Legi rattan (Calamus melanochaetes)

Legi rattan or Daemonorops melanochaetes (Calamus melanochaetes) is a species of plant in the Arecaceae, a dense shrub, climbing up to 30 meters, cylindrical stems, segments 30 cm long, green, full of spines up to 3.5 cm long and black.

C. melanochaetes has a dull brownish green sheath. The leaves are about 3.30 meters long. The petiole has black spines along the underside and edges. Leaflets have 70-80 units on each side, regular, narrow, about 45 cm long and 1.5 cm wide. The spines are long and slender.

Inflorescence up to 35 cm long, 12 cm wide and erect. The outer bract is dense with slender spines and is black in color. The fruit is round, 1-7 cm in diameter, covered with 18-21 vertical rows of brown scales. The seeds are round and slightly angular.

Legi rattan grows in the lowlands to elevations of 600 meters in the rainforest and often near the sea. The rods are generally used as raw materials for making tables, chairs and household crafts. Fruit is cooked to eat. Young shoots have a sweet taste and are usually served as fresh vegetables.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Subfamily: Calamoideae
Tribe: Calameae
Genus: Calamus
Species: Calamus melanochaetes

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 ...

Takenoshin Nakai swallow-wort (Vincetoxicum nakaianum) replaces V. magnificum and C. magnificum

NEWS - Researchers reported an erect herbaceous species distributed in the eastern part of Honshu Island, Vincetoxicum magnificum (Nakai) Kitag. based on Cynanchum magnificum Nakai, nomen nudum. Therefore, they named this species Takenoshin Nakai swallow-wort ( Vincetoxicum nakaianum K.Mochizuki & Ohi-Toma). Vincetoxicum Wolf (Asclepiadeae) is the third largest genus in the Asclepiadoideae consisting of about 260 species geographically extending from tropical Africa, Asia and Oceania to temperate regions of Eurasia. A total of 23 species are known from Japan, including 16 endemic species. Molecular phylogeny divides Japanese Vincetoxicum into four groups: the “Far Eastern” clade consisting of 11 endemic species and 4 more widespread species, 1 sister species to the “Far Eastern” clade, the “subtropical” clade consisting of 2 species and the “Vincetoxicum s. str.” clade consisting of 5 species. V. magnificum (Nakai) Kitag. (Japanese: tachi-gashiwa) is closely related to V. macro...

Red costate tiger moth (Aloa lactinea)

Red costate tiger moth ( Aloa lactinea ) is an animal species in the Erebidae, a moth with a wingspan of 40 mm, a yellow belly, black antennae with red basalt joints, dark red palpi on the sides and white below, black terminal joints, living in forests and agriculture in the lowlands to mountainous areas. A. lactinea has a white head with a red stripe on the back. Thorax is white. The wings are predominantly white in color with black dots on each corner of the cells and a red margin. The wings have branched pulse lines and a starchy surface. The wing-covered upper abdomen is black with large elliptical plots and is colored yellow forming cells. The lower abdomen is white and has fine hairs that fall out easily. A pair of antennas is black. The forelegs are red, white and black. The other legs are white on the top and black on the bottom. The final joints are white and black which form alternating rings. Tip and sole black all over. The larvae are black in color with a lateral crest ...

Dlium