#883: Zosterops

The Zosterops are tiny passerines, with species spread throughout Africa, Southeast Asia and Australasia. Many are characterised by the white rings around their eyes. He follows an insectivorous diet, favouring fruit and nectar during the warmer months, and consuming more insect prey in the colder months. This fellow is the critically endangered Mauritius olive white-eye. He feeds on nectar and insects, with a special preference for rare endemic flowers, which have been largely overtaken by introduced plants. His nests are also destroyed by introduced pests like rats and macaques.

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And thus concludes the last in my animal alphabet, but not truly the end, for I have a few animals to fill in the gaps from previous and will be taking requests, preferably around 17 to bring me up to the #900. If you wish to request an animal that has not already been included, comment here or email me: lemurkat@gmail.com, subject: ZooTrophy.

And I will, at some point in the not TOO distant future, be undertaking a similar, but smaller, project on prehistoric animals.

Creature Feature #519: Nurseryfish

The Nurseryfish is a large freshwater fish - growing to around 60cm long - and found in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Australia. Here he makes his home in brackish waters, estuaries and slow-moving rivers. His diest consists of small fish and crustaceans. A popular game fish, his taste is well regarded and he is commonly eaten. The male's forehead is covered in a cluster of short hooks. These are used to anchor the egg clusters  in place until the hatch.

Creature Feature #472: Monarch

Today's entry is dedicated to the memory of Carol "Monarch" Schmidt, a fine artist who helped welcome me to the world of Artist Trading Cards and whom dedicated her time and passions to these astonishing insects.

The Monarch Butterfly is a milkweed butterfly with a cosmopolitan distribution. She is found in America, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and parts of Asia. She has even been transported into space and bred in the international space station. In America, she is most noted for her long migration. During the summer months, her range extends up into southern Canada, but as the days grow shorter, individuals gather together and begin a journey south to overwinter in California and Mexico. Colonies can travel over 4,000 kms. In New Zealand the Monarch also migrates, albeit a much shorter journey. The life cycle of the Monarch is one that  most people are familiar with: they are reliant on milkweed plants, specifically the "swan plant" to reproduce. The female lays her eggs, and the tiny yellow and black striped caterpillars hatch. These caterpillars strip the swan plant, becoming somewhat toxic from their diet. This does not deter all predators however, and some will fall prey to other invertebrates such as praying mantises or paper wasps.