As they wing their way across North America, millions of migrating monarch butterflies form a living river of orange. In this episode, the second of two podcasts on monarchs, we’ll meet citizens young and old who are dipping a toe in that river in the name of science and of beauty.
Watch the Monarch Butterflies Eastern Migration Google Earth Tour Video
También puede ver este vídeo con subtítulos en español aquí.
Photo: © Ted Kropiewnicki
CC-BY-NC-SA
Supplier: Tree of Life web project
Location Created: Bear, Delaware, USA
Every year eastern monarch butterflies begin a journey north from their overwintering grounds in Mexican forests. The epic migration spans generations and the better part of a continent.
EOL is pleased to announce a new Google Earth tour video showcasing the migration of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) in North America, and the people that help them out along the way.
This Google Earth tour is accompanied by two companion podcasts, the first of which can be found here.
This Google Earth Tour was produced by Atlantic Public Media in cooperation with the Encyclopedia of Life Learning + Education group located at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology.
![More on Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) on EOL
(photo by Ondřej Zicha [CC BY-NC] via Biolib.cz)](http://25.media.tumblr.com/959d602373750d31ef6b544df1918057/tumblr_mlgsabfpGy1r08qv4o1_500.jpg)
More on Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) on EOL
(photo by Ondřej Zicha [CC BY-NC] via Biolib.cz)
Rodents of Unusual Size Do Exist | Around The Mall
smithsonianmag.comButtercup and Westley may have doubted the ROUS’ existence in 1987′s The Princess Bride, but the love-stricken pair quickly caught on when the “Rodents of Unusual Size” attacked.
A team of scien …
R.O.U.S. exist? Inconceivable! (see esp. http://flip.it/H1eS8)
The Chelsea Grasslands in bloom.
The High Line’s planting design is inspired by the self-seeded landscape that grew on the out-of-use elevated rail tracks during the 25 years after trains stoppe …
Following up on my flip re: the High Line in NYC, this is an index of the plants you can expect to see blooming there, by month. Very well done, which should not surprise anyone.
Beetles and Moths - A One Species at a Time Podcast from EOL
How much trouble can an unassuming black beetle no bigger than your fingernail be? Plenty, as we learn in this episode of One Species at a Time. Tiny stowaways like the European Gazelle beetle are arriving on container ships and wreaking havoc with native ecosystems. Long-standing pests like the gypsy moth have been joined by new exotic species that are crowding out North American fauna. Ari Daniel Shapiro journeys to the forests of Oregon to meet the beetles.
Subscribe to the One Species at a Time Podcast on Apple iTunes
To learn more about how to use EOL’s One Species at a Time podcasts in the classroom and in broadcast media, please see our Podcast Guide for Educatorsor contact the EOL Learning & Education group.
(photo of Delta Flower Beetle Trigonopeltastes delta by Lynette Schimming, CC BY-NC, contributed to EOL via the EOL Group on Flickr)
Climbing Perch - Anabas testudineus (Bloch)
Anabas testudineus, a small fish from Indian waters, testudineus means “turtle like”(1) commonly called as climbing perch .This is a fish widely distributed throughout south and south east Asia. It is a very common fish found in the river and pond waters of Machilipatnam and Eluru of Andhra Pradesh. It is a Bengali delicacy and is frequently exported to West Bengal from Eluru. Its common name in Bengali is Koi and in Telugu it is called as “Gorkalu” This fish is a column feeder and a larvicidal fish (feeds upon mosquito larvae,(2) )and hence used to control mosquito larvae. Anabas is grayish green in color and has brown fins. It grows up to 9 inches and is a very hardy fish, due to the presence of accessory respiratory organ. (Rosette like structures found very close to the pectoral fin) and is known to survive for 8 years in captivity (3) basically a carnivorous fish, also known to eat rice (4)
Body is covered by cycloid scales. Lateral line sense organ is identified by the black spots as conspicuous one at the base of the caudal fin (5)
Male and female fishes are identified only during the breeding season, by the difference in their color. During the breeding season, the females show a brilliant orange color with shades of yellow on the ventral side of the abdomen and also on the pelvic fin. During spawning season the abdomen of the female is slightly bulged out.(6)
Climbing perch can live in water low in oxygen, polluted water, and also water with rotting vegetation. In such waters, the fish rises to surface and gulps air.
