Wild Things

The hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) is a species of hawk moth found across temperate regions of Eurasia. The species is named for its similarity to hummingbirds, as they feed on the nectar of tube-shaped flowers using their long proboscis while hovering in the air; this resemblance is an example of convergent evolution. The hummingbird hawk-moth was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. As of 2018, its entire genome and mitogenome have been sequenced. The hummingbird hawk-moth is distributed throughout the northern Old World from Portugal to Japan, but it breeds mainly in warmer climates (southern Europe, North Africa, and points east). Three generations are produced in a year in Spain. It is a strong flier, dispersing widely in the summer. However it rarely survives the winter in northern latitudes (e.g. north of the Alps in Europe, north of the Caucasus in Russia). Moths in the genus Hemaris, also of the family Sphingidae, are known as "hummingbird moths" in the US, and "bee moths" in Europe. This sometimes causes confusion between this species and the North American genus. For more informational read/s: http://buttonsandbirdcages.com/shocking-hummingbird-moth-facts/

A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introduction. There are no hedgehogs native to Australia and no living species native to the Americas (the extinct genus Amphechinus was once present in North America). Hedgehogs share distant ancestry with shrews (family Soricidae), with gymnures possibly being the intermediate link, and they have changed little over the last 15 million years. Like many of the first mammals, they have adapted to a nocturnal way of life. Their spiny protection resembles that of the unrelated porcupines, which are rodents, and echidnas, a type of monotreme. Hedgehogs are easily recognized by their spines, which are hollow hairs made stiff with keratin. Their spines are not poisonous or barbed and, unlike the quills of a porcupine, do not easily detach from their bodies. However, the immature animal's spines normally fall out as they are replaced with adult spines. This is called "quilling". Spines can also shed when the animal is diseased or under extreme stress. Hedgehogs are usually brown, with pale tips to the spines, though blonde hedgehogs are found on the UK island of Alderney. All species of hedgehogs can roll into a tight ball in self-defense, causing all of the spines to point outwards.[5] The hedgehog's back contains two large muscles that control the position of the quills. When the creature is rolled into a ball, the quills on the back protect the tucked face, feet, and belly, which are not quilled. Since the effectiveness of this strategy depends on the number of spines, some desert hedgehogs that evolved to carry less weight are more likely to flee or attack, ramming an intruder with the spines; rolling into a spiny ball for those species is a last resort. The various species are prey to different predators: while forest hedgehogs are prey primarily to birds (especially owls) and ferrets, smaller species like the long-eared hedgehog are prey to foxes, wolves, and mongooses. Hedgehogs are primarily nocturnal, though some species can also be active during the day. Hedgehogs sleep for a large portion of the day under bushes, grasses, rocks, or most commonly in dens dug in the ground, with varying habits among the species. All wild hedgehogs can hibernate, though not all do, depending on temperature, species, and abundance of food. Hedgehogs are fairly vocal and communicate through a combination of grunts, snuffles and/or squeals, depending on species.

The Science Behind the Purple Skies Summary: The light was scattered around the aerosols (atmospheric gases, water droplets, and dust particles, air pollutants) suspended in the air due to the phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering. When there are more aerosols, more sunlight is scattered, resulting in magical purple or pink skies. -------//------- A phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering, which also explains why certain colors dominate during sunrise and sunset, offers a theory behind the purple skies. Scattering is the process by which tiny particles and molecules act in changing the direction in which light rays travel. As Steven Ackerman, professor of meteorology at the University of Wisconsin Madison explains, the colors we see also depends on our perception abilities: “Because the sun is low on the horizon, sunlight passes through more air at sunset and sunrise than during the day, when the sun is higher in the sky. More atmosphere means more molecules to scatter the violet and blue light away from your eyes. If the path is long enough, all of the blue and violet light scatters out of your line of sight. The other colors continue on their way to your eyes. This is why sunsets are often yellow, orange, and red.” "As sunlight shines down to Earth, most of the colors of the spectrum are able to reach the surface uninterrupted," Florida-based First Coast News meteorologist Lauren Rautenkranz shares in a video that offers a theory. "But the shorter wavelengths, blue and violet, are scattered in every direction. This light bounces from particle to particle until it eventually reaches your eyes. But the sky doesn't appear violet and blue because of our eyes' limitations." "The light was scattered around the moisture in the air, causing the magical purple color," Rautenkranz adds. Reference: *https://interestingengineering.com/the-reason-behind-the-purple-skies-that-appeared-after-hurricane-michael *https://eartheclipse.com/geography/what-causes-pink-sunsets.html#:~:text=Besides%20atmospheric%20gases%2C%20water%20droplets,in%20purple%20or%20pink%20sunsets.s

