Monday, July 29, 2019

Species Profile: Honeypot Ant and Carpenter ant

Hello again, welcome back to animals under threat. Today, we will be covering a species of ant that have specialized workers that gorged themselves on food that is provided by other worker ants causing their abdomens to swell and they become living larders. Say hello to the Honeypot ant.

The honeypot ant is a name used for specialized workers ants that have large abdomens. As this is used in many ant species, this blog post will be covering the ant species Camponotus inflatus or carpenter ants. Carpenter ants belong to the genus Camponotus which is the most diverse group of ants in Australia. They are characterized by their light-coloured feet, black coloured body and hairs covering the lower and anterior part of the head and the rest of the body. (Antwiki, 2019). The mandible of the carpenter ants contains six teeth which helps the ant break down desert flowers and small insects that is needed to feed the larders (antark, 2019).

Side view of Carpenter ant by Antwiki and Honeypot ant by Hans Boessem.

Carpenter ants build their nest in hot areas, mostly around the edges of deserts. Before the rain season, the living larders or repletes are fed until their abdomen are swollen and they are unable to move. Their abdomens look similar to honey which gives them the nickname “Honeypot ant” (Shattuck ,1999). When it is the wet season and food is scarce, worker ants tap the head of the replete and the replete regurgitates food for the workers. This continues until the wet season is over or the replete runs out of food (Nature, 1881).

Carpenter ants are under threat from climate change and be used in food industry. Many of the desert flowers that the ants feed on depend on the wet season which are becoming shorter due longer dry seasons. The replete “honeypot ant” have been harvested for dishes in the food industry as they are considered to be delicacy (Ecological Management & Restoration, 2012).

Next time we will be covering a species of dolphin that is the smallest dolphin in the world.

References


"Edible insects and management of country", 2012, Ecological Management & Restoration, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 97-99.

"Observations on Ants, Bees, and Wasps 1", 1881, Nature, vol. 23, no. 585, pp. 255-258.

Shattuck, S.O. 1999, Australian ants: their biology and identification, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Picture references

http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Camponotus_inflatus
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Thursday, July 25, 2019

Species Profile: Giant Panda

Hello again, welcome back to animals under threat. Today, we will be covering a species of bear that is native to South China and has a unique diet. Give a warm welcome to the Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca).

 The Giant Panda belongs to the Genus Ailuropoda and is the only current living relative of that genus. There are two sub species of Ailuropoda, one been Ailuropoda m. melanoleuca which is the well known black and white panda and A. m. qinlingensis or Qinling panda which is brown and white. This blog post will be covering the Ailuropoda m. melanoleuca. This panda is well known due to its black and white markings making appear cute and its gentle behaviour (Swaisgood et al. 2016). Pandas mostly feed on bamboo in the forests but can also eat meat, fish and eggs due to their ursine teeth (panda, 2003).
Giant Panda (left) by J. Patrick Fischer and Qinling Panda (right) by AilieHM 

Pandas spend majority of their day foraging for bamboo shoots as they are easier to eat than the bamboo leaves. Pandas will migrate to other areas in search of food during winter season and will enter villages/towns to feed on garbage. Female pandas give birth to twins although only one usually survive to adulthood as the mother will raise the stronger twin and leaves the weaker one to starve. The male panda does not help with the rearing of the cubs (Lindburg & Baragona, 2004).
Baby Pandas by Joshua Doubek.

Habitat restriction and degradation are major threats to the pandas as the forest they depend on is been cleared for agriculture and timber/firewood, leaving less areas for pandas to live/migrate to. The loss of forest also affects the bamboo which the panda needs to survive.

Next time, we will be covering a species of ant that are called living larders.

References
Lindburg, D.G. & Baragona, K. 2004, Giant Pandas - Biology and Conservation, 1st edn, University of California Press, Berkeley.

panda. (2003). In The MacMillan encyclopedia (2nd ed.). Aylesbury, UK: Market House Books Ltd.

Swaisgood, R., Wang, D. & Wei, F. 2016. Ailuropoda melanoleuca (errata version published in 2017). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T712A121745669. Downloaded on 26 July 2019.


Picture references



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Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Species Profile: Desert Rain Frog



Hello again, welcome back to animals under threat. Today, we will be covering a species of frog that resides in the sandy beach between the sea and sand dunes of Namibia and South Africa. This little frog in currently under threat from habitat loss and lack of knowledge about its behaviour. Please give a warm welcome to this little guy and his cute war cry, the Desert Rain Frog (Breviceps macrops).


