Cordyceps, and you’re looking to make lovely Cordyceps descendants, as is Nature’s way. The only problem is that you’re tiny and you live in low places, so your ability to spread … Read More

Biology – Arctic Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus parryii or Urocitellus parryii)

Darrell Mann

Every September arctic ground squirrels in Alaska, Canada and Siberia retreat into burrows more than a meter beneath the tundra, curl up in nests built from grass, lichen and caribou hair, and begin to hibernate. As their lungs … Read More

Biology – Sea Slug (Elysia chlorotica)

Darrell Mann

In an amazing achievement akin to adding solar panels to your body, a Northeast sea slug sucks raw materials from algae to provide its lifetime supply of solar-powered energy, according to a study recently published by scientists at … Read More

Biology – Sleeping Chironomid (Polypedilum vanderplanki)

Darrell Mann

Polypedilum vanderplanki or the sleeping chironomid, is a dipteran in the family Chironomidae (non-biting midges). It occurs in the semi-arid regions of the African continent (e.g. northern Nigeria and Uganda). Its larvae are found in small tubular nests … Read More