#education

Mushroom of the day #4
#education

NAME:
Satan’s mushroom

SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Rubroboletus satanas

EDIBILITY:
Poisonous

SPECIES:
Bolete

FAMILY:
Boletaceae

RANGE:
This bolete can typically be found near limestone areas and under mature beech and oak trees. It’s not reported anywhere locally, luckily, due to the extremely dangerous nature of this mushroom. The mushroom is found throughout Europe, not appearing in North America. A species of mushroom dubbed Satan’s bolete has appeared in North America but it has been confirmed to have no relation to the one in question, that appears in Europe. The appearance of this mushroom is seldom in Ireland, England, and Scandinavia, which provides an evident reason to assume that the mushroom does not use any avian creatures to spread its spores

DESCRIPTION
This mushroom is out of the ordinary from previous ones I’ve posted. The death cap and fly agaric have had slim stalks with caps exceeding the thickness of the stalk noticeably. The same trait applies to the Yokoh-take, with the very slim bending stalk and greater cap. Satan’s mushroom and all other bolete mushrooms for that matter have characteristics unlike the death cap or fly agaric. The cap of this bolete is still wider than the stalk, but the stalk is very large and thicker than other mushrooms. In essence, the bolete appears to be an oversized button mushroom. When young, the mushroom is a grey or white cover, that starts to look more brown with the aging of the specimen. The stalk always remains blood red throughout the lifecycle of the mushroom. (Speaking of the color of the stalk, nobody knows if the biblical name of the mushroom references the blood-red stalk of the mushroom or the poison factor of its edibility). The cap can reach up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) in diameter. The cap on this mushroom does not have gills like the previously examined specimens. Instead, satan’s mushroom possesses pores on a gelatinous cap. The stipe of the mushroom (area directly under the cap) is 2 to 5 inches (5-15 centimeters) and the stipe is often thicker than it’s vertical length

EFFECTS OF CONSUMPTION:
This mushroom is poisonous. It releases a deadly toxin in the human body once consumed. Quickly after being consumed raw, it induces vomiting, dehydration and general enervation. After thorough cooking, it becomes seemingly harmless, but such as act is not supported. After raw consumption, the victim can experience a bloody stool, violent vomiting, abdominal pain, and nausea for up to 6 hours. The bloody stool and vomiting occur extremely frequently when under the effects of this mushroom’s poison.

SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubroboletus_satanas#Distribution_and_habitat (website)
http://poisonousnature.biodiversityexhibition.com/en (website)
https://www.first-nature.com/fungi/rubroboletus-satanas.php#toxicity (website)

Organism of the Day #4
#education

NAME:
Mastodon, meaning nipple tooth.

FUN FACT:
Mastodons are completely separate animals from Mammoths

SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Mammut

KINGDOM:
Animalia

CONSERVATION STATUS:
Extinct

SIZE:
The mastodon of earlier ages was massive, much like the modern-day elephants we see in Asia and Africa. The common female mastodon was around 2.3 meters (7’ 7”) at the shoulders. The larger males of the species could peak at 2.8 meters (9’ 2”) tall at the shoulders. Among some of the heaviest specimens recorded include specimen AMNH 9950, who was found to be 2.89 m (9’ 6”) tall and weighed 7.8 tons. Another unnamed fossil was 3.25 m (10’ 9”) tall and weighed a whopping 22000 lbs or 11 tons. The mastodons were also drenched in a thick fur, like its mammoth relative

NOTES:
The mastodons were herbivores, as told by fossilized jaws, which are lined with blunt and dull molars, specialized for breaking down plant matter and even the branches from trees.

DIFFERENTIATING FEATURES OF MASTODONS VS MAMMOTHS:
Foremost, mastodons are significantly older than mammoths and roamed a different part in the world. Whereas the mammoths appeared near 5 million years ago roaming Africa, the mastodon reigned 27-30 million years ago in North and Central America. Unfortunately, mammoths survived long enough through the years to have their population be hunted to near extinction from primal humans. Compared to mammoths, mastodons also have additional differences in biology. The heads of the great beasts were flatter, with the tusks positioned in a different way that the tusks of the mammoths. The mastodons were also shorter, with smaller legs to support the huge mass of the beasts. However, the most critical difference to note is the difference between the teeth. The mammoths were more suited for grazing like modern elephants whereas mastodons, as previously mentioned, were able to crush vegetation with great force.

RANGE:
The exact range of the animals is relatively unknown due to the only information having to go off of being conclusions reached through fossil evidence. What is known is that mastodons roamed all across America during the Late Pleistocene era. Mastodon fossil sites exist in a wide range, from as far north as Alaska to as east and as south as Florida and up to New England. The mastodons, however, chose to not adventure into South America.

SOURCES:
https://www.livescience.com/34446-mammoth-or-mastodon.html
https://www.livescience.com/56708-mastodon-facts.html
https://www.thoughtco.com/facts-about-mastodons-1093330
https://www.britannica.com/animal/mastodon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon

NOTE:
To continue this thriving, I would enjoy some input from all like 1 person that actually reads all the way through. It is hard to find thematic specimens to conduct posts on so if you happen to be reading this and want to know more about any organism, inform me. If there’s enough information available, it will most likely happen

IMAGE:
Illustration from the encyclopedia Britannica comparing the size of the mastodon, mammoth, and elephant.