Hermit crabs are anomuran decapod crustaceans of the superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged mollusc shells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of hermit crab, most of which possess an asymmetric abdomen concealed by a snug-fitting shell. Hermit crabs' non-calcified abdominal exoskeleton makes their exogenous shelter system obligatory. Hermit crabs must occupy shelter produced by other organisms, or risk being defenseless. The strong association between hermit crabs and their shelters has significantly influenced their biology. Almost 800 species carry mobile shelters (most often calcified snail shells); this protective mobility contributes to the diversity and multitude of crustaceans found in almost all marine environments. In most species, development involves metamorphosis from symmetric, free-swimming larvae to morphologically asymmetric, benthic-dwelling, shell-seeking crabs. Such physiological and behavioral extremes facilitate a transition to a sheltered lifestyle, revealing the extensive evolutionary lengths that led to their superfamily success.

The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (Phascolarctos cinereus), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the wombats, which are members of the family Vombatidae. The koala is found in coastal areas of the mainland's eastern and southern regions, inhabiting Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. Koalas typically inhabit open eucalypt woodlands, and the leaves of these trees make up most of their diet. Because this eucalypt diet has limited nutritional and caloric content, koalas are largely sedentary and sleep up to 20 hours a day. They are asocial animals, and bonding exists only between mothers and dependent offspring. Adult males communicate with loud bellows that intimidate rivals and attract mates. Males mark their presence with secretions from scent glands located on their chests. Being marsupials, koalas give birth to underdeveloped young that crawl into their mothers' pouches, where they stay for the first six to seven months of their lives. These young koalas, known as joeys, are fully weaned around a year old.

High Definition close-up video of a green Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus) seen from one side with its eye moving, with dark background. The bird you can hear in the background is a Bleating Warbler. The Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus) is a species of chameleon (family Chamaeleonidae) native to the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Other common names include cone-head chameleon and Yemen chameleon. The male is 43 to 61 cm (17 to 24 in) long from the snout to the tip of the tail. The female is shorter, no more than about 35 cm (14 in), but it has a thicker body. Both sexes have a casque on the head which grows larger as the chameleon matures, reaching about 5 cm (2.0 in) in the largest adults. Newly hatched young are pastel green in color and develop stripes as they grow. Adult females are green with white, orange, yellow, or tan mottling. Adult males are brighter with more defined bands of yellow or blue and some mottling. Coloration can be affected by several factors, including social status. In experimental conditions, young veiled chameleons reared in isolation are darker and duller in color than those raised with other individuals. Females change color across their reproductive cycles. Chameleons also tend to change to a much darker color when stressed.

Sea slugis acommon namefor somemarineinvertebrateswith varying levels of resemblance to terrestrialslugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are actuallygastropods, i.e. they aresea snails(marine gastropodmollusks) that over evolutionary time have either completely lost their shells, or have seemingly lost their shells due to having a greatly reduced or internal shell. The name "sea slug" is most often applied tonudibranchs, as well as to aparaphyleticset of other marine gastropods without obviousshells. Sea slugs have an enormous variation in body shape, color, and size. Most are partially translucent. The often bright colors ofreef-dwelling species implies that these are under constant threat of predators, but the color can serve as a warning to other animals of the sea slug's toxic stinging cells (nematocysts) or offensive taste. Like allgastropods, they have small razor-sharp teeth, calledradulas. Most sea slugs have two pairs oftentacleson their head used primarily for sense of smell, with a small eye at the base of each tentacle. Many have feathery structures (cerata) on the back, often in a contrasting color, which act as gills. All species of genuine sea slugs have a selected prey animal on which they depend for food, including certainjellyfish,bryozoans,sea anemones, andplanktonas well as other species of sea slugs.

Thesea otter(Enhydra lutris) is amarine mammalnative to the coasts of the northern and easternNorth Pacific Ocean. Adult seaotterstypically weigh between 14 and 45kg (31 and 99lb), making them the heaviest members of theweasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals. Unlike most marine mammals, the sea otter's primary form of insulation is an exceptionally thick coat offur, the densest in the animal kingdom. Although it can walk on land, the sea otter is capable of living exclusively in the ocean. The sea otter inhabits nearshore environments, where it dives to the sea floor toforage. It preys mostly on marine invertebrates such assea urchins, variousmollusksandcrustaceans, and some species offish. Its foraging and eating habits are noteworthy in several respects. First, itsuse of rocksto dislodge prey and to open shells makes it one of the few mammal species to use tools. In most of its range, it is akeystone species, controlling sea urchin populations which would otherwise inflict extensive damage tokelp forestecosystems. Its diet includes prey species that are also valued by humans as food, leading to conflicts between sea otters and fisheries. For more informational read/s: 12 Facts about Otters for Sea Otter Awareness Week https://www.doi.gov/blog/12-facts-about-otters-sea-otter-awareness-week