Photograph by HOPE ABRAMS (Hopefoote on Flickr) The crafty little caterpillar above is known as a wavy-lined emerald moth or camouflaged looper (Synchlora aerata). It is a species of moth of the Geometridae family and can be found in most of North America. The wingspan is about 17 mm and adults are green…
A tripoint, trijunction, or triple point (also, if inexactly, known as a tri-border area), is a geographical point at which the borders of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are currently 157 international tripoints (i.e., tricountry points) by some accounts, and as many as 176 (or even 207) by others. Nearly half of…
In geography, a confluence is the meeting of two or more bodies of water. Known also as a conflux, it refers either to the point where a tributary joins a larger river, called the main stem, or where two streams meet to become the source of a river of a new name, such as…
Our world is full of creatures big and small, short and tall. Below the Sifter looks at 15 of the largest animals in the world, classified by various categories such as mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians etc. There’s an incredibly detailed list of some of the world’s largest organisms (including plants, fungi, bacteria, etc.)…
Roll Cloud, Las Olas Beach, Uruguay | Photograph by Daniela Mirner Eberl The skies have always been a constant source of fascination for humans. One common mass that everyone on the planet has seen in one form or another are clouds. They can come in all sizes, shapes, and colours; and their distinct…
The Glasswinged butterfly (Greta oto) is a beautiful brush-footed butterfly and is a member of the: subfamily Danainae, tribe Ithomiini, subtribe Godyridina. Greta oto adults exhibit a number of interesting behaviours, such as long migrations and lekking (gathering of males for competitive mating displays). The wings are translucent, with a wingspan of 5.6 to…
Photograph by Cburnett on Wikipedia Melanism is an undue development of dark-colored pigment in the skin or its appendages and is the opposite of albinism. The word ‘melanism’ is deduced from a Greek word that means black pigment. Pseudo-melanism, also called abundism, is another variant of pigmentation, characterized by dark spots or enlarged stripes,…
Photograph by KEN RIPPENGALE Deilephila elpenor, known as the Elephant Hawk-moth, is a large moth of the Sphingidae family. The species is found throughout Britain and Ireland. Its range extends across Europe, Russia, and into China, northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, Japan and Korea (though not Taiwan). Introduced specimens have been found in…
Photograph by FLASHFLOOD STUDIOS The Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), also known as the dwarf leopard, is a wild cat distributed over South and Central America and Mexico, but has been reported as far north as Texas and in Trinidad, in the Caribbean. The ocelot is similar in appearance to a domestic cat. Its fur…
Photograph by IGOR SIWANOWICZ Mantodea (or mantises) is an order of insects that contains approximately 2,200 species in 15 families worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. A colloquial name for the order is “praying mantises”, because of the typical “prayer-like” stance, although the term is often misspelled as “preying mantis” since mantises are…
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