Plant of the week #1 (Sep. 9-15)
#education
I… I just can’t. I felt pain researching this thing. Not from what it does. There’s just something so unsettling about the eyes. Why would anyone want to cultivate this? But yeah, that’s why it’s short.

NAME:
Doll’s eye
White baneberry

SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Actaea pachypoda

EDIBILITY:
Deadly

SPECIES:
A. pachypoda

FAMILY:
Ranunculaceae

RANGE:
The doll’s eye is located in the moist deciduous forest in eastern North America and Europe. The baneberry thrives off an evenly moist area to get planted in and unlike most other plants, the baneberry survives more effectively in shaded areas. This plant bears berries in the summer and keeps them until they are either removed or destroyed (most commonly from frost or icy conditions)

DESCRIPTION:
The white baneberry is an extremely bizarre plant, if not abundantly clear from just the pink alien-like stalk alone. The plant can grow to 1.6 feet (48 centimeters). To place that in perspective, the plant when at maximum height can grow to be larger than some small breeds of dog or most cats. The berries are also a very striking feature. The berries are spherical and white, with a black discoloration near the center of the plant. This feature is what earned the white baneberry its pseudonym of the doll’s eye. The plant oddly bears leaves and produces white flower clusters in May and June. The leaves can be 1 foot 4 inches (40 cm) long and 1 foot (30 cm) broad. The berries typically have a radius of around 1.6 inches (4.1 cm)

EFFECTS OF CONSUMPTION:
The baneberry is an extremely dangerous plant. Every part of the plant is toxic to humans, but not birds, who are the main carriers of the plant’s seeds. The berries contain heavy doses of cardiogenic toxins. Consumption of one of the berries results in instantaneous cardiac suspension in humans. Briefly, after a complete shutdown of the cardiac system, the victim experiences cardiac arrest and death.
SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actaea_pachypoda (website)
https://www.thespruce.com/white-baneberry-profile-4125671 (website)

Insect Sunday #1
#education

NAME:
Spanish Fly

SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Lytta vesicatoria

CLASS:
Insect

ORDER:
Beetle

FAMILY:
Meloidae

BITE/STING:
Poisonous

LOCATIONS:
The Spanish fly beetle can be found dispersed throughout most of Europe, Siberia, and some parts of northern and southern Asia. It can be found most commonly throughout England and Poland.

DESCRIPTION:
The Spanish fly is an emerald green beetle, measuring up to 1.2 inches (3 centimeters) long. The beetle possesses a very beautiful golden luster. The beetle has a very long body and two sets of wings. The smaller of which is the more practical for flight. The larger, green one is an elyra, or rather, a hard covering to protect the smaller pair of wings. The insect has three pairs of legs, six in total. The legs are located on the thorax of the insect. The long antennae lay atop the head of the Spanish fly, just above the eye.

POISON:
The Spanish fly’s ‘poison’ is extremely unique to the beetle. The poison is applied once the beetle is consumed, or it is applied when any skin-to-insect contact is made with the beetle, in which it injects the poison orally. Originally, the Spanish fly was widely distributed by traditional apothecaries. The initial effects of consuming the liquid of the Spanish fly is some temporary “anomalies” to the male body. It also causes blistering of the skin on contact with the insect. One dosage is enough to cause symptoms in 5000 people. Some other symptoms include blood in stool, intestinal issues, and damage to the heart, kidneys, and nervous system. It also induces strong lustful emotions and actions onto the users

DIET:
The Spanish fly likes to dine primarily upon leaves, specifically those from privet and ash trees.

REPRODUCTION:
The reproductive practices of the Spanish fly are very similar to that of the deathstalker scorpion, without the additional flirtatious dancing to arouse a mate. Instead, that’s where the biological factors of the aphrodisiac the Spanish fly produces come in. The males of the species passively produce it in their body for use during mating. The reason most female beetles also possess the powerful aphrodisiac is through mating, where the male passes it forth.

SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_fly#Life-cycle (website)
https://www.healthline.com/health/spanish-fly-drug (article)
http://poisonousnature.biodiversityexhibition.com/en/card/spanish-fly (website)

Arachnid Saturday #1
#education

NAME:
Deathstalker Scorpion

SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Leiurus quinquestriatus

CLASS:
Arachnid

ORDER:
Scorpion

FAMILY:
Buthidae

BITE/STING:
Venomous

RANGE:
The deathstalker scorpion can be seen occupying the great deserts of the Middle East. The range of the scorpion spreads as far as Mali and Algeria to the south to as far as Kazakhstan and India to the east. The deserts it thrives in include the Sahara, the Thar Desert, and the Arabian Desert. Laws around the world have been created that strictly prevents the captivated ownership of this arachnid due to the danger it presents.

