Costa mantis (Tenodera costalis)

Costa mantis (Tenodera costalis) is an animal species in the Mantidae, winged and arboreal insects, active predators and cannibals, has a long and slender shape with varying colors, lives solitary in bushes and low trees in forests, agricultural land, abandoned lands and urban.

T. costalis has an elongated and slender shape, the color varies from overall green to brown, the upper surface of the wings is green or brown, the back has white margins with green side lines. The head is triangular in shape with linear lines between the eyes.

A pair of eyes have a large size and dominate the head, green or gray or black. The legs are long and have several joints. The forelegs are large and flattened with rows of spikes and black tips.

Oothecae are often attached to plants such as shrubs and small trees. Costa mantis eat bees, spiders, grasshoppers, cicadas, small reptiles, amphibians to hummingbirds.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Pterygota
Order: Mantodea
Suborder: Eumantodea
Infraorder: Schizomantodea
Superfamily: Mantoidea
Family: Mantidae
Subfamily: Tenoderinae
Tribe: Tenoderini
Subtribe: Tenoderina
Genus: Tenodera
Species: Tenodera costalis

Cogon grass (Imperata cylindrica)

Cogon grass ( Imperata cylindrica ) is a species of plant in the Poaceae, an annual grass, sharp leaves, long and scaly shoots, creeping underground, white or purplish flowers, very adaptive and grows in all climates. I. cylindrica has sharply pointed shoot tips that emerge from the ground, up to 3 meters high, short stems, rising above the ground surface. Leaves are long ribbon-shaped, pointed tip, narrow base, up to 100 cm long, very rough and sharply serrated edges, long hairs at the base and wide veins. Inflorescences in panicles, up to 28 cm long, spikes long-haired and white to 1 cm. The seeds spread quickly with the wind or via rhizomes that quickly penetrate the soil. This species grows in tropical to subtropical areas, elevation up to 2000 meters, temperature 20-40C, rainfall 500-3500 mm/year, pH 4-7.5, lots of sunlight to a bit of shade. This plant dominates open land, former forests, dry rice fields, roadsides and so on. This plant contains mannitol, glucose, sacharose...

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NEWS - Incredible footage shows a marine species, Bathyopsurus nybelini , feeding on something that sinks from the ocean’s surface. Researchers using the submersible Alvin found the isopod swimming 3.7 miles down using its paddle-like legs to catch an unexpected food source: Sargassum. Researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the University of Montana, SUNY Geneseo, Willamette University and the University of Rhode Island found the algae sinking, while the isopod waited and adapted specifically to find and feed on the sinking nutrient source. The Sargassum lives on the surface for photosynthesis. The discovery of a deep-sea animal that relies on food that sinks from the waters miles above underscores the close relationship between the surface and the deep. “It’s fascinating to see this beautiful animal actively interacting with sargassum, so deep in the ocean. This isopod is extremely rare; only a handful of specimens were collected during the groundbreaking Swedis...

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