i be-leaf in you @hugsandbugs - Tumblr Blog

nyquilnap

my man went for it

kemeeley-deactivated20200120

hey WHAT THE FUCK ARE THESE THINGS

nyquilnap

eels

eelpatrickharris-deactivated202

oh… hello beautifuls….

these wiggly fellas are Anguilla dieffenbachii, or New Zealand longfin eels. the ones in local rivers and preserves are known for being gentle, food-driven little weenies that beg tourists for food.

especially hungry wild specimens have been reported to attack humans and animals by swarming them and ripping off their flesh, but these ones are harmless!

ailurinae

@eelpatrickharris how can you tell them from other freshwater eels, I’m curious? I was looking around, and it seemed like while some are pretty different (some have spots, etc), there were a bunch that looked basically like this. I was thinking American eels, since OPs profile says Texas, but I certainly couldn’t tell for sure.

eelpatrickharris-deactivated202

the size, behavior, and thickness! you see, NZ longfins are known for travelling in herds, and they are big boys. while the majority of anguilla eels grow to 3.3 feet on average—a. rostrata, a. anguilla, a. japonica—longfins can and will grow to 6 feet and over. there have been reports of them growing to 10 feet, but due to overfishing, any specimens like that are long gone.

also, girth. top is a fully grown american eel (4 feet is their absolute maximum, 3 is average), and below is a new zealand longfin who has a few feet to go.

when it comes to mannerisms, you’ll almost never see american eels in groups outside of mating season, when they all migrate to the sea. they’re highly aggressive, distrustful of humans, and bitey. longfins, on the other hand, stick together and act like big water dogs.

it’s a common thing in NZ to have “pet” eels. people will feed scraps of meat to the ones in their local streams, and they’ll start wiggling excitedly when they see you! those eels in the video are just getting really pumped because they think someone has treats. (even though it’s bread, which is bad for them.)

they’re not as scary as they seem. NZ longfin eels just want to be your friend!

(note: this only applies to ones that live in preserves and rivers near civilization. eels from huge lakes and remote areas are generally starving and i don’t recommend trying to be their friend.)

wetwareproblem

holy shit @asiliara tell me this is true

gallusrostromegalus

@bunjywunjy

drhoz

http://www.footrotflats.com/strip-archive?strip=1026

Wal’s neighbour Cooch got on well with the local longfins in Footrot Flats (and gave them fair warning when it was time to collect dinner)

#not my usual content but LOOK AT THESE WATER BOIS

teaching my stick insects to drink sugar-water from an eye-dropper and it's so pure 😍

i love watching them clutch it and their little mouthy feelers wiggle, looking for more sugary goodness, bless them

#they love their sugary treats

hangry bitch tried to stab me when i was moving her to fresher leaves 😂 lucky she's gorgeous!

bugsaregoodtoo

These are giant spiny stick insect nymphs, from the common name on the tub at the shop I thought they’d be Extatosoma tiaratum but it was not the case, this is a new species for me which is exciting

bugsaregoodtoo

The C. morosus nymphs having a nosey at the new climbing frame and having a drink One of the E. calcarata also having a drink off a leaf that was half brown but straight down the middle which was interesting

Australian stick insect hybrids?

I heard of it in a Facebook group today and would love examples! I’m wondering if it could happen with my own phasmids. I currently have a number of species together and my Goliath and Wuelfing’s males are attempting to mate with anything that looks like a large stick (so Titan, Goliath and Wuelfing’s females.. 😅)

#bugblr #stick insects #entomology #stick insect #insects #insect #hybrid

thequotesilike

“I wish more people cared about the earth as much as they cared about who they believed created it.”

— Unknown (via sensationalizm)

dark-space-exotics

I’m really enjoying these phasmids, Hesperophasma sp. “La Ciénaga” .

cjwilsonbms

Phyllium ericoriai, Female nymph top, male sub-adult nymph bottom. 26/01/15.

I’m not sure why but all of my females are brown wheras the males are green, when I have kept this species previously the females were all green, it will be interesting to see their final colouration (I’m pretty happy, these are the first non-green phyllium I have had).

stickyfrogsetc

#ICYMI: Lady Gaga-ntuan’s offspring breaks Australian stick insect record ab.co/1S5mUCO via Twitter

necessary

sdzoo

Once thought to be extinct, the Lord Howe Island stick insect, or “tree lobster,” is on the road to recovery. The first eggs in North America were laid at the San Diego Zoo last year and entomologists are ready for them to hatch! Learn about this miraculous story on Zoonooz.