Giant water bug eating a turtle and snake

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By Ella DaviesReporter, BBC Nature

Role reversal: insects prey upon reptiles

A giant water bug has been photographed eating a juvenile turtle in an unusual predatory role reversal.

Large bugs in the Lethocerinae family have been known to prey upon small vertebrates including fish and frogs.

But unlike insects that often fall prey to reptiles, scientists have observed one particular species of bug eating snakes and a turtle.

Dr Shin-ya Ohba recorded the unusual behaviour during night sampling in western Hyogo, central Japan.

Writing in the journal Entomological Science, Dr Ohba describes observing a Kirkaldyia deyrolli eating a Reeve's pond turtle in a ditch next to a rice field.

Using its front legs the giant water bug gripped the turtle, inserting its syringe-like rostrum into the prey's neck in order to feed.

The giant water bugs are known to only attack moving prey, so it is likely that the 58mm insect captured and killed the young turtle before feeding on it.

Dr Ohba has also photographed giant water bugs eating snakes in the past.

"Everyone thinks that Lethocerinae bugs live on fishes and frogs. Although eating a turtle and snake are rare in the natural condition, [this evidence] surprises naturalists [by showing] voracious feeding habits," said Dr Ohba.

He suggests that these observations of bugs predating reptiles call into question previously held opinions about predator-prey dynamics in freshwater habitats.

K. deyrolli are native to Japan where they have been found living in rice fields, feeding primarily on small fish and frogs.

The species is listed as endangered by the Japanese Environment Agency following serious declines over the last forty years, reportedly due to habitat loss and water pollution.

A giant water bug successfully takes on a snake

Giant water bugs are the largest of the true bugs (Hemiptera) and members of the sub-family Lethocerinae are found in freshwater ponds, lakes and slow-moving streams and rivers across North America, South America and East Asia.

Lethocerus species can grow up to 15cm long, are nocturnal and can fly, relying on the light of the full moon to migrate.

They possess a venomous bite which they use to subdue prey and are occasionally known to bite humans, resulting in a burning pain that can last several hours.

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White Tiger Eating

Dog returns home after storm with two broken legs

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BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) – Amazing stories of survival from the April 27th tornadoes don’t just include people. There are some amazing 4-legged tales of endurance being told including the story of one dog who just returned home yesterday. He is clearly battered, but alive.

Mason, a terrier mix, now rests inside the Vulcan Park Animal Care Clinic where he’s waiting to find out what kind of surgery he will need to repair 2 badly broken legs. This is only the 2nd night he’s spent under any kind of roof in the last 2 weeks and the story of how he got there is almost too amazing to believe.

On April 27th, Mason was hiding in his garage in North Smithfield when the storm picked him up and blew him away. His owners couldn’t find him and had about given up when they came back Monday to sift through the debris, and found Mason waiting for them on the porch.

“He’s got 2 broken legs and they’re distal radial ulnal fractures, they’ve not been able to be in alignment so neither one of them have healed so he had to crawl on 2 broken legs to get home,” said Dr. Barbara Benhart, staff veterinarian at the Birmingham-Jefferson Co. Animal Control Shelter.

“This is probably the most dramatic we’ve seen as far as an injury in an animal that’s survived this long,” said Phil Doster, also with the shelter. “It’s kind of tapering off, the amount of animals we’re seeing because of the storm. For an animal just to show up on someone’s porch after this time was pretty remarkable, especially with the condition he’s in.”

Mason’s owners asked the shelter to take him because they’re not able to care for him while they try and piece their lives back together, and now Mason’s amazing tale gets better with the help of a donation from the Vulcan Park Animal Care Clinic.

“He called and asked if there was anything he could do, last week, and this dog appeared today and so I called him, and never a hesitation, he offered ‘bring it on over and he’ll see what he can do,” said Dr. Benhart.

Now with a little luck and a lot of love, Mason may become a mascot for storm survivors on four and 2 legs.

“For an animal to go through what he’s gone through and not to be ugly, to be happy for any companionship is remarkable, we’re honored to be part of his recovery,” said Doster.

Mason was evaluated this afternoon but no course of treatment has been set yet. The hope is that after he recovers, he can return to his original family. If not, the shelter says they will find a home for Mason to start his new life with new mobility.

Shark Diarrhea

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World’s Biggest Gathering of Whale Sharks

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To see a single whale shark — the world’s largest fish, a solitary behemoth that can grow to school-bus size — is a rare experience.

Seeing hundreds gathered in one place is unprecedented.

“It’s one of the most incredible gatherings of animals that’s ever been recorded. It’s mind-blowing,” said marine biologist Al Dove of the Georgia Aquarium. “As someone who studies whale sharks, which have a reputation of being something you see once in a blue moon, the idea of finding 400 in an area of the size of a couple football fields is unheard of.”

The so-called Afuera gathering, described April 29 in Public Library of Science One, took place in August 2009 off the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula, not far from the waters around Cabo Catoche. Dozens of whale sharks have converged there each summer since 2002, drawn by crustaceans that feed on massive plankton blooms fueled by upswellings of nutrient-rich deep-sea water.

‘It’s one of the most magnificent animals in the ocean, and we don’t know some of the most basic things about it.’

Rather than plankton, the Afuera gathering is sustained by the eggs of little tunny, a common species of tuna. In a blog post on Deep-Sea News, Dove notes that a spawning event capable of feeding 400 whale sharks eating constantly for an entire month is itself an ecological marvel. But it was naturally overshadowed by the whale sharks themselves, with the Afuera congregation representing a full fifth of all whale sharks believed to live in the Caribbean and western Atlantic.

“It’s the dog days of summer. It’s very, very hot. The water tends to be still and flat. You can hear the whispering of fins and tails cutting through the water,” said Dove. “People used to joke, in the old days of fisheries, ‘You could walk across the water on the backs of fishes.’ It’s not that far from the truth.”

In the new study, Dove and colleagues document the existence of this marvelous event. Once past the basic details, however, many questions emerge.

The Afuera whale sharks are just eating, not mating; the mating habits of whale sharks are a mystery to biologists. The gathering contained no juveniles, only adults; biologists don’t actually know where juvenile whale sharks live, where they’re born or even how they’re born. Whale sharks are literally a colossal mystery.

“It’s one of the most magnificent animals in the ocean, and we don’t know some of the most basic things about it,” said Dove. “It’s exciting and humbling. People are going to ask simple questions that you’re not going to be able to answer. But those huge gaps represent great opportunities to get out there and discover stuff.”

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