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Visitors of Starry Rosinweed – Silphium asteriscus (Asteraceae)

March 11, 2016 at 2:00 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video

A brief record of the insect visitors on a starry rosinweed in less than half hour period during August 14th 2010 at the State Botanical Garden in Athens, GA. Visitors/pollinators included long-horned bee (Melissodes bimaculata), Juvenal’s duskywing (Erynnis juvenalis), Carder bee (Anthidium illustre), Fiery skipper (Hylephila phyleus), Scoliid wasp (Scolia nobilitata), another long-horned bee belonging to genus Melissodes and Silvery Checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis). In this short observation, the last visitor of the flower was a Silvery Checkerspot with rather beat […]

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Carnivorous Pitcher Plant Catches Ants by Changing Slipperiness of Peristome – Ulrike Bauer (2015)

January 23, 2016 at 9:38 am / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Short Observations

Biologists have shown that a pitcher plant has a remarkable adaptation for varying the slipperiness of the rim of its trap (the peristome). In Borneo, the pitcher plant (Nepenthes rafflesiana) traps sporadically large group of ants from the same species. In experiments where the trapping surfaces were kept continuously wet the plants no longer captured large groups of ants. When scout ants find a pitcher trap full of sweet nectar, they return to the colony and recruit many more ant […]

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Paper Wasp Shaves (?) Caterpillar – Ron Goor (2013)

January 21, 2016 at 3:28 pm / Natural history, Short Observations, Video

The behavior of this paper wasp worker was recorded by Ron Goor in C & O Canal in Seneca Maryland, United States. At first glance it looks quite curious since it appears as if the wasp is shearing its prey like a sheep. However when viewed carefully the wasp is simply consuming the caterpillar most probably belonging to Virginian Tiger Moth (Spilosoma virginica) before flying back to its nest. While the worker wasp is literally taking “her cut” from the […]

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Long-wattled Umbrellabird Eating Oenocarpus fruit in the Chocó Forests of Ecuador – Luke Browne (2013)

December 30, 2015 at 2:11 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Short Observations, Wildlife Documentaries

Long-wattled Umbrellabirds (Cephalopterus penduliger) are important seed dispersers for many plant species, especially the palm Oenocarpus bataua. Here, a motion-activated camera records a male Umbrellabird eating ripe Oenocarpus fruit on the ground at Bilsa Biological Station in the Chocó forests of western Ecuador. You can notice the pronounced wattle and crest characteristic of male Umbrellabirds. Because of extensive habitat loss across its range (Ecuador and Colombia), populations of Umbrellabirds are declining rapidly and are considered vulnerable to extinction. The Karubian […]

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Common Mallow Pollinated by Dagger Fly

October 4, 2015 at 7:05 pm / Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video

Common Mallow (Malva neglecta) Pollinated by Dagger Fly (Empididae). Filmed on 2015 May 12th, in Postacı Halil sokak Ferahevler, Istanbul. When the talk subject comes to pollination the buzzing image of bees appear in our heads. Yet, many other insect groups contribute to the pollination service including flies (Diptera). Here you can see a dagger fly (it is also known as dancing fly) visiting an edible wild plant the common mallow (Malva neglecta). Dagger flies may not appear to be […]

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Dagger Flies (Empididae) Mating with Nuptial Gift

October 4, 2015 at 7:05 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Dagger flies Mating. Filmed in Sami Dino Parkı, Ferahevler, İstanbul on May 12th 2015. Male hilarine flies (Diptera: Empididae: Empidinae) present their mates with silk-wrapped gifts. The nuptial gift keeps the female busy during copulation. The silk around the gift is produced by specialized cells located in the foreleg basitarsus of the male fly. Here in this observation the hind legs of the male appear to have multiple functions: They form a resting platform for the female and at the […]

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Aristotle’s Silkworm (Saturnia pyri) in Endemic Liquidambar Forest

August 19, 2015 at 10:02 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Filmed in Günlüklü forest, Fethiye, Turkey on May 27th 2015. A Turkish version of this article was published in the Atlas Magazine. Saturnia pyri is the largest moth in Europe. It lives in Southern Europe, parts of Asia and North Africa but it occasionally makes a northward move. It was recorded in England only once in 1984. Its caterpillars are polyphagous and feed on many different tree species such as blackthorn, ash, walnut, poplar, plum, apple, pear and cherry (please […]

