Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans of the order Decapoda, which includes crabs, shrimps, lobsters, and hermit crabs. Crayfish are found on all continents on Earth except Africa and Antarctica. They are an essential part of the food chain. They feed on algae, insects, mussels, and snails, while fish, herons, otters, and other larger animals feed on them. This feeding balance has been maintained for hundreds of thousands of years. Unfortunately, people destroy this balance.
Crayfish evolved from marine ancestors dating back some 280 million years. There are more than 300 species of crayfish worldwide. Although nearly half of the species are endangered or imperiled. They live in water, hiding beneath rocks, logs, sand, mud, and vegetation. Some species dig burrows.
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Only the female mosquito bites and leaves those itchy lumps on our arms and legs. She needs the blood for her eggs to develop. The humming sound we hear comes from the fast beat of the mosquito’s wings. The male mosquito feeds on nectar and other plant juices. Mosquitoes are part of a large group of insects called flies. A mosquito has two narrow wings, two antennas, and six long legs. A female mosquito usually has a mouthpart called a proboscis, which looks like a long tube. There are more than 3000 species of mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes are usually found wherever the weather is damp or where there are rivers, lakes, or swamps. That’s because these insects must lay their eggs in water. They even lay eggs in tin cans partly filled with rainwater. Mosquitoes have four stages in their life cycle beginning with the egg, then proceeding into a larva stage, followed by a pupa stage, and finally adulthood. When the eggs hatch, the young mosquitoes look like little worms.
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Since ancient times people have tried to explain the night sky. A constellation is a group of stars. The groups are identified according to patterns that people have seen in the stars and they are simply ways that people have imagined the stars. Over thousands of years different cultures have seen different patterns in the stars. They have named many different constellations after familiar animals, everyday objects, and characters and beasts from stories.
Today constellations provide a connection between modern humans and ancient stories. Astronomers have named 88 constellations and they use them to help describe the location of specific stars.
There are 12 well-known constellations that lie in a band of space called the zodiac: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, and Pisces. Today astronomers have calculated that during the period from November 27 to December 17, there is one more zodiacal constellation on the horizon – Ophiuchus.
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The bullfinch has a bright red breast and gray back set off by a coal–black head. However, only males have red breasts, the female’s breasts are brown. They have an excellent ability to imitate different sounds. Some of these birds can memorize and whistle several very complex melodies. All you need is patience to train a bird. It is quite easy to tame bullfinch.
Despite the fact that most bullfinches live in Eurasia, the largest of them, white-cheeked bullfinches, live in the hot Philippines.
In captivity, these birds live less than in nature. The weight of an adult bullfinch is about thirty grams.
Bullfinches are monogamous. During the breeding season, males coax females by offering food. Males never take part in the construction of a nest. Nestlings of bullfinches gain their independence in the third week of life.
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People have been eating asparagus as a vegetable since ancient times. There are hundreds of types of asparagus plants which belong to the lily family, along with onions and garlic. Asparagus grows wild in parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia. The world’s leading asparagus producers are China, Peru, and the United States.
People eat the young shoots of the asparagus plant, which are called spears. Tender asparagus spears shoot up from the ground in spring and early summer. They must be picked by hand, not by machine. The spears are normally green, because they contain chlorophyll. Some growers in France and other places bury the growing spears in soil to prevent them from making chlorophyll. Spears grown this way are white and they are known for delicate flavor. People usually eat asparagus spears cooked.
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Flies belong to a group that also includes mosquitoes, gnats, and midges. There are about 100,000 species of fly. They live in almost every corner of the globe – in soils, plants, and around water bodies. Many flies are free-living, feeding off a wide range of plants, while others are parasites and scavengers. A number are of economic importance in controlling pest species, while others serve as vectors for a range of human, animal, and plant diseases.
Flies have a single pair of functional wings and a pair of knoblike vestigial wings known as halteres. Its head is free-moving and attached by a slender neck to the thorax. The fly has two large compound eyes. It has three pairs of legs, each ending in a pair of claws. Crane flies are exceptional in having extremely long legs.
Many species are a dull dung color. Hover flies are among the most colorful species, many of which are colored in similar patterns to bees and wasps.
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Earwig is a long-bodied insect with chewing mouthparts and many-jointed antennae. They hatch into nymphs which closely resemble the adults. The most distinguishing characteristic of earwigs is the pair of unjointed, forceps-like structures that terminate their abdomen. The pincers are useful in defense.
Earwigs are nocturnal animals, and they hide during the day in dark, damp places. There are about 900 classified species of earwigs in the world.
Earwigs received their common name from the folk belief that these insects would sometimes crawl into the ears of people as they slept.
Earwigs live on all continents of our planet, except frosty Antarctica. They eat different plants, other insects, and sometimes honey. In rural areas of England, earwig is called battle-twigs. Almost all earwigs have wings, and they can fly, but they do it very seldom. Several species of earwigs are wingless and blind.
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