Colours of the Rainforest
A Boyd's rainforest dragon (Hypsilurus boydii) camouflaged in sun-dappled rainforest.
Two photographers give us the Alice in Wonderland tour of north Queensland's rainforest.
The Pink Underwing Moth: Skull-Faced Caterpillar of Australia’s Rainforest
"Nature never ceases to astonish. This is the larva of the Pink Underwing Moth, an endangered species which lives in the subtropical rainforest below about 600m elevation in the Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland. It has evolved a remarkable set of patterns to ward off potential predators."
via arkinspace.com
Grevillea thyrsoides, subsp. thyrsoides
The One Tonne Kangaroo...
"The new 2012 Aussie $1 million coin is the world’s largest, heaviest and most valuable coin ever minted. And, yes, the Perth Mint in Australia ensures that this 2,200-pound, 99.99% pure-gold marvel – measuring 31 inches wide and nearly five inches thick – is official legal tender.
The gigantic coin took 18 months to craft and is about 10 times heavier than the previous record holder – a $1 million Canadian coin minted in 2007. And, while the mammoth Aussie coin has a denomination of AUS$1 million, its actual gold value is about $58 million at today’s gold price of $1,650 per ounce."
via youtube.com
The Wolf Spider Waters of Wagga Wagga
A barn is surrounded by webs, not snow, in Wagga Wagga.
"The fields surrounding flood-stricken areas of NSW have been covered in the webs of a type of ground-dwelling wolf spider, says the collection manager of arachnids at the Queensland Museum, Dr Owen Seeman."
"In an attempt to escape rising waters, the spiders climb blades of grass and let out hundreds of metres of silk in the hope a gust of wind will catch the web and transport them to safety. What you are seeing is the result of all their failed attempts to get away.''
much more via smh.com.au
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Dawson's Bees ~ Sweet Smell of Love = Battle to the Death
via youtube.com
"It is rare for any species of animal to regularly kill its own in combat.
However, male Dawson's bees, one of the world's largest bee species, are so aggressive that they kill each other en masse in a bid to mate with females.
The bees enter a frenzy of fighting, and by the time their deadly combat is over, every male bee is either killed or has perished."
more via news.bbc.co.uk
The Lo-o-o-o-o-o-ngest Horns
"A Texas Longhorn bull that more than lives up to its name has smashed the record for the world's longest horns. Seven-year-old JR has horns that measure an incredible 9ft 1ins - and they are likely to grow even bigger. His owner Michael Bethel, 50, who runs Leahton Park with his wife Lynda, 39, began breeding Longhorns 14 years ago.
Leahton Park is 10 km from Charters Towers, one of the most iconic and historic towns in Queensland, Australia. This property is 1100 acres in size and is home to Horseshoe B Longhorns; the largest purebred Texas Longhorn cattle herd in Australia and also the longest horned steer in the country whose horns measure over 9 feet from tip to tip. There are several water buffaloes and other native & exotic animals at Leahton Park."
via kaleidoscope.cybertranslator.idv.tw
Crabs that Build Galaxies
Small hermit and soldier crabs in Malaysia and Australia build their home digging deep holes in the sand on a beach. Down in the hole the crabs make sand balls that are pushed to the surface, 2-3 balls at a time, forming a kind of sand ball flower or sand ball galaxy.
Up close you can see the almost perfectly spherical balls that the crabs engineer. They are meticulous in their method, to say the very least.
Just as our own galaxies are separated by space, so it is too with the tiny galaxies that the crabs make - they can extend along the whole reach of the beach.
via arkinspace.com