VENOM:
The deathstalker may sound like an utterly terrifying scorpion from the name alone -- and that’s because it absolutely is. Though the venom alone is not strong enough to kill an adult human with a single sting, the effects of the venom will surely cause at least a near-death experience. Children, the elderly, and the disabled have a high chance to very quickly die from a single sting from this scorpion. The deathstalker injects two types of venoms upon envenomation; a neurotoxin and cardiotoxin. The neurotoxin itself is extremely dangerous and can cause a major allergic reaction resulting in the swelling of the victim’s eyes and throat, among other things. The cardiotoxin can cause serious damage to the cardiovascular and respiratory systems of the human body, leading for some very permanent effects for the unhealthy or young. Despite the serious effects it has on the human body, the scorpion's venom could potentially be refined to cure brain tumors. It is also very effective as a cure for the effects of Diabetes

REPRODUCTION:
I won't go into detail, because I want to keep my Atmos account. But after all is said and done, the female deathstalker carries the young for about 122-277 days, in which after that the female can produce anywhere between 35-87 young.

DIET:
Unsurprisingly, the scorpion is a metal motherfucker and is carnivorous. They feed upon insects, spiders, earthworms, centipedes, and scorpions. Sometimes they will even devour their own kind. That’s right, the deathstalker is cannibalistic! All hunting done by the deathstalker is done in the nighttime, meaning the scorpion is nocturnal

DESCRIPTION:
Lastly, we examine the outward appearance of the scorpion. It’s yellow in coloration, and almost appears somewhat translucent. The arachnid’s cephalothorax and abdomen possess a distinctive horizontal grey stripe. The darker color of the tail can also indicate what kind of scorpion the deathstalker is when found in the wild. The length of the scorpion is 1.1 inch to 3 inches long (2.8-7.62 centimeters). Only two of the creature’s several eyes are obvious upon immediate inspection

SOURCES:
https://www.scorpionworlds.com/deathstalker-scorpion/ (website)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathstalker#Geographic_range (website)

Mushroom of the day #3
#education
Tomorrow I'll begin something new in addition to mushroom of the day. I'll provide more information then


NAME:
Night light mushroom (Yokoh-Take)

SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Mycena chlorophos

EDIBILITY:
Unknown

SPECIES:
Agaric

FAMILY:
Mycenaceae

LOCATION:
The Yokoh-take mushroom can be found widely dispersed across Subtropical Asia such as in the Bonin and Hachijo islands off the coast of Japan, where it is most widely found. Second to the islands is Japan itself, where it hosts many of these mushrooms, but are seeing less and less with the progression of time as the natural scenery of Japan gets destroyed. Populations of these mushrooms also can be seen in Polynesia, Java, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan. Supposed reports of the mushroom also exist in Brazil and Australia. The mushrooms exist in these places likely from insects, that I'll get more into in the following paragraph. The mushrooms like to grow in dense forests, finding a home in dead logs, fallen branches and sticks, and bark.

DESCRIPTION:
The most obvious and instantly noticeable trait of the Yokoh-take is the genetic trait that dictates that the mushroom, grey in the daylight, emits a bright green glow in the nighttime. After an experiment conducted my journal "Current Biology", it was found that this trait has been developed to attract insects to consume the mushroom, which then carries the spores to other locations. Looking at the mushroom in the default form, it can be concluded that the mushroom is also sticky. The mushroom itself is typically very small, having a cap only 1.2 in (3.048 cm) in diameter. The white stem is 0.24–1.18 in ( 0.61 - 3 cm) long and a mere 0.3-1 millimeter thick. The gills are free from the mushroom's stem.

SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycena_chlorophos#Description (website)
https://theconversation.com/some-mushrooms-glow-in-the-dark-heres-why-39075 (article)



Sorry about the lackluster mushroom of the day, I had to restart twice :/. I have big plans for the weekend, however. Prepare to be mildly educated

Mushroom of the day #2
#education
I felt like I was walking on eggshells when I was documenting this one. This is a drug. This will get you high. I recorded the use as a drug for educational purposes alone. If you or someone you know attempts to go hunting for this mushroom to get high, they should be considered a borderline moron and should seek help immediately

NAME:
Fly Agaric

SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Amanita Muscaria

FAMILY:
Amanita, Agaric

EDIBILITY:
Poisonous

LOCATIONS:
Similarly to the previously discussed death cap, the distribution of the fly agaric mushroom spans across most of the northern hemisphere, including some unlikely places like the Hindu Kush mountains and some parts of Central America and the Mediterranian. This mushroom has been brought into places of the southern hemisphere, which is why it's possible, albeit unlikely to find the mushroom in places like Brazil, South Africa, and Australia. The fly agaric can be found near or under trees such as pine, spruce, birch, fir, and cedar.

