African giant snail (Lissachatina fulica)

Bekicot or African giant snail (Lissachatina fulica) is an animal species in the Achatinidae, the large land snail, the roll has dextral or synistral, the color varies widely and depends on food, thrives in a variety of habitats including agricultural land, coastal areas, forests, rivers, shrubs forests, cities and wetlands.

L. fulica has a height of up to 7 cm and a length of 20 cm or more, the shell is conical, the height is about twice the width, the coils have dextral or sinistral, the color is usually brown, the shell is very strong and has heavy metal content among which snail species even.

African giant snail feeds on a wide variety of plant, fruit and vegetable materials, paper, cardboard and other small dead animals including rats and birds. Sometimes it eats sand, stones, bones from carcasses and concrete as a source of calcium for shells.

Each individual has testes and ovaries to produce sperm and eggs, but cases of self-fertilization are rare. The transferred sperm can be stored in the body for up to two years. The individual produces an average of 200 eggs. A snail lays five to six eggs per year with a penetration ability of about 90%.

Adult size is reached in about six months, after which growth slows down, but does not stop until death. Life expectancy of up to 10 years. It is active at night and spends the day buried underground. Snails can survive up to 3 years in extreme drought.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Infraclass: Euthyneura
Subterclass: Tectipleura
Superorder: Eupulmonata
Order: Stylommatophora
Suborder: Achatinina
Superfamily: Achatinoidea
Family: Achatinidae
Subfamily: Achatininae
Genus: Lissachatina
Species: Lissachatina fulica

Dry Valleys on Antarctic continent is the driest place in the world

The Sahara Desert is the largest desert in the world, rainfall is very low, only stretches of sand and rocks without rivers and plants further strengthen the view of drought. However, it turns out that the place is not the driest place in the world. Dry Valleys in Antarctica, although the continent is covered in ice, but has one part that is completely dry. Although the average rainfall in most of the Sahara Desert is less than 20 millimeters per year, there are still drier places. Dry Valleys in Antarctica is much drier where the average rainfall is 0 millimeters per year and gets the title of the driest place in the world. The valleys have so low humidity that there is almost no ice. This is the largest ice free place on the Antarctic continent. The area is surrounded by mountains that block ice from flowing into the valley. Drought is also caused by strong katabalic gusts from mountain peaks where cold air blows down the hill due to gravity. The wind has speeds of up to 322 k...

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake

NEWS - Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) create bubble net tools while foraging, consisting of internal tangential rings, and actively control the number of rings, their size, depth and horizontal spacing between the surrounding bubbles. These structural elements of the net increase prey intake sevenfold. Researchers have known that humpback whales create “bubble nets” for hunting, but the new report shows that the animals also manipulate them in a variety of ways to maximize catches. The behavior places humpbacks among the rare animals that make and use their own tools. “Many animals use tools to help them find food, but very few actually make or modify these tools themselves,” said Lars Bejder, director of the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP), University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Humpback whales in southeast Alaska create elaborate bubble nets to catch krill. They skillfully blow bubbles in patterns that form a web with internal rings. They actively control details such ...

Javan mocca or Javan slender caesar (Amanita javanica)

OPINION - Javan mocca or Javan slender caesar ( Amanita javanica ) is a mysterious fungus species and has been enigmatic since it was first reported by Boedijn in 1951 and after that no explanation or reporting of specimens is believed to be the same as expected. Boedijn (1951) described A. javanica which grew on Java island as having the characteristics covered in the Amanita genus. Corner and Bas in 1962 tried to describe Javan mocca and all species in Amanita based on specimens in Singapore. Over time some reports say that they have found A. javanica specimens in other Southeast Asia including also China, Japan, India and Nepal. But there is no definitive knowledge and many doubt whether the specimen is the same as described by Boedijn (1951). I was fortunate to have seen this species one afternoon and soon I took out a camera for some shots. In fact, I've only met this mushroom species once. Javan mocca is an endangered species and I have never seen in my experience in...

Dlium