Ugly Animals: July 2011

Vampire Bats

The vampire bat is one of the ugliest and most feared animals in the Western Hemisphere. This repulsive-looking creature has huge ears and a wrinkled-up nose that sits atop large fang-like teeth. And if its looks weren't bad enough, this animal also has the nasty penchant for mammal blood. At night these bats emerge from their caves to search for unsuspecting cows, horses, birds, pigs or even humans. Then, often without waking their victim, the bat uses its sharp teeth to shave away pieces of flesh and then lap up the oozing blood with their tongues. On the plus side, these "attacks" often go unnoticed and rarely hurt the victim.

The vampire bat is of course impeccably adapted to drinking blood. He will fly in absolute darkness to slurp on mammals, while its two closest relatives prefer birds. He first detects its prey through the snuffling and snoring that we animals do when we sleep, and indeed the bit of its brain that deals with this information is rather pronounced - much like the bit in the Pilkington-Smythe’s bonce that locates booze.

Ugly Animals - Vampire Bat

Damselfly

Damselfly

Not many of us will find this insect ugly... the reason being its vibrant blue color. Yes, I agree! It sure does have a very brilliant color but what is the use? Check out its head's close up and you will realize why this Damselfly featured here in the Ugly Animals blog.

Damselflies and dragonflies were flying 300 million years ago!

Today there are approximately 5,300 known species in the world.

Their front and back wings move separately so they can stop and change direction in mid air as well as flying at speeds of up to 30 miles an hour.

They have huge eyes; each made up of thousands of tiny eyes packed together. They are capable of detecting movement up to 15m away.

They are very successful hunters with bristly front legs to catch their victims and large mouth parts to crunch them up. The insect order they belong to is known as Odonata which means 'toothed jaw'. Because fish like to eat damselflies, fishermen have special lures that are designed to look and move like damselfly naiads. Fly fishermen also use lures designed to fly through the air like adult damselflies.

Ugly Animals - Damselfly

Lymantrid Moth AKA Nosema

The Lymantrid moth (Calliteara pudibunda) is widespread in Danish beech (Fagus sylvatica) forests. The species has one generation in Denmark, with the dull grey moth flying during June. Each female can lay 300-400 eggs which she normally does very near the place where she emerged from the pupae. The small caterpillar is very hairy and can easily be transported by the wind. In late autumn the caterpillar is fully grown, is about 5 cm long and is very beautifully coloured. Pupation takes place among leaves on the ground where a silken cocoon is made.

Remember just the "color" is beautiful in this moth and nothing else! Lol

Ugly Animals - Lymantrid Moth

Puffer Fish

Before even I start saying something about this, let me make this straight and clear - "I LOVE Puffer Fishes. I personally think they are cute." However, one of my fellow readers wanted me to publish Puffer Fish in our "Ugly Animals" blog. So, this post is dedicated to that reader. Hope this makes you happy :-)

Puffer Fish are the second most poisonous vertebrate on earth (the first one is golden dart Frog). The meat of some species is a delicacy in both Japan (as fugu) and Korea (as bok-uh) but the problem is that the skin and certain organs of many puffer fish are very poisonous to humans.

This puffy fish produce rapid and violent death..Puffers poisoning causes deadening of the tongue and lips, dizziness, vomiting, rapid heart rate, difficulty breathing, and muscle paralysis. Victims die from suffocation as diaphragm muscles are paralyzed. Most of the victims die after four to 24 hours. There is no known antidote, Most deaths from fugu happen when untrained people catch and prepare the fish.

Statistics show that there were 20 to 44 incidents of fugu poisoning per year between 1996 and 2006 in all of Japan and up to six incidents per year led to death. Since Fugus poison can cause near instantaneous death, only licensed chefs are allowed to prepare it.

Ugly Animals - Puffer Fish

Dealth Stalker Scorpion

Fortunately, while a sting from this scorpion is extremely painful, it would be unlikely to kill a healthy, adult human. Young children, the old, or infirm (with a heart condition) are at the biggest risk. Death stalker scorpions are spread in North Africa and Middle East.

Death Stalker Scorpions (Leiurus quinquestriatus) can cause a highly dangerous situation for someone who has been stung. Highly aggressive in nature, these reptiles can cause fatal results within seconds. They come in different shades and hues and this color variation mainly depends on the locality where they reside. A member of the arachnid family, Deathstalker Scorpions are also known as Omdurman scorpions or Israeli desert scorpions in some places. The literal translation of the binomial name of this species is "five-striped smooth-tail".

The females Death Stalkers are larger in size, than the males. This helps them accomplish their reproductive tasks. Handling of this animal, for the purpose of study and research, should be undertaken with care, as a single sting is enough to cause immediate death. It is for this very reason that this species is housed in escape-proof enclosures. A very easy way to identify and distinguish the Death stalker is from its thin cauda or tail and its thin claws or pedipalps.

Ugly Animals - Death Stalker Scorpions

Weta

Lots of people really don’t like creepy, crawly things but they can be pretty groovy. Look at them up close and you'll discover where movie directors get some of their ideas for weird creatures!

Weta are large by insect standards. Some of the giant weta are enormous and are amongst the heaviest insects in the world. The weta is only found in New Zealand and is so old it has outlived the dinosaurs.

The weta is sometimes called the dinosaur of the insect world. The weta is more primitive than the tuatara. The weta has changed very little in the past 100 million years. Weta have their ears on their front knees and can feel the vibrations of noises around them.

You can tell a male and female weta apart because females have a long ovipositor, which looks a bit like a stinger, which they use to lay eggs. Guess what? Weta is one of the heaviest insects in our planet!

Ugly Animals - Weta

The Fangtooth

Very small in size and harmless to humans, the fangtooth is unapproachable due to his looks. It’s a good thing people can’t run into them very often while swimming, because they live at depths between 200m-2,000m, the Fangtooth is considered one of the deepest-living fish, at depths of up to 5,000m.

The Fangtooth’s front teeth are so large and spiky that they have evolved two sockets on either side of the brain to accommodate them while their mouth is closed. They are one of the most robust species of fish on the planet, able to live in fish-tanks where the conditions are very different from their natural environment.

Ugly Animals - The Fangtooth

Basking Shark

After the Whale shark, the Basking shark is the largest fish on the planet. It can be found in practically every ocean but like all the other species of shark it faces extinction due to excessive fishing.

This particular shark resembles a great white to the point when it opens his huge mouth. Then it is just a bit freaky, like a bone-tube sucking in everything in its path. This harmless, slow-moving big boy feeds on small fish, invertebrates, zooplankton from 2,000 tons of water per hour. He likes to eat this one.

Ugly Animals - Basking Shark

Savannah Monitors

These Savannah Monitors are Old World lizards are of the Varanidae family. Their Latin name, Varanus, comes from the Arabic word, waran. Waran, in turn, stems from the superstitious belief that Nile Monitors could warn of the presence of crocodiles. Kind of like how Bilbo's Sting could warn of the presence of Orcs.

These buggers grow up to 7 feet long and have become unwanted residents of S.W. Florida, particularly Sanibel & Captiva Island.

They are aggressive and eat rodents, other reptiles, amphibians, birds, small mammals, insects and eggs from nests they raid. They can swim and burrow and like the Burmese Python, are a major threat to Florida wildlife.

Ugly Animals - Savannah Monitors