Yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina)

Yellow-legged hornet or Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) is an animal species in Vespidae, wasps with white or yellow tarsi, has about 13 subspecies, queens are 30 mm long and males 24 mm, workers 20 mm long and build nests to accommodate thousands of colonies.

V. velutina has a velvety brown or black chest with a brown belly. Each ventral segment has a narrow yellow border except for the fourth segment which is orange, black head and yellow face but varies widely in color and several subspecies have been identified by geographic coverage.

The female has a stinger to defend the nest and kill prey. Large egg-shaped nests up to 50 cm in length. The nesting season is long and the colony usually starts with building a nest in low bush, then leaves after a few months and quickly builds a new nest in the tree.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Pterygota
Order: Hymenoptera
Suborder: Apocrita
Infraorder: Aculeata
Superfamily: Vespoidea
Family: Vespidae
Subfamily: Vespinae
Genus: Vespa
Species: Vespa velutina
Subspecies: Vespa velutina ssp. ardens, Vespa velutina ssp. auraria, Vespa velutina ssp. celebensis, Vespa velutina ssp. divergens, Vespa velutina ssp. flavitarsus, Vespa velutina ssp. floresiana, Vespa velutina ssp. nigrithorax, Vespa velutina ssp. variana

Stinking passionflower (Passiflora foetida)

Rambusa or senthiet or stinking passionflower ( Passiflora foetida ) is a species of plant in the Passifloraceae, herbaceous creeping or climbing, pungent smell, fruit covered by enlarged flower petals, growing in forest bushes, agricultural lands and abandoned lands. P. foetida grows to a length of 5 meters, the stem is cylindrical and has white hairs. Single leaf, 1-3 cm stalk and long hair. Strands ovate, 3.5-13 cm wide, 4.5-14 cm long, three pointed corners, heart-shaped leaf base, may be flat or not deep toothed. Additional flowers and petals are bandage leaves with 3 strands, sharing a double pinnate with a woven thread-like crown, 1-3 cm. The calyx tube is wide bell-shaped. The corolla and corolla extend up to 2.5 cm, bright white and often with purple in the center. Stalks at the base and attached. The pistil stalk is in the shape of a mace with 3 items. The berries are covered by a bandage leaf, oval in shape, 1.5-2 cm long, yellow-orange when ripe and have many seeds. Sent...

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake

NEWS - Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) create bubble net tools while foraging, consisting of internal tangential rings, and actively control the number of rings, their size, depth and horizontal spacing between the surrounding bubbles. These structural elements of the net increase prey intake sevenfold. Researchers have known that humpback whales create “bubble nets” for hunting, but the new report shows that the animals also manipulate them in a variety of ways to maximize catches. The behavior places humpbacks among the rare animals that make and use their own tools. “Many animals use tools to help them find food, but very few actually make or modify these tools themselves,” said Lars Bejder, director of the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP), University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Humpback whales in southeast Alaska create elaborate bubble nets to catch krill. They skillfully blow bubbles in patterns that form a web with internal rings. They actively control details such ...

Lady Susan's orchid (Pecteilis susannae)

Susanna's egret flower or Lady Susan's orchid ( Pecteilis susannae ) is a plant species in the Orchidaceae, a large to giant terrestrial orchid, growing upright, white flowers and large in karst to limestone landscapes and flowering December-January. P. susannae has an erect, thick, leafy stem with a basal sheath and is oval in shape with a pointed tip and has no stalk. Large flowers, stalks and ovaries 4-6 cm, shallow wings and hairless. Dorsal sepals erect, ovate to globose, 2.5-3 x 2-2.8 cm, blunt end rounded. Lateral sepals spread, broadly ovoid, slightly oblique, 2.5-4 x 1.2-2.2 cm, usually slightly longer than the dorsal sepals and blunt apex. Calyx linear lance-shaped, 7-12 x 2.5 mm, lip irregularly ovate and 2.5-4.0 x 2.5-4.4 cm. Lateral lobes broad, subflabellate, 1.6-2.2 x 1.8-2.4 cm, entire lateral margin, apical margins frayed torn. Mid-lobe linear-oblong, 18-30 x 4-6 mm, moderately fleshy and intact. Straight to gradually curved forward, 6-13 cm x 3-5 mm and poi...

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