Science, Curiosity and Life
Back to the sea for this week’s Mystery Creature, a walking lump of jelly to some. Cute or ugly, what do you think and can you name it?
If you know the answer do share, or if not it can be fun to try to find it out before I reveal all at the end of the week. Want a clue? Just ask in the comments below.
There were a few right answers for last week’s Mystery Creature, did you guess it? This week’s creature is a lot smaller and a land dweller this time.
This series is just a little fun to start off the week, I post a picture of an animal on a Monday and you can feel free to say what you think it is in the comments below. If you want some hints just ask or why not do a little gooling or research of you own to see if you can work it out?
At the end of the week I will reveal what the creature is, along with a little information or interesting facts about it.
Cute or ugly, what do you think and can you identify it?
I have been asked a few times lately if I am going to recommence the Mystery Creature series on the blog…. so here it is. The idea behind this little series is that I post a new Mystery Creature at the start of each week and at the end of the week I will update the post to say what the creature was, along with a little information about it.
If you know what the Mystery Creature is then share in the comments below. It is all in the interest of learning and a bit of fun so feel free to ask questions, guess or even do some googling or research to find out the answer yourself.
Here is the Mystery Creature for this week… do you know what it is?
Update: Want to know what the creature is? Check out the end of week “reveal” to find out.
The week’s are flying by, and so too are the Mystery Creature posts on the blog. Here is one to keep you guessing this week, do you know what it is?
Last week’s Mystery Creature was the Aardwolf (Proteles cristata). Although a member of the hyena family, the Aardwolf is closer in size to a fox than a hyena, is a more quiet and solitary animal and has a very restricted diet.
A primarily nocturnal animal, the Aardwolf is more likely to be found resting in burrows during the day. Found is Eastern and Southern Africa, their preferred habitat is open grassy plains. At night they hunt for termites, capable of eating up to 300,000 in one night. Unlike the Aardvark they are not equipped for digging theses insects out of their mounds and instead use their long sticky tongue to pick the termites up from the Earth. Although they feed almost exclusively on termites they have been known to eat other soft bodied insects, and very rarely, small mammals and birds.
The Aardwolf is monogamous by nature, a pair will mate for life and the male will play a role in raising the young, usually he will guard the den containing the young cubs. There are usually two to four cubs per litter. They will stay in the company of their parents for about a year, before leaving to find a teritory of their own.
Did you guess last week’s Mystery Creature? Although quite a common moth in Ireland I must admit I had never seen one before;
It was the Beautiful Golden Y Moth (Autographa pulchrina).
The larva feed on low plants such as nettles, ragworth and honeysuckle and will often overwinter in this state.
The moths can usually be seen from late May to August, they are commonly found in gardens, hedgerows, wasteland and woodlands.
I will post a new Mystery Creature this evening so stay tuned 🙂
One of the best things I have found from setting up Science Wows, is how interested my children are in what I do! Questions, advice and suggestions come around the clock…
“Mum, can we play the magnet game again?”
“Mum, I have a science joke for you”
“Mum how does my body make poo?”
Even more commonly I hear “Mum, come quick… this would be great for your blog!”
When I got home from the shops the other day my eight year old son had found something for me… he had roped Dad in to taking a picture so I could have it for my blog… what a great family effort!
How did you do wIth last week’s Mystery Creature? We found it on our little Adventure in our local bog…. it was the DRINKER MOTH CATERPILLAR (Euthrix potatoria).
Although I have not actually seen one of these caterpillars before they are quite common in Ireland and the bog terrain where we found it is very typical habitat. The creature supposedly gets its name from the caterpillar drinking dew from the grasses on which it feeds.
The caterpillars are usually seen between April and July while the Moths (which are nocturnal) can be spotted between June and August.
The caterpillars tend to be more colourful than the moths… the males are a pale brown while the females are a bit more colourful with a yellow hue. The moths have two white spots on the fore wing and a wing span of approximately 70 mm.
To ensure that I had correctly identified this moth I sought confirmation from Michael over at Nature Learn who knows everything there is to know about Irish butterflies and Moths. Michael also had these interesting points to add about “hairy caterpillars”…
The hairs help them from being predated by birds though the cuckoo is able to eat them
Some hairy caterpillars can cause severe itchiness if touched so best not handled
Check out Nature Learn on Face Book for some wonderful wildlife photos and facts or find out more from this interview.