Category Archives: Critters

FAKING IT A female orchid mantis does a near-perfect floral imitation, fanning out her petallike legs as she clings to a twig.

Orchid mantises have evolved into a fake flower that out-flowers the real thing. The insects don’t seem to be mimicking any real flower found so far, but have invented something even fancier.

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Early one morning in August, an aquarist at Jenkison’s Aquarium in New Jersey came across some tiny surprises: several hundred Horseshoe Crab babies had hatched in an off-exhibit holding tank. They have been doing very well and some are now on exhibit in the aquarium’s classroom to promote a message of shoreline conservation, as migratory shorebirds depend on Horseshoe Crab eggs for a food source during their long migrations.