Photo and caption by Joe Quinn
Tiny caterpillars consume a leaf. As they grow they slowly take on the color of the leaf.
Location: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA
Sizing Up, Behaviour: cold-blooded animals (commended)
A scattering of gecko droppings on the sunny veranda of Klaus’s holiday apartment near Etang-Sale-les- Hauts, on the French island of Réunion, had attracted some unusual-looking insects. They were neriid longlegged flies. Klaus settled down with his camera to watch as they interacted.
“Every so often, a couple of males would take a break from feeding and engage in a kind of combat dance that involved spinning around each other,” he says. “They would finish by stretching up to their full one and a half centimetres, then pushing with their mouthparts, shoulders and forelegs until one gained height, before flying away or mating with nearby females. I was so impressed by the harmony in the combat dance that I ended up photographing them for several hours.”
Photo Credit: Klaus Tamm / Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2012
“The sun had just come out after a brief shower of rain and caught the water droplets on this golden orb spider web at just the right angle to make her look even more spectacular as usual,” says Brad Warland.
Photo Credit: Brad Warland
There is obviously no love in the jumping spider species world, and competition for food is top priority. This one a female Green Jumping Spider. The poor little spider in her mouth, I had shot earlier, and watched in horror as he was consumed by the bigger spider, leading me to conclude that the larger is a ‘Big Meanie’.” Photograph by Flickr user AdamNoosa.
Giant Isopod
Photograph by David Schrichte/Seapics.com
Related to shrimp and crabs, the giant isopod is a deep-sea crustacean that makes its home on the ocean floor. It is the largest of the known isopods, which on land includes the relatively tiny pill bug.
Harlequin Bugs Hatching: A mother harlequin bug watches on as her eggs hatch. She has spent the last week perched atop the cluster of eggs watching guard. The young bugs emerge looking like miniature versions of their parents and stay closely packed together for a number of weeks.
Photo Credit: Damon Wilder
A male Australian jewel beetle thinks he has found the perfect mate. When the Western Australian beer industry unintentionally produced bottles that mimicked the shiny brown sheen of the female jewel beetle, the males found themselves in what researchers refer to as an `evolutionary trap’.
Photo Credit: Darryl Gwynne
A new bacterial insecticide that is deadly against a wide range of insects could be approved within three to four years, say researchers.
Structural biologist Dr Michael Landsberg, of the University of Queensland, and colleagues, report their findings on the bacteria Yersinia entomophaga MH96 this week inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Yersinia is quite famous because Yersinia pestis is thought to be the causative agent of the black plague,” says Landsberg.
“However, this particular strain of yersinia in all tests to date shows no toxicity towards humans but does show toxicity towards insects.”
Landsberg says Yersinia entomophaga was first discovered killing a native New Zealand beetle about 15 years ago.
The bacteria produces a protein called Yen-Tc which can kill infected insects within two to three days.
“It gets problems with feeding, and vomiting and diarrhoea,” says Landsberg.
Inbreeding may be the secret to the bedbug’s success, say US researchers.
After nearly disappearing in the United States, the bloodsucking pests have made a comeback in recent years, quickly infesting apartment buildings and stubbornly resisting common insecticides.
Adelaide museum