DESCRIPTION:
The fly agaric is blood red in all instances of these mushrooms. The cap of the mushroom holds triangular white patches that sometimes get washed off in heavy rain. Like the death cap, the fly agaric is a veiled mushroom with free gills. It's also an Aminta, resulting in the occasional veil on the mushroom. The cap is 2-10" (5-25 cm). The stalk is 2-7" (5-18 cm) long and 1/8 - 1 1/4 (0.3-3 cm) thick. Fun fact: the white patches that appear on the fly agaric are technically considered to be a part of the veil, considering they're a similarly membranous structure

EFFECTS OF CONSUMPTION:
Stupidly enough, there's been reports of young children consuming the fly agaric, in which they would consume the poison mushroom for a temporary high before suffering the symptoms afterward (don't do drugs, kids!). In addition, the smaller fly agarics can be confused for a common button mushroom. Occasionally, when heavy rain washes the patches off the mushroom, it looks strikingly similar to an edible mushroom, leading to confusion in that area as well. Consuming the mushroom will provide a high to intoxicate an average-sized adult slightly, but it is an extremely poor decision to do so. Despite how dangerous the fly agaric may seem, it requires 15 caps of the mushroom to provide a fatal dose and no deaths from fly agaric poisonings have been reported within the last 100 years. THIS DOES NOT MEAN IT IS SAFE TO CONSUME. There are still the prevalent consequences of consumption, which include nausea, drowsiness, twitching, low blood pressure, sweating, salivating, auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, euphoria, relaxation, loss of muscle coordination, and loss of balance. In more extreme cases, the hallucinations become stronger, agitation, confusion, delirium, central nervous system depressions, and sometimes seizures or coma. Looking at the uses as a drug, the mushroom is classified as a depressant, sedative-hypnotic, psychedelic, dissociative, or deliriant. Several perceptual phenomena are known to happen under the effects of this mushroom, including synesthesia, macropsia, and micropsia

APPEARANCE IN CULTURE:
Referencing the fly agaric in religion can be difficult, considering the only theory about the fly agaric in the Christian religion has been criticized to no end. In 1970, scholar John Marco Allegro published a book that focuses on a theory he had surrounding the ties between the fly agaric and the early Christian religion. Allegro speculated that fertility cults had been focused around the consumption of the fly agaric mushroom for the hallucinogenic component. Christian author John C. King wrote an entire book as a rebuttal against Allegro's work, giving the claim that "the fly agaric mushrooms are not found in the Middle East", which would result in the fertility cult being "the best-kept secret in the world". Outside of the Christian implications, the fly agaric appears widely in fantasy literature and entertainment. In the smurfs, mushrooms presumed to be fly agarics make up the furniture and houses of the residents, however, its also possible the said mushrooms are just generic mushrooms that coincidentally have features resembling the fly agaric

Mushroom of the day #1
#education

NAME:
Death Cap

SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Amanita phalloides

EDIBILITY:
Deadly

LOCATIONS:
Found in some capacity around the world, the death cap mushroom has a tendency to grow in the northern hemisphere, finding home in North America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Tend to grow under conifer and hardwood trees (Spruce, Pine, Oak primarily). Note: The death cap mushroom spores a few hundred times in its life, making a worldwide issue concerning the population of death cap mushrooms.

DESCRIPTION:
The death cap is classified as a veiled mushroom with free gills. The death cap is identifiable upon close inspection of the mushroom. Most death caps will possess a veil, a membranous piece of tissue that protects the mushrooms stalk, and sometimes cap. The most common mushrooms to possess veils are Amanita mushrooms, a subspecies that accounts for 99% of all mushroom-related deaths, with the death cap accounting for 50% alone. The death cap fools those inexperienced with mushroom identification into thinking its an edible mushroom, which it is quite the opposite to. Death caps are identifiable by the smooth cap with slight light green coloration coating the cap, getting darker in the center. The death cap also possesses a sac at the base of the mushroom. Caps range from 2.5-6 inches wide (6.5-15 centimeters). Stalks are 3-5 inches long (7.5-12.5 centimeters) and 1/2 - 3/4 inches thick(1.5-2 centimeters)

SYMPTOMS OF CONSUMPTION:
The odor itself from a death cap is nauseating, but oddly enough, the younger death caps are described as having a pleasant taste by victims. Symptoms do not begin until 10-14 hours after consumption or longer. The process begins with intermittent vomiting, diarrhea, and cramps. After about a day, the effects of the mushroom wear off and the victim believes they are okay. By the 3rd or 4th day after consumption, the victim experiences extreme kidney/liver dysfunction. After 5-10 days, the victim dies if they do not receive adequate treatment

SOURCES:
National Audobon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms (book)
http://poisonousnature.biodiversityexhibition.com/en/card/death-cap (website)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita (website)


I'm very much favoring the educational mushroom alternative of posts to offer to Atmos, I will continue this daily in the future, to the best of my ability

Random profiles #1
#education
A nice subspecies of my personal favorite animal, the bat.

NAME:
Vampire bat

SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Desmodontinae

ORDER:
Chiroptera

FAMILY:
Phyllostomidae

RANGE:
Specimens of the vampire bat can be located throughout the southern area of the Americas. They can be found spanning the area all throughout Mexico to Argentina, with the exception of fewer bats populating the Amazon, as the animals there do not satisfy the needs of the bat’s diet

HABITAT:
The vampire bat is partial to living in agriculture areas with plenty of farms with chickens, horses, cattle, and pigs that the bat can feed on. The bats have adapted to many climates throughout South America, having a presence in tropical, subtropical, humid, and dry regions. Like many bats, the vampire bat is nocturnal, meaning that the bat often comes out at night to feed. During the daytime, the bat hangs upside down from the inside of the hollowed-out ground, like hollow trees, caves, mines, and even some human-constructed buildings. Separate species of bat also nest in the same area as the vampires, but science suggests that the separate species attempt to keep the distance from one another to avoid conflict

