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Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · 1d

Interestingly, some rove beetle species can live alongside ants and termites in their nests. These beetles produce fluids that the ants consume. Also, do not worry if you find these little insects in your backyard or garden because they help get rid of fleas and various garden pests.

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Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · 5d

Their sharp spicules defence mechanism protects the sea fans from general feeders like flamingo tongue snails but is insufficient against specialist predators. Hence the sea fans evolved a chemical defense through the secretion of ‘julieannafuran’ to deter sea slugs and other predators.

Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · 8d

On your next weekly hike, you might be lucky enough to meet a species of Cerambycidae🪲, the longhorn beetles, such as 𝘡𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘮 (Gressitt, 1942)! You can't miss its pair of long antennae that it uses like satellite dishes 📡 to sniff out pheromones and read environmental cues.

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Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · 12d

There are 19 species of sengis in the world. Among them, the golden-rumped sengi 𝘙𝘩𝘺𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘺𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘺𝘨𝘶𝘴 (Günther, 1881) is notable for its distinctive gold-colored patch on its rump and grizzled gold fur on its forehead. The golden flash of their fur can deflect a predator’s attention.

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Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · 15d

Buzzing around from flower to flower is a tiny pollinator powerhouse called Hewitt’s Reed Bee, 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪 (Cameron, 1908) 🐝🌼. These bees are polylectic, which means they visit a wide range of plants and forage throughout a plant’s entire blooming period.

Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · 19d

With their striking beauty and hidden danger, species of lionfish (𝘗𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘪𝘴 spp., Oken, 1817) have venomous spines surrounded by sheaths that, when punctured, release venom into the victim’s body. The venom contains neurotoxic peptides and other bioactive substances.

Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · 22d

Keep an eye out for 𝘊𝘰𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘢 𝘢𝘣𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴 (Donovan, 1798), also known as the froghopper in your garden! They get their fun name from their incredible jumping power 🆙. Believe it or not, they can launch themselves up to 70 cm in the air, or 50 times their own length 🦘!

Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · 27d

Researchers found that the hue and iridescence of a peacock’s blue-green eye-like markings significantly impact mating success; when stickers were placed over a male's iridescent eyespots, his mating success dropped to nearly zero.

Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · 29d

Seek out the shining leaf beetle, 𝘓𝘦𝘮𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢 (Fabricius 1792), in sunlit clearings along the edges of woods and fields. If you approach too closely, do not be fooled by its sudden, dramatic act. It will drop and play dead in a clever defensive trick, a behaviour known as thanatosis.

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Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · Sep 5

For Hong Kong South Sea Crabs, the larval development occurs entirely in the eggs before they were hatched, and they directly spawn as free-living juvenile crabs. These juvenile crabs would eventually develop into adult Hong Kong South Sea Crabs following a series of molts.🦀

Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · Sep 2

Despite being a bee, this black and blue ⚫🐝🔵 species lacks corbicula (pollen baskets) on its hind legs. Instead of harvesting pollen, it practices kleptoparasitism - true to its name, it stealthily lays eggs in the unguarded nests of other bees 😎🪺.

Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · Aug 29

The Surinam cockroach primarily inhabits leaf litter, humus interstices, and areas beneath stones, thriving in moist, organic-rich soils. Males are darker in coloration, often display a deep brown hue, and may have longer antennae, while females tend to be larger with a more rounded abdomen.

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Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · Aug 26

𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘢, recognizable for the striking eye-like markings on their abdomen whose females are wingless and thus resemble ants. This solitary wasp looks for other solitary bees or wasps nests on the ground, laying an egg that will hatch into a larva that consumes the host’s provisions 🥚🍽️.

Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · Aug 22

Reabsorption occurs in response to unfavorable environments, such as changes in temperature, water quality, light intensity, and nutrient availability. By reabsorbing oocytes, the coral conserves energy and resources, ensuring survival until conditions improve for future reproduction.

Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · Aug 19

𝘛𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘴 is a small stink bug from the Pentatomidae family 😷💥. They pursue a shield-shaped body 🛡️ in earthy greens and browns and the family's signature defense: a pungent chemical spray when threatened 🤢👃.

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Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · Aug 15

Saying that the Malayan Tapir is a generalist is an understatement as it feeds on a menu of over 380 plant species, with around 40% coming from euphorbias and the madder families. Malayan Tapirs may also visit salt licks, which are places in the tropical forest with more mineral and salt deposits🧂.

Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · Aug 12

The camouflage expert 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘬𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 is a stick insect species native to Hong Kong 🇭🇰. Currently, only females of this species have been identified 👩🔍. These herbivorous insects 🌿 reproduce through parthenogenesis, where an embryo develops from an unfertilized egg.

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Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · Aug 9

By moving their bodies, the Peter’s elephantnose fish create changes in the direction of electric fields, which encode detailed information about their surroundings. As the viewpoint changes, so does the electric information obtained.

Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · Aug 5

Pursuing an iridescent blue metallic body, these solitary wasps are specialist architects that use mud to build their tube-shaped nests. 🏡🔨 These wasps are spider specialists, hunting down arachnids to paralyze and drag to their mud nests as fresh food for their larvae 🕷️🍽️.

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Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · Aug 1

To avoid detection by bees🐝 while raiding their hives, the African death's-head hawkmoth secretes chemicals🧪 that mimic the scent of its victims. Gas chromatography studies🔍 have shown that the similarity between the compounds extracted from bees and moths ranges from 94% to 99%.

Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · Jul 29

It’s not hard to find silverfish as they live pretty much in indoors urban environments and feed mostly on paper, books (as they can digest the cellulose contained in paper), glue, dust and even food crumbs 📰🍴

Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · Jul 25

𝘌𝘶𝘱𝘳𝘺𝘮𝘯𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺𝘪 can host the bioluminescent bacteria, 𝘈𝘭𝘪𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪🦠, in its light organ. While berry bobtail squid are hunting or hunted, they can effectively mimic the ambient light from the moon and stars above, making it nearly invisible to predators lurking below.

Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · Jul 22

Unlike most flies, females give birth to live larvae that immediately pupates and, once they become adults, use their piercing mouthparts to feed on blood 🩸🥤. Their strong claws help them cling tightly to feathers even during flight.

Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · Jul 18

By specializing in this ability, researchers found that the bottle gourd can float in seawater for nearly 1 year, with the seeds inside remaining perfectly viable! The rounded bottle shape could also aid rolling on water, enabling it to travel along currents and disperse overseas.

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Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum @hkbm.bsky.social · Jul 15

Instead of building exposed mud-nests like other potter wasps in the Vespidae family, 𝘙𝘩𝘺𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘶𝘮 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘮 prefers small cavities and hollow stems, transforming them into safe nurseries for their young 🕳️🏡.