Nature Stories

Beetles (Japanese rhinoceros beetle)

spiri — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 08:13:59 +0000

1. A male beetle’s length is 30-54mm (not including the horn) and a female beetle’s length is approximately 30-52mm.

2. Male beetles have a large horn extending from the head and another smaller horn but female beetles does not have a big horn but small horn. So they are very strong, heavy insects, but they can fly.

3. Beetles change the body.

4. In the wild, beetles are active at night in the forests and feed on tree sap.

6. Male beetles fight on the tree till opponent goes flying off the tree.

7. Beetles do not live long. A Male beetle’s life expectancy is just 30-50 days and a female beetle’s life expectancy is just 50-80 days.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beetle

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AB%E3%83%96%E3%83%88%E3%83%A0%E3%82%B7

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0502.htm

Platypus

spiri — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:49:15 +0000

1. The platypus, called kamonohashi in Japanese, is one of the strangest animals.

2. They have a bill like a duck and they have webs on their hands and feet, so they can swim very well.

3. They look very cute, but male platypuses secrete a deadly poison from the nails on their feet.

4. Although they are mammals, platypuses lay eggs.

5. They dig holes beside rivers to make their nest, and live in the nest alone.

6. Their nests are hidden by many plants, so finding one is extremely difficult.

sources

http://www.rainforest-australia.com/platypus.htm

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AB%E3%83%A2%E3%83%8E%E3%83%8F%E3%82%B7

Salmon

spiri — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:33:14 +0000

[1] There are many types of salmon. Chum salmon, Red salmon, Silver salmon, King salmon and so on.

[2] In spite of their red meat, salmon are classified as white meat fish. This reason their meat is red is the fact that salmon always eat crab or shrimp, which color is red!

[3] Salmon are born in a river, but soon after they go to the sea. And until they become an adult, they live in the sea.

[4] To release their eggs, adult salmon return to the river where they are born.

[5] Scientists have never been able to solve the reason why they can return to the same river.

Snakes

spiri — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:31:56 +0000

1. The shortest snake is only 10cm long, but the largest snake is over 10m

longs!

2. Also, out of 2900 species of snakes, about 25% have poison.

3. Most majority of the venomous which means poisonous snakes are only mildly

poisonous, but some species can kill an adult human in minutes.

4. The world’s largest venomous snake is King Cobra. The largest King Cobra are

five meters or more long. It is said in local language “They can knock down

an elephant”.

5. The snake have degenerated limbs. This means they used to have varms and

legs but they have disappeared.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake

Dolphins

spiri — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:29:55 +0000

1. Dolphins, which have about 80 species, are mammals living in the sea and rivers.

2. A grown dolphin comes out at sea level every about 15 minutes, and she/he breathes air from a hole at the top.

3. Their brains are like human’s brains in size and development, and they are intelligent.

4. There are two sides of its brain.

5. So when one side of the brain sleeps, other side of the brain stays awake.

6. During dolphin sleep, they keep one eye open to watch, for predatory fish like sharks.

Sources

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Bottlenose_Dolphin_KSC04pd0178.jpg

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin

金の星社　ちがいがわかる　写真絵本シリーズ　どうぶつの赤ちゃん　「イルカ」

ポプラ社　親と子の写真絵本⑧　「あおいうみのイルカたち」

Cockroaches

spiri — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:28:02 +0000

As everybody knows, cockroaches have glossy black body, a long feeler and six legs.

They can move fast by using these. But it is not only that. They use also their tails (figure 1) . Their tails are connected directly with the nerve of the foot. This can make the leg begin to move at once, before the brain receives the signal. The obtained information can be passed on to brain even by the feeler in 1/1000 seconds! In addition, they have envolved power full legs. This is that we can’t defeat them. Well, my grandmother can crush them by the heel.

Coral

spiri — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:25:34 +0000

1. Corals are marine animals and exist as small sea anemone

2. Originally coral which is called “sango” is used as jewelry in Japan.

3. Coral is a one of the Japanese two major jewels . Another is a pearl.

4. It has been said that it was effective as a talisman against evil and which exterminated the devil in the Europe. Talisman means “Omamori”

5. It is said that it takes 800 years till it grows up into the size of the palm.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral

http://www.de-lapin.com/info/coral.html

Giraffes

spiri — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 03:35:13 +0000

1.The giraffe is an African mammal, the tallest of all land-living animal species.
2.Giraffes have long necks, which they use to eat the leaves of trees.
3.The giraffe has a long tongue of about 40cm in length, and eats leaves in high places.
4.The giraffe lives in groups of about 2～10 which center on the male.
5.The giraffe came to Japan for the first time on March 15, 1907.

Butterflies

spiri — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 03:33:32 +0000

1. Butterflies, which have 250 species , range widely all over the world .

2. Most butterflies are active in daylight .

3. Butterflies have a long thin mouth like a straw , and they drink nectar with it .

4. Butterflies have big antenae compared with small body . There are many kind of antenae , and they are colorful and beautiful . So butterflies have been well-known to humans since early times .

5. But some butterflies are endangered species and listed in the Washington Convention .

Sources

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%9D%B6