DESCRIPTION:
The bats are tailless and medium-sized to small in terms of bats. The average specimen is 7-9 centimeters (2.8-3.5 inches), about the size of a human thumb. Most of the bat’s weight is a variable based on the amount of blood consumption the bat has engaged in. As an example, a moderately sized specimen of 60 grams can double its weight after feeding. The fur of the animal is short and ranging in color from brown to reddish-orange with a lighter underside. The first segments of the thumb are exceptionally long, allowing the vat to crawl along the ground in a frog-like manner. The bat does this as a stealth tactic to sneak up on the animal it would be feeding upon. This long thumb also marks the common vampire bat as the only animal capable to take off into flight from right off the ground. The wings are long but the connecting skin tissue is very thin. Again, the thumb proves to be very valuable to the bat’s anatomy, as the bat uses the thumb to stick to the prey the bat is feeding upon. The other prevalent feature of the bat is the sharp teeth, which it uses to create incisions on the victim’s body to drink out of. It also administers anamnestic to make that process painless to the victim

BEHAVIOR, FEEDING, AND LIFESTYLE:
The bats sport an extremely advanced social structure, even sometimes sharing blood meals when another member of the bat colony has not reached the minimum requirement of food necessary for a vampire bat in a day. The size of these bat colonies ranges anywhere from single digits to the triple digits. In the colonies, only the males that are residents of the colony are allowed to mate with the female bats though reproduction with foreigners occasionally happens within the colonies. A term used to describe these colonies are the natives are natal groups. The females often remain in the natal group for most of their life, leaving only to feed every so often. Males often leave the natal group after about 2 years of life within the group. When the bats take flight in search for food, they only remain about a meter off the ground until they find prey that acceptable to their needs (often through thermal detection and/or echolocation). In about a year period, a colony of the bats can drink the blood of about 25 full cows. Despite this fact though, they must feed at least once every two days or else they will starve due to the fast metabolism of the bats. The bats usually drink for about 30 minutes, but it’s still not enough to harm the victim. Despite this,however, the bites can cause infections and disease in some cases. The bat uses powerful thermal detection to find a warm spot on its victims where the blood is flowing just beneath the victim’s skin. The saliva prevents the blood from clotting as the animal laps up the blood. Young bats feed upon their mothers milk rather than blood.

SOURCES:
https://a-z-animals.com/animals/vampire-bat/ (website)
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/c/common-vampire-bat/ (article)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_bat (website)
https://www.britannica.com/animal/vampire-bat (website)

IMAGE:
Very happy boi resting upon a wooden surface in the daylight

Arachnid saturday #3
#education

NAME:
Giant desert hairy scorpion

SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Hadrurus arizonensis

ORDER:
Scorpiones

FAMILY:
Caraboctonidae

BITE/STING:
Venomous

RANGE:
The desert scorpion is found exclusively in North America. The scorpion greatly prefers life in deserts, being found in southwestern deserts like the Sonora and Mojave in Mexico. In America, the scorpion can be located in Arizona, the Colorado desert, southern California, and even Nevada and Utah to the extreme southwest.

HABITAT:
The biology of this scorpion has specially adapted it to live in the hot deserts of the Americas. The scorpions find a home within abandoned burrows, crevices, and small caves. The scorpions dig burrows up to 2.5 meters (8’ 2”) deep. They have this choice of a home to ensure that the arachnid stays cool in the unforgiving deserts. Some scorpions have found a home in suburban environments in Arizona and California. When living in the suburban area, they stalk irrigated lawns and ornamental plants so that an unfortunate beetle drawn to them falls prey to the jaws of the scorpion. They are unlikely to be found in the highlands, only being found at an elevation of around 900-1800 feet. They hunt at night to avoid the harsh sun that roasts their body. The scorpion is often welcoming to house guests, being found living alongside several other scorpions of other species.

DESCRIPTION:
This scorpion is the largest scorpion in North America, ascertaining a length of up to 5.5 in (14cm or 140 mm) and weighing up to 7 grams (typically 4-7). The cephalothorax of the arthropod is black in coloration, with each of the several bands being found along the cephalothorax being lined in a pale yellow color. They appear pale on the underside and the legs are a pale yellow color. Abundant erect hairs line the eight large legs of the scorpion as well as the abdomen and pedipalps (mouth appendages). These brown hairs are what give the scorpion its common name, not to mention its size. The brown hairs appear to give these sections of the body a darker olive green color.

REPRODUCTION:
Like many arachnids across the world, the mating of the giant scorpion is a several step process. The males are typically the ones to engage the sexual congress between the two. Despite this, there are recorded instances of the female engaging the process of scorpion coitus. They begin typically at night, the same time they go to prowl for food. The male shows his presence by doing jerking motions back and forth, throwing his body. After that, he grabs the female, immediately proceeding to club her with the stinger, stinging her up to 14 times, referred to as “sexual stings”. After the stings have been delivered, the male grabs her again, now by the pedipalps. With her in his grasp, they engage in a small, dance, both engaging in swaying movements. This dance continues until they find a suitable place to place the male’s spermatophore (see deathstalker scorpion). The male often clubs the female several more times after mating is complete before sending her back into the wild. However, the female returns the favor by tracking down her mate and consuming him.

