Poo-throwing Caterpillars
Yup, you heard us! This one is all about poo-throwing caterpillars … messy little creatures! Some species of caterpillars have a unique “catapulting” mechanism for waste disposal. For example, silver-spotted skipper caterpillars use their blood pressure pump to throw their faecal pellets from an anal “launching pad” up to 1.4 meters away from their nest […]
Brahmaea wallichii
Caterpillars are the best fun to look at, we think! Brahmaea wallichii is a moth from the Brahmaeidae family. It is found in the north of India, Bhutan, Myanmar, China, Taiwan and Japan. How extremely weird and beautiful is this species? Photos courtesy of https://au.pinterest.com/pin/298574650271013073/
Killer Caterpillar!
During the summer months we often have Hercules Moths and caterpillars on display. These Moths from the Saturniidae family are a local favourite as they are one of the largest moths in the world and the caterpillars are HUGE – up to 14.5 cm in length and weighing up to 45 grams (and pretty cute […]
Waterproof Butterfly Wings
The lotus leaf was thought to have the best surface for repelling water and staying dry in nature, but a team from MIT in Boston have found a superior waterproof structure in butterfly wings. Adding tiny ridges to a silicon surface made water bounce off it 40% faster than what had been previously achieved. Similar […]
Trichogramma Wasps
We have always known about Trichogramma Wasps because they lay their eggs inside our butterfly eggs. They are so tiny (less than 1mm), you need a microscope to see them! To protect our eggs, we collect them every hour and half, so the wasps cannot parasitize them. Recently at our microscope we have had some […]
What happens inside a pupa?
Ever wondered what happens inside a pupa? I know we have done a Fun Fact about this before but this web site has 3D scans of the changes that go on inside the pupa. It’s pretty cool, so make sure you check it out! Web site and photo courtesy of http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/14/3-d-scans-caterpillars-transforming-butterflies-metamorphosis/
Clothes Moths eat your clothes!
Moths that eat your clothes … who knew they existed?! Turns out they do – they’re called Clothes Moths! Of the thousands upon thousands of species of moths in the world, there are very few whose caterpillars will eat the fibres in clothing. However, there definitely are some – and these are called Clothes Moths! […]
How do butterflies fly?
How do butterflies fly? It’s not a simple as you might have thought! Firstly, it’s worth noting that butterflies have really big wings for the size of their bodies. In fact, new research shows butterflies’ wings are much larger than they need to fly and they can fly with half their wings missing! Because the […]
Butterflies, lobsters and scorpions
Question: What do butterflies, lobsters and scorpions have in common? Answer: They all wear their skeletons on the outside! This is called an exoskeleton and all creatures that have their structure on the outside are included in the phylum of Arthropods. A large majority of arthropods belong to the three main groups: Insects – Ants, […]
Butterfly Vision
Butterfly vision is different from birds and humans who both see from the red light spectrum through to violet. Butterflies see from the red spectrum through to ultra violet. This is very useful for the butterfly as they drink nectar from flowers and flowers fluoresce in the ultraviolet spectrum to attract butterflies to feed and […]