Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica)

Layang-layang api or barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) is a species of animal in the Hirundinidae, a distinctive warbler with a blue-black top, long forked tail, a pair of legs strong but not strong enough to fly non-stop all day long and often perch in large groups on power lines and man-made structures.

H. rustica has a length of 17-19 cm including 2-7 cm of elongated outer tail feathers, a wingspan of 32-34.5 cm and a weight of 16-22 g. The top part is blackish blue, the bottom part is white with a long vertical line forming a curve to the stomach.

The forehead, chin and throat are reddish brown. Elongated forked tail feathers and a white stripe along the outer end of the upper tail. The female has a shorter tail band and a paler underside. Juveniles are browner, the underside is whiter and do not have a long tail band.

Barn swallow likes open areas including meadows and farmlands with water at altitudes up to 3,000 m. These birds usually grab prey in open areas above ground or above shallow water including large flies, aphids and flying ants.

Females lay 2-7 eggs, reddish white, 20x14 mm, weigh 1.9 g and 5% are shells. The incubation period is usually 14-19 days with another 18-23 days before any altricial children become adults. The mother feeds for about a week before migrating.

The success of hatching is 90% and the mature survival rate is 70-90%. Mortality rates are 70-80% in the first year and 40-70% in adults. Most survived to less than four years, even though the record age was over 11 years.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Hirundinidae
Genus: Hirundo
Species: Hirundo rustica
Subspecies: Hirundo rustica ssp. erythrogaster, Hirundo rustica ssp. gutturalis, Hirundo rustica ssp. mandschurica, Hirundo rustica ssp. rustica, Hirundo rustica ssp. savignii, Hirundo rustica ssp. transitiva, Hirundo rustica ssp. tytleri

Yellow garden spider (Argiope appensa)

Yellow garden spider ( Argiope appensa ) is a species of spider in Araneidae that lives on the coast to forests on islands in the western Pacific Ocean. Black and yellow females are striking and have a length of 5.1-6.4 cm including long legs, while males are brown and have a length of about 1.9 cm. A. appensa lives on cliffs in the hills at 600 m above sea level in Kewu plain to rice fields in the lowlands. They make nests at a height of 1.5 meters from the ground between teak ( Tectona grandis ), sonokeling ( Dalbergia latifolia ), sonosiso ( Dalbergia sissoo ), crown flower ( Calotropis gigantea ) and various grasses. Yellow garden spiders grow in large sizes, but are not toxic to humans. Advanced builds ball-shaped nets and most of them make stabilizers which are zigzag-shaped lines in nets made of thicker bands. This species spends more time in stationary and sits in the middle of the net with its head down to wait for insects to be entangled in fine silk thread. Unli...

Skyflower (Duranta erecta)

Sinyo nakal or skyflower ( Duranta erecta ) is plant species in Verbenaceae, a broad shrub or small tree, up to 6 m high, stems growing upright or horizontally with broad clumps, many branches, bark light brown, old tree has axillary spines and grows to form dense colonies. D. erecta has bright green leaves, elliptical to ovoid, pointed or rounded ends, sitting opposite, 7.5 cm long, 3.5 cm wide, a main vein in the middle with several small lateral veins, petiole long 1.5 cm. Flowers are light blue or lavender or white, appear in tight clusters as on terminal stems and axils, often curled or pendulous, blooms in summer. The fruit is a berry having a stalk, small round, yellow or orange or white in color, up to 11 mm in diameter, an eye green in front and containing several seeds. Skyflower grows in dry or humid areas and lots of sun, rocky or sandy beaches, forests, farmland and disturbed places. Plants will grow at a rate of up to half a meter per year. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum:...

Big-leaved acacia (Acacia mangium)

Big-leaved acacia ( Acacia mangium ) is a species of woody plants in the Acacieae, long oval leaves, growing up to 30 m and straight stems, except in less favorable places will grow only 7-10 m, have hardwood, rough, longitudinal grooved and dark to light brown. A. mangium has shoots with compound leaves consisting of many minor leaves and after growing a few weeks does not produce any more real leaves but the main axis of the petiole of each compound leaves widens and turns into known pohyllocladus or pseudo leaves. Big-leaved acacia has about 142,000 seeds/kg. Long pods form circular threads and are black or brown when ripe. Dry pods will open to expose small black seeds. Trees bind nitrogen to the soil and are a popular species for agroforestry projects. This plant is weather resistant, although it requires special care if it is planted as a garden plant where the leaves are falling a lot. These plants include legumes that grow quickly by increasing height 4 m per year near ...

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