LIFE CYCLE AND PREDATORS/PREY:
The female bears live young and carried the broods on her back for a period of 10-15 days. The broods do not feed during this period they remain on their mother’s back. They do not begin to live independently until they shed for the first time. The young scatter and will shed their skin many more times before reaching peak maturity. Since they are nocturnal, they often find themselves being consumed by owls and bats in the night. As for what they eat, they hunt insects, arachnids, lizards, and sometimes snakes. They use their very nonpotent venom to subdue their prey so they can consume them

SOURCES:
The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects & Spiders (book)
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Hadrurus_arizonensis/ (website)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadrurus_arizonensis (website)

IMAGE:
Hadrurus arizonensis (right) sparring with a similarly sized scorpion, Heterometrus spinifer (left)

Plant of the week #3
#education
Buckle up, it’s a long one

NAME:
Wheat

SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Triticum aestivum

ORDER:
Poales

FAMILY:
Poaceae

RANGE:
Because the wheat is a crop used by humans to mass-produce food, the range of wheat has become worldwide and its seldom places do not grow wheat to some capacity. About the only places in the world that serve as an exception to this would be the eastern majority of Russia, tropic or medium wealth parts of the continent of Africa, most of China, Oceania, and few places throughout Brazil. Natively, the crop is found in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Armenia, Syria, and Israel.

HABITAT AND FACTORS OF CULTIVATING:
Luckily for the early humans that domesticated the wheat crop, the wheat grows in a variety of conditions, not preferring one habitat over the other. They seed anywhere between sea level and ten thousand feet up. Wheat of the old times was still susceptible to many different environmental factors that hindered them from growing like airborne disease, inappropriate soil, the ergot fungus (look out next week), and preference to climate. Though the wheat has noticeably less been altered by temperature and climate of growing area (being grown in every temperate climate in the world), the wheat still cannot grow in environmental extremes such as the deserts of Namibia or the arctic nothingness of a good portion of Russia. There are many different factors that play into cultivating the wheat to allow for the maximum speed of growth and reproduction and minimum death of the plant. Therefore, to ensure optimal conditions, farmers need to recognize the necessary conditions and select the wheat varieties that are resistant to plant, soil, and airborne disease. The farmer must also recognize the wheat that is suited to the climate the farmer is cultivating them in, the wheat that produces the most adequate bushels and how much the wheat is able to produce in a single amount of time. Just like the humans of old did, the farmer selects the seeds that will be planted next based off which previous kinds of wheat perform the best.
(See the second source for more information)

DESCRIPTION:
The wheat crop is a grass crop, which is defined by the nutritional benefits, easiness to plant, and strength of the crop. Of all these grass crops, wheat is the most economically beneficial due to its many uses, which I shall cover later. The shoot of the grass is short and bears rhizomes (roots that extend underground, like tree’s roots or fungi’s mycelium. They are found strictly on modified plant stems). The mature wheat plant has leaves emerging from opposite sides. It is made of repeating segments, known as phytomers which contain a hollowed-out space and a leaf as well as bud. The leaf sheath wraps around the stem, giving the shoot structural support. Where the sheath and leaf blade connect, there lies a series of structures called the ligule and auricles, which provide the leaf its structure. The wheatgrass also possesses tillers, the lateral branches which shoot from the main step and generate leaves. The tillers are able to produce their own ears of wheat, just like the main stalk. However, it's common that not all tillers survive. The thought process to explain why the tillers sometimes do this is from the competition with surrounding wheat and the same wheat it shares space with. Similar to the patterns of the leaves, the actual ears of the wheat, the ears bear two rows of spikelets that contain the florets that will bear the actual edible part of the wheat. The florets are also responsible for dispersing the wheat seeds for reproduction. In fact, the edible part of the wheat that gets consumed by humans and animals are also what the plant uses to make more wheat, which results in wheat farmers having to make decisions over whether the seeds they find will go on to be the next generation of wheat or if they will sell it to then put on someone's plate.
(Continued in another post. I can't do it in comments)

IMAGE:
Wild wheat

Wheat continued
#education

REPRODUCTION:
Often, the conditions of flowering for wheat are dependant on location. Sunny weather and temperatures of 11-13 degrees celsius (52-55 F) is absolutely required for the flowering of wheat. The main tiller is the first tiller that has the florets open. A study conducted in Narrabri, Australia reported that wheat sown in May began flowering in about 105-120 after being sown. Maturity for the wheat took around 35-45 days. In addition to spreading the seeds through a flowering process, the wheat also sends out pollen. Often the pollen is expelled before the flower fully opens. The pollination process of wheat is odd, considering how the wheat lacks anything that emits nectar, meaning that insects would serve a minimal role in the cross-pollination of wheat. Pollen flies through the air and often times lands on another wheat stalk. The receptive wheat stalk then absorbs the pollen into the stigma, which is responsible for many reproductive actions of plants. The stigma may only be receptive to pollen for one to two weeks, but that number is able to change based on the conditions of the surrounding environment.

