Tuesday 12 March 2019
29-11-2016 GARDENS OF THE BAY, SINGAPORE - THATCH SCREWPINE (Pandanus tectorius)
Pandanus tectorius is a species of Pandanus (screwpine) that is native to Malesia, Papuasia, eastern Australia, and the Pacific Islands. It grows in the coastal lowlands typically near the edge of the ocean. Common names in English include thatch screwpine, Tahitian screwpine, hala tree (pū hala in Hawaiian) and pandanus. The fruit is edible and sometimes known as hala fruit.
P. tectorius is a small tree that grows upright to reach 4–14 m (13–46 ft) in height. The single trunk is slender with brown ringed bark. It is spiny, grows to 4.5–11 m (15–35 ft) in width, and forks at a height of 4–8 metres (13–26 ft). It is supported by aerial roots (prop roots) that firmly anchors the tree to the ground. Roots sometimes grow along the branch, and they grow at wide angles in proportion to the trunk.
The female P. tectorius trees produce a segmented, large fruit. Although not closely related, the fruit resembles a pineapple. The fruit of P. tectorius is either ovoid, ellipsoid, subglobose or globose with a diameter of 4–20 cm (1.6–7.9 in) and a length of 8–30 cm (3.1–11.8 in). The fruit is made up of 38–200 wedge-like phalanges, often referred to as keys or carpels, which have an outer fibrous husk and are 8 inches in length. There are roughly 40 to 80 keys in each fruit and the color of the fruit can be yellow, orange, or red with a green top. Phalanges contain two seeds on average, with a maximum of eight reported. The phalanges are buoyant, and the seeds within them can remain viable for many months while being transported by ocean currents.
Monday 11 March 2019
3-11-2016 BAIDICHENG, CHINA - GREEN BACKED TIT (Parus monticolus)
The green-backed tit (Parus monticolus) is a species of bird in the family Paridae.
It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Its natural habitats are boreal forest, temperate forest, and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest.
Colorful small songbird of foothill and montane forests (up to 2800 m). Similar to Japanese Tit in appearance but with a bright yellow belly, greenish back, and two narrow white wingbars rather than one broad one. Forages at middle and upper levels in forests, often in pairs or as part of mixed-species flocks. Song a series of 3-4 whistles. Calls infrequently, a gruff “deedeedee.”
3-11-2016 BAIDICHENG, CHINA - BROWN BREASTED BULBUL (Pycnonotus xanthorrhous)
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The brown-breasted bulbul (Pycnonotus xanthorrhous ) is a songbird in the family Pycnonotidae. The species was first described by John Anderson in 1869.
A large dull bulbul of scrubby forest edges, farmland, and parks. Brown overall, with a black cap and white throat; a light brown wash on the chest contrasts with the otherwise pale breast and belly, giving it a “vested” appearance. Dull orange undertail feathers are essentially the only bright spot on this species. Can resemble juvenile Sooty-headed Bulbul, but lacks the white cheek and rump of that species. Song consists of short but rich warbled phrases, and is a common background sound in cities and towns. Calls include liquid chirrups and harsher churring calls.
It is found in south-eastern Asia from central and southern China to Myanmar and northern Thailand.
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The brown-breasted bulbul (Pycnonotus xanthorrhous) is a songbird in the family Pycnonotidae. The species was first described by John Anderson in 1869.
Alternate names for the brown-breasted bulbul include Anderson's bulbul and yellow-vented bulbul (not to be confused with the species of the same name, Pycnonotus goiavier).