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Seven New Species of Katydids found in Madagascar
Topic Started: Nov 5 2017, 12:57 PM (321 Views)
Yiqi15
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https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4341.2.2

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/11/animals-insects-madagascar-new-species/
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IIGSY
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A huntsman spider that wastes time on the internet because it has nothing better to do
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Yes
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Yiqi15
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Insect Illuminati Get Spooked
Nov 5 2017, 04:35 PM
Yes
Knew you'd be excited.
Current/Completed Projects
- After the Holocene: Your run-of-the-mill future evolution project.
- A History of the Odessa Rhinoceros: What happens when you ship 28 southern white rhinoceri to Texas and try and farm them? Quite a lot, actually.

Future Projects
- XenoSphere: The greatest zoo in the galaxy.
- The Curious Case of the Woolly Giraffe: A case study of an eocene relic.
- Untittled Asylum Studios-Based Project: The truth behind all the CGI schlock
- Riggslandia V.II: A World 150 million years in the making

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Talenkauen
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It's official. Between this, mole crickets, and the sand gropers, Orthopterans are my new favorite clade of insects.
PLEASE NOTE: If I come off as harsh or demanding whilst talking to you, please tell me. I apologize in advance.....


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IIGSY
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Someone should make a before after type thing with a normal cricket and this
Projects
Punga: A terraformed world with no vertebrates
Last one crawling: The last arthropod

ARTH-6810: A world without vertebrates (It's ded, but you can still read I guess)

Potential ideas-
Swamp world: A world covered in lakes, with the largest being caspian sized.
Nematozoic: After a mass extinction of ultimate proportions, a single species of nematode is the only surviving animal.
Tri-devonian: A devonian like ecosystem with holocene species on three different continents.

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Phylogeny of the arthropods and some related groups


In honor of the greatest clade of all time


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HangingThief
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Huh. "Seven new species of katydids" doesn't sound particularly newsworthy, but those are some pretty darn cool katydids.

Spoiler: click to toggle


This resting behavior reminds me of the giant stick insect Eurycantha calcarata. In that species the males are more aggressive and heavily armed than females (they pinch attackers with large leg spurs that can pierce human flesh down to the bone) and are believed to rest side by side with their mates to protect them from predators as well as rival males. The male katydid looks a lot larger and more powerful than the female, so maybe something similar is going on.

(There's also anecdotal evidence that Eurycantha pairs form such strong bonds that when one dies the other loses its will to live and dies shortly afterwards.)

Spoiler: click to toggle


I have to wonder if these hissing cockroaches (also from Madagascar) are mimicking the aggressive katydids. They're in the same size range and the coloration is quite similar- perhaps they or species similar to them were the cockroaches mentioned sheltering in the same places?
Hey.


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IIGSY
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HangingThief
Nov 5 2017, 08:35 PM
Spoiler: click to toggle


I have to wonder if these hissing cockroaches (also from Madagascar) are mimicking the aggressive katydids. They're in the same size range and the coloration is quite similar- perhaps they or species similar to them were the cockroaches mentioned sheltering in the same places?
I don't think those cockroaches are mimicking the katydids. Their body proportions are quite different.
Projects
Punga: A terraformed world with no vertebrates
Last one crawling: The last arthropod

ARTH-6810: A world without vertebrates (It's ded, but you can still read I guess)

Potential ideas-
Swamp world: A world covered in lakes, with the largest being caspian sized.
Nematozoic: After a mass extinction of ultimate proportions, a single species of nematode is the only surviving animal.
Tri-devonian: A devonian like ecosystem with holocene species on three different continents.

Quotes


Phylogeny of the arthropods and some related groups


In honor of the greatest clade of all time


More pictures


Other cool things


All African countries can fit into Brazil
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Rodlox
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Nov 5 2017, 07:04 PM
It's official. Between this, mole crickets, and the sand gropers, Orthopterans are my new favorite clade of insects.
sand gropers?

-----------------

this' terrific news.
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HangingThief
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Insect Illuminati Get Spooked
Nov 5 2017, 08:42 PM
HangingThief
Nov 5 2017, 08:35 PM
Spoiler: click to toggle


I have to wonder if these hissing cockroaches (also from Madagascar) are mimicking the aggressive katydids. They're in the same size range and the coloration is quite similar- perhaps they or species similar to them were the cockroaches mentioned sheltering in the same places?
I don't think those cockroaches are mimicking the katydids. Their body proportions are quite different.
I've seen worse cases of mimicry. It doesn't have to hold up under scrutiny to be effective, it just needs to momentarily startle a predator who got bitten the last time they tried to eat a stripy 2- inch insect.
Hey.


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