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Red Goat Moth (Cossus cossus) Caterpillar Searching for Pupation Site

May 16, 2015 at 4:28 am / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video

Recorded on May 4th 2015 at the Atatürk Arboretum of Istanbul University, Bahçeköy, Türkiye. The individual in the recording most probably belongs to Cossus cossus gueruenensis reported from Asia Minor. The caterpillar has reached its final growth stage as a caterpillar and is frantically searching for a place to burrow itself in the forest floor to become a pupa. Pupation is the final stage of a caterpillar before metamorphosing into adult butterfly form. The developmental transformation in these insects has […]

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European Yellow Jacket Wasp vs. Australian Bull Ant (and other ant-wasp clashes)

April 23, 2015 at 9:26 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Ant – Wasp clash is a rather frequent interspecific competitive interaction between the two social insect groups. At first glance wasps may seem to be at an advantage by being aerial. On the other hand, ants can achieve high numbers and squirt formic acid which is a potent neurotoxin for most animals. Wasps and ants both can bite and sting and therefore they are somehow equal rivals. The main footage featured above was filmed in the Kosciuszko National Park of […]

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Rapid Worker Recruitment in Aphaenogaster Ants

March 27, 2015 at 12:43 pm / Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

In this short observation a single worker drags a yellow jacket wasp (Vespula spp.) until a point close to the nest and then switches to a different task. She leaves to recruit more workers as a scout. Until the first recruits arrive two other workers tend the prey. The location of the prey must have been close to the nest because a third worker joins them 55 seconds after the scout leaves. Based on the time stamp of the unedited […]

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Spider Mom – Alvaro Mendoza (2012)

March 26, 2015 at 3:51 pm / Natural history, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Egg laying by a female spider filmed by Alvaro Mendoza. Highly choreographed light use makes this short observation particularly striking. Spiders reproduce sexually. Fertilization is internal but the sperm is not inserted into the female’s body by the male’s genitals. Unlike many land-living arthropods, male spiders do not produce ready-made spermatophores (packages of sperm). Males spin small sperm webs on to which they ejaculate and then transfer the sperm to syringe-like structures on the tips of their pedipalps. Image source: […]

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Crippled Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor) (2014)

March 23, 2015 at 3:12 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Crippled Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor). Recorded on August 9th 2014, Georgia State Botanical Garden, Athens, GA, USA. The genus Tipularia has three species. Crippled cranefly orchid (Tipularia discolor) is the only species found in North America. The other two species are Asian found in the Himalayas and Japan. Tipularia discolor grows in organic humus-rich soils of closed canopy oak-pine forests in the Eastern United States. It is protected as Threatened, Endangered, or Rare in Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania. […]

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How Chameleons Change Color? (2015)

March 18, 2015 at 10:11 am / Evolution, Molecular Nature, Natural history, Short Observations, Video

Long projectile tongue, independently movable eyes and rapid color change. Chameleons are indeed very interesting animals (see the detailed account of Aristotle at the bottom of this post). Main video is a concatenation of all five supplementary materials associated with the a study demonstrating color change in Chameleons. You can view them individually below. The following video by The Economist makes a successful summary based on the same material: Reproductively mature chameleon males rapidly switch on bold threatening colors when […]

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Crossection of a Dandelion Compound Flower – Rüdiger Hartmann (2015)

March 8, 2015 at 11:30 am / Natural history, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is one of the most ubiquitous plants belonging to the family Asteraceae. The plant is native to Eurasia but has become naturalized to all temperate regions of the World introduced unintentionally by Humans. It’s compound flowers are self-pollinated and seeds are wind dispersed. In this short observation developmental biologist Dr. Rüdiger Hartmann of the University of Freiburg has done a wonderful job of showing the dynamics of the mature compound flowers (inflorescence) using timelapse videography in his […]

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Picture Wing Fly and Ant Competing for Nectar

January 27, 2015 at 1:01 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

A picture wing fly (Delphinium picta) and an ant (Formica palidefulva) are competing for nectar secreted from the extrafloral nectaries of the Passiflora vine (Passiflora incarnata). This short observation was filmed on August 25 2014. Georgia State Botanical Garden, Athens, GA, USA. Here we see multiple overlapping natural history stories. A passiflora vine is being defended by workers of a Formica palidefulva colony. A picture wing fly is sneaking around the vine looking for an opportunity to sip sweet nectar […]

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