THE PHENOMENON OF HYBRID SPECIATION:
In life, there occur events that sometimes defy the known laws of biology. In animals, there exist butterflies or lizards that can reproduce homosexually. This is known as hybrid speciation, and it’s a phenomenon that also occurs in Triticum aestivum. Hybrid speciation defines a hybrid species that have doubled amounts of chromosomes and use it to create a new living entity. The entity has an equal 50% contribution from each parent. A study conducted had two female parent wheat specimens. The pollen from one species of wheat was inserted into the stigma of a different species of wheat, and miraculously the scientists were given a new hybrid wheat species from two females of opposite species. The pollen was freshly collected by the scientists, so there’s a minimal chance anything odd happened with additional wheat genetics being present of the pollen.

NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION:
The nutritional composition, like the reproduction, varies based on climates. But also, soil. On an average, however, the wheat plant contains 1.8% minerals, 2% fat, 2.2% crude fibers, 12% water, 12% protein, and a whopping 70% carbohydrates. The fat content is mostly unsaturated, which is, either way, a low amount. The starch content is very high in carbohydrates. It’s extremely high in fiber, which aids digestion. The protein content comes primarily from the gluten wheat provides. The wheat has many culinary uses. It’s found mainly in baked goods and cereals. It can be located in cakes, bread, pasta, kofta, and breakfast cereal. Many middle eastern dishes contain wheat to some extent, as it’s a very common dish for the individuals living in that region. There are hundreds of hidden acids and minerals located in wheat, so if it interests you to conduct further research on the microscopic nutritional qualities, the 6th and 10th source both provide great further detail on wheat.

IMAGE:
Anatomy of domesticated wheat

Wheat, final
#education

As for the millers, many millers have stopped transforming the wheat into the valuable flour and begun turning milling into a science and food technology. The yield per acre of wheat has improved steadily as the wheat evolves and picks up new hybrid traits. In only 70 years, the world wheat production has tripled. Great Britain, for example, has become very self sufficient with wheat production, importing only 300,000 tons annually. Even countries that are stereotypically poor are making a gradual shift and enhancing wheat production. India is now very self sufficient and is now a wide wheat exporter. China almost competes with India in acres devoted to wheat. China has boosted its yields over the past 50 years and is the leading wheat producer in the world. Due to this, they are becoming less reliant on imports. Yields in China have improved from eight bushels per acre to thirty five and sixty per acre. However, the wheat industry is beginning to shift to being specialized in developing countries, seeing as the population of farmers in America has gone down dramatically. In 1840, 70% of all individuals in America were employed in farming. That number in 2002 has gone down to only 2% and continues to drop.

SOURCES:
http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:332110-2 (website)
https://plants.usda.gov/java/charProfile?symbol=TRAE (website)
https://www.inspection.gc.ca/plants/plants-with-novel-traits/applicants/directive-94-08/biology-documents/triticum-aestivum-l-/eng/1330982915526/1330982992440 (website)
https://www.encyclopedia.com/food/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/natural-history-wheat (website)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat (website)
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/wheat#benefits (website)
https://www.britannica.com/plant/wheat (website)
https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/books/abstracts/agronomymonogra/wheatandwheatim/33?access=0&view=pdf (website)
http://www.ogtr.gov.au/internet/ogtr/publishing.nsf/content/wheat-3/$FILE/biologywheat08.pdf (document)
https://www.glnc.org.au/grains/types-of-grains/wheat/ (website)
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/taxome/jim/pap/mallet07_hybspn_Nature.pdf (document)
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2e70/a1d5e5a487a4b8b7e9f61f268a8cb2b7127c.pdf (document)

IMAGE:
1920s wheat farm

Wheat continued
#education

THE ECONOMICS OF WHEAT:
And finally, we examine the place of wheat in economies around the world and the many factors that control how wheat dominates the market. For thousands of years, few mechanical adjustments were made to the farming technology to allow for the production of wheat. The main technology used to produce the quantities of wheat at the time were iron plows, sickles for manual harvest, and the use of oxen for harvest of wheat. Before the mid 1800s, the wheat was reliant of the efforts of humans and animals due to the lack of machines used to do work at this time. Fields were left unplowed for great deals of time to improve the moisture of the soil. Animal manure was used to enrich the soil. In places where wheat had been cultivated for thousands of years, the soil used to grow wheat were exhausted and the supply of wheat become lower and lower as the demand for wheat constantly rose. In the 1800s, revolutions happened that would serve as a landmark for the farming of wheat. One of these revolutions began with a European soil chemist, Sir Henry Davy of England, along with his two accomplices Albrecht von Thaer of Prussia and Justus von Liebig of Germany. They had conclusive evidence to tell the farmers of wheat that the soil they use to cultivate the wheat had been depleted of use and the chemicals that are necessary for wheat to grow had been taken from the soil. Fresh sources of specific chemicals were necessary to have returning bounties of wheat to grow. The soil needed nitrogen, potassium, lime, and phosphoric acid that the manure would not provide alone. Thus, by 1843 chemical fertilizers in Europe were widespread and bought in high demand by farmers whose soils were depleting and needed the extra enrichment. The second dramatic shift was marked by the steam engine. James Watt was the first individual to invent the steam engine in 1769 and automatic milling occurred in 1785. By 1834, steam-driven mills were introduced in Europe and as early as 1870 America had employed superior engines that enhanced flour production and wheat demands skyrocketed now being easier to produce and more accessible than ever previously in the history of mankind. The third and arguably most important advance took place in the United States in 1862. This was the mechanization of farming wheat. The invention of steam-driven threshing and self binders meant that by 1940, producing an entire bushel of wheat took around sixteen minutes, compared to the monstrous 4.5 hours of human labor required previously around 1850. This also meant that long gone were the days of taking the risk of losing wheat due to the inattention of farmers. Delivery of wheat was also revolutionized with the relatively recent invention of railroads that crossed great expanses of land. Now with the revolution in wheat, a new question was proposed: who should determine what qualities would be developed in varieties? The millers, bakers, and farmers that dominated the wheat industry all searched for different qualities of the wheat and struggled to decide who would decide what varieties of wheat gets grown, as they all wanted to grow a specific type that suits their needs to ensure that they get the best profit from the harvests. Millers had to perform a milling process and certain species of wheat provided different challenges for the millers. For example, some varieties of wheat were difficult to mill and the millers produced less usable flour. Some of the useless wheat would also go on to get made into animal feed. For bakers, on the other hand, they determined that not all flour is the same. Certain characteristics in the flour performed better when used in combination with other products, like how tortillas are distinctive from white bread. After thousands of years of specialization, the bakers had narrowed it down to a science, demanding for wheat to be produced that had greater contents of starch and protein. And finally, farmers, the underdogs, and backbone of the wheat industry. The farmer must recognize the wheat that is resistant to disease, how suited they are to certain climates, and the bushes that produce the most adequate bushels for the lowest cost. The farmer wants wheat that most benefits them, which differs from the preferences of the other two. The issues of the two still continue today, but it been greatly altered to more benefit the sides as some wheat imported from international farmers better suit the needs of the bakers that require specific levels of protein and starch they so demand. This mostly allows for the farmers and bakers to live in a synthesis.

IMAGE:
The layout of the first automated wheat farm, Oliver Evans

Insect Sunday #3
#education
Sorry for the lackluster insect, I’m still recovering from the endeavor that was the wheat

NAME:
Orchid mantis

SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Hymenopus coronatus

ORDER:
Mantodea

FAMILY:
Hymenopus

RANGE:
First discovered by British explorer James Hingston in 1879, the orchid mantis left Hingston dumbfounded, as he simply thought he was looking at an ordinary flower. Hingston first discovered the species in West Java, but the mantis also exists in Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Indonesia.

HABITAT:
The mantis’ camouflage greatly reflects its preferred habitat. Mantises live in areas with a high amount of moisture and vegetation. The mantises also greatly value their shade and humidity and prefer areas that have a high amount of each of those factors. The ideal temperatures for these creatures are about 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 degrees Fahrenheit). Typically in the wild, the temperature of the mantis’ environment can range anywhere between 25 and 30 degrees celsius (77 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit), perfect for the mantis. Despite being so dependant on high humidity, the young are very sensitive to humidity.

DESCRIPTION:
The most prevalent feature of the striking beauty that is the mantis is the bright colors it bears that reflect that of an orchid, where it earns its name. In fact, the striking camo once fooled the very man who discovered the mantis. James recorded the specimen and stated “I am taken by my host around his garden, and shown, among other things, a flower, a red orchid, that catches and feeds upon live flies. It seized upon a butterfly while I was present, and enclosed it in its pretty but deadly leaves, as a spider would have enveloped it in a network”. Typically, wild mantises are white with soft or bright pink accents. However, it’s not uncommon to see an individual be completely white. The mantises can change color, and it’s not uncommon to see one do so in just the matter of a few days based off humidity and light conditions. The mantis lives in environments with flowers that look much like the mantis, so mantises that are brought to unfamiliar lands must learn to adapt with the surrounding flowers to cement its role as the apex predator of the insects. The mantis even alters its minute features to make it that much more convincing. The mantises have dark spots on their abdomens that resemble a budding flower and the female has noticeable lobes on its legs that resemble petals. There exists size dysmorphia in the insect. The female is noticeably larger than the male, being about 6 to 7 cm large (2.4 to 2.8 in)

LIFE CYCLE:
The life cycle of the orchid mantis differs slightly from others in the insect group. THe young are born from eggs that the female mantis lays. When they hatch, they’re in a stage known as a nymph. Nymph is a term given to any juvenile mantis. The nymphs are not considered larvae like many other insects when they’re in this stage. This differentiation of name is due to the nature of their bodies. After they hatch, they already have a fully developed body, except for the wings. The young also bear an unnecessary but hard exoskeleton that comes off as they molt, or shed. The young also don’t have the same defined colors that their parents do. After a continuous cycle of molting every so often, the nymph grows into an adult and have fully gotten rid of their hard exoskeleton

SOURCES:
https://everywherewild.com/orchid-mantis/ (website)
https://www.keepinginsects.com/praying-mantis/species/orchid-mantis/ (website)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymenopus_coronatus (website)
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2015/01/27/bloodthirsty-truth-orchid-mantis/#.XZEgNZDYq00 (article)

IMAGE:
The orchid mantis, doing as she does best