Predatory Tunicate

The Predatory Tunicate. It's a great, big mouth on a stalk, isn't it? Sort of like those people who can eat anything they want without putting on an ounce of weight. It's a hungry sock puppet. The deep sea at it's best!

Fig Wasp

Last time, we took a good look at the Strangler Fig, leaving it a mighty, all-conquering victor of the forest, having brutally murdered the competition. Now it's the next step - reproduction. Of course, this is also the story of how the Strangler's seed was left on the unsuspecting tree in the first place.

So I suppose it's:

Strangler Fig 2: The Prequel

Tongue-eating Louse

Tongue-eating. Louse. There's not much to like about those words. In fact, one gets the impression that it'll be something utterly disgusting, like, I don't know... a louse that eats tongues. Something horrible like that. Yeh.

Amphiuma

Image: Wikimedia

What does one do when parts of one's body parts shrink and/or drop off? The Amphiuma's answer appears to be "grin and bear it".

Strangler Fig

Image by Many Moon Honeymoon via Flickr

You know those movies where someone gets a lodger who turns out to be a real bad egg? It's all great at first. Smiles, a bit of flirting, great meals and even some dish washing. This is the best lodger ever!

"Warrior Wasp", A Huge Wasp With Massive Mandibles

Bug Girl's Blog

Goodness me. Meet what is currently being called the "Warrior Wasp". It's a newly discovered, gigantic wasp from Sulawesi in Indonesia.

Lobate Comb Jelly

Image: Wikipedia

Lobate Ctenophores are Comb Jellies in the order Lobata. They got lobes!

Sea Angel

Image: Wikipedia

Ooooh! Today we are greeted by the ghostly sight of the Sea Angel. Flapping its wings, this tiny, translucent creature slowly makes its way through the water like some mystical being from the spirit realm. It's no wonder it's called an Angel! We'll just overlook those two, glaring horns on its head.

Enypniastes, A Deep Sea Swimming Sea Cucumber

Image: Larry Madin / AP

Dear, oh dear. Some people just have no shame. Look at this exhibitionist, flaunting his or her self for all the world to see. It leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination. Nothing! I wonder if it's offended that I STILL don't know if it's a him or a her?

Antarctic Giant Isopod, Glyptonotus antarcticus

Image: Martin Rauschert

I find this critter looks incredibly grim, with those massive, spiky, macabre limbs of his. They look like some kind of mythical beast that might climb out of the crater of an active volcano. There's something very "brimstone" about them.

Matamata Turtle

The Matamata Turtle. It's like a bundle of dead leaves and wood given the breath of life and let out on an ugly, smiley-faced rampage. A very slow rampage. A rampage that involves moving only when absolutely necessary. That's my kind of rampage! Except sometimes I don't actually move when absolutely necessary. Sometimes I just sort of... think about it.

Common Vampire Bat

Image: JLplusAL via Flickr

The stuff of nightmares. A furry, ferociously fanged, flying fiend who likes nothing better than to guzzle down the warm, vital fluids of other beasts. The Vampire Bats are the only mammals who feed exclusively on blood. I hope they don't expect a medal or something.

White-crested Hornbill

Image via Wikipedia

The White-crested Hornbill is a hornbill that can be found throughout Central and West Africa.

It likes to catch insects to eat, but it also takes slugs, lizards and sometimes fruit. It prefers meat and insects, though.

Purple Frog

Image via Wikipedia

There's something utterly wonderful about this frog! Something charming and heart warming. Something that brings a smile to the face.

Fomitiporia ellipsoidea, A Really Massive Fungus

Image by Dr. Yu-Cheng Dai,
featuring small fragments of the gigantic whole. 

Fomitiporia ellipsoidea is a fungus that is found in China. It's a bracket fungus, which means the fruiting body grows like a shelf instead of on top of a stalk. It's also brown, woody and tough, so it really is like a shelf.

A very spacious shelf indeed.