The Desert rain frog is a member of the family Brevicipitidae or “rain frogs” that resided in Eastern and Southern Africa. This species of frog is characterized by its brown/yellow plump body, bulging eyes, short snout and limbs, spade-like feet and webbed toes. Its underside is transparent which the internal organs can be seen (AmphibiaWeb, 2019). The Desert rain frog is a fossorial which means that it has adapted to burrowing and surviving underground and also burying itself in sand dunes with low laying vegetation (IUCN, 2017).
 
Picture of Desert rain frog (above) by Alan Channing and Desert rain frog camouflaged (below) by Amphibianfacts.

This species of frog’s life development is interesting because unlike other frogs which lay eggs and they hatch into tadpoles, Desert rain frogs emerge from their eggs as juvenile frogs (Channing and Wahlberg, 2011). One parent keeps watch over the eggs while they are developing in the burrow. Desert rain frogs look for animal dung at dusk and night to find beetles to feed on (Amphibianfacts, 2019). This species, when threatened make a unique sound as a war cry to scare off rivals or predators. However, this war cry sound is similar to a squeaky toy (AmphibiaWeb). A video below from BBC shows the frog using its war cry.


Desert rain frogs are under threat to loss of habitat as much of the sand dune which they rely is due to coastal opencast diamond mining. Construction of roads, urban development and agricultural uses is also a factor to loss of habitat (IUCN, 2017). Lack of studies on this species has led to problems on a long-term management plan for the frog and its environment.

Next time, we will be covering a species of bear that has a unique diet and is popular in China.

References
Alan Channing & Kirsty Wahlberg (2011) Distribution and conservation status of the desert rain frog Breviceps macrops, African Journal of Herpetology, 60:2, 101-112, DOI: 10.1080/21564574.2011.608383


AmphibiaWeb. 2019. <http://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 1 Jul 2019.

IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group & South African Frog Re-assessment Group (SA-FRoG) 2017. Breviceps macrops. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T3070A2794989. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T3070A2794989.en. Downloaded on 02 July 2019.

Picture and video references
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBxn56l9WcU
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Monday, July 1, 2019

Species Profile: Asian Elephant

Hello again, welcome back to animals under threat. Today, we will be covering an elephant species that is currently under threat from poaching and forest fragmentation. Please give a warm welcome to the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus).

The Asian elephant is currently the largest living land animal in Asia and is the only surviving species of the genus Elephas. There are currently less than 50,000 Asian elephants left in the world and is considered to be an important cultural icon in Asia. Asian elephants are similar to the African elephant with the exception of their ears which are smaller and both females and males have smaller or no tusks (Worldwildlife, 2019). They play an important part in the environment as they create gaps in the vegetation they eat, this allows new plants to grow. They also eat and transport seeds across to new areas. (Taronga, 2019).
Photo of herd of females (Above) by Ajay A Desai and tusked male (Below) by Yathin S Krishnappa.

Female Asian elephants live in small herds that are led by the oldest female which is called the matriarch. Matriarchs protect and lead the herd to new areas for feeding or water. Many of the herd’s females are related to each as sisters or aunties. Females are highly protective of baby elephants and won’t hesitate to attack anything that can be a threat to them. This can include predators, other elephants and humans (animalplant.com, 2019). Below is a map that shows red areas as current elephant living areas and pink was previous distribution of Asian elephants.

 
Mother and calf By Nigel Swales and map by Sémhur. 

Asian elephants have been hunted by poachers for their meat, skin and ivory. The skin has been used in Chinese medicine and the manufacturing of ornamental beads. The ivory is used in the making of items such as flasks, plates, and knives. Deforestation is another problem for the elephants as the forest they depend on for food and shelter is been using for furniture (Choudhury et al, 2008).

Next time, we will be covering a species a frog that lives in sand dunes and is considered to be the world’s cutest frog because of its war cry.

References
Choudhury, A., Lahiri Choudhury, D.K., Desai, A., Duckworth, J.W., Easa, P.S., Johnsingh, A.J.T., Fernando, P., Hedges, S., Gunawardena, M., Kurt, F., Karanth, U., Lister, A., Menon, V., Riddle, H., Rübel, A. & Wikramanayake, E. (IUCN SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group) 2008. Elephas maximus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T7140A12828813. Downloaded on 28 June 2019.




Picture references






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