Anabas can survive out of water for about 6-10hours (7)
During dry seasons, the fish burrows in the mud and is in resting phase. It is interesting to see the fish travelling in troops on the ground, during early morning and at times of rain storm. This is a migratory fish, migrating from one pond to another during rainy season for spawning (8)
Legend about the Climbing Perch: As this fish is frequently found on tree tops and also found hanging from trees or living in water filled slits of a palm tree (9). It was believed that the fish would travel and climbing the trees. This was observed and confirmed by Lieutenant Daldrof of the Danish East India Company in the year 1797, so people believed it to be truly climbing perch for nearly 250 years. It was in the year 1927, that this myth about this fish as climbing perch was clarified by the study of B.K Das,(10) an Indian expert on fishes.
This fish, when travelling as troops are often caught by birds such as pond crows and kites catch and carry them off and park them on tree tops, and slits of trees. Perch can live without water for days and so were found alive on most of tree tops and hence the name as climbing perch. As the myth has been cleared, it is more appropriately now called as “Walking Perch” rather than as climbing perch. (11)
REFERENCES
http://www.aquarium-glaser.de/en/anabas-cf-macrocephalus_en_1177.html
G.Chandra, I.Bhattacharjee, S.N Chatterjee and A.Ghosh(2008); “Mosquito Control by larvivorous fish”; Indian Journal of Medical Research 127; pp-13-27
Flower, (1925) “ Contributions to our knowledge of the duration of life in vertebrate animals I. Fishes; Journal; Proc Zool Society, London 1; 247-267
Jeffery B.Graham (1997); in the book titled “Air breathing Fishes, Evolution, diversity and adaptation” Academic Press
R.Premakumari (1988); PhD thesis titled “ Some aspects of physiology of fish under nutritional stress” submitted to Osmania University, Hyderabad, INDIA
Shantha Vijaya raghavan, (1981); “ Some aspects of Physiology of digestion on fish. PhD thesis ; Osmania University, Hyderabad, INDIA
Hughes ,G.M and Singh , B.N (1970) “ Respiration in an air breathing fish, the climbing perch, Anabas testudineus (Bloch) I .Oxygen uptake and carbon dioxide release in to air and water” J Expt Biology 53;265-280
Natarajan, G.M (1972); “ Studies on the respiration of Anabas scandens (Cuvier)”, M.Sc thesis submitted to ICAR, New Delhi, INDIA
Jesse Mitchell (1864), “On the Climbing habits of Anabas Scandens”, Annals and Magazine of Natural History 13; 117-119
Das,B.K (1927) “ The Bionics of certain air breathing fishes of Indian, together with an account of the development of their air breathing organs” Phil. Trans .Ser.B 216: 433; 183-219
Maurice Burton,(1984) ; Encyclopedia of reptiles, amphibians and other cold blooded animals; BPC Publishers
Submitted by
Padmavathi Godavarthy
anjanipadmavathi@gmail.com
EOL is now on iTunesU!
The EOL team has gathered together a veritable treasure trove of biodiversity information, videos, podcasts and educational materials and made them available through iTunes University.
Have a look at EOL on iTunesU and let us know what you think!
Seagrass: A One Species at a Time Podcast from the Encyclopedia of Life
The species that was Àlex Lorente’s passion was an extraordinarily long-lived seagrass, once common along the coast of his native Spain. Tragically, Lorente himself was not to enjoy a long life: he died in 2012 at the age of 37. But his colleagues in marine conservation are working to make sure the links Lorente forged between scientists and fishermen survive, for the good of the Mediterranean that he cherished.
Subscribe to the One Species at a Time Podcast on Apple iTunes
To learn more about how to use EOL’s One Species at a Time podcasts in the classroom and in broadcast media, please see our Podcast Guide for Educators or contact the EOL Learning & Education group.
(Photo of Posidonia oceanica by Roberto Pillon, © WoRMS for SMEBD CC:BY-NC-SA View source )
Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) :: xeno-canto -
Common Cuckoo · Cuculus canorus · Linnaeus, 1758
Order: CUCULIFORMES
Family: Cuculidae (Cuckoos)
Genus: Cuculus
Species: canorus
Map Legend
Subspecies
bakeri · Hartert, 1912
• canorus · Linnaeus, 1758
• fal …
Enjoy some bird sounds - specifically, an awful lot of them. EOL is delighted that xeno-canto is one of its content partners; we’re also big, big fans of their website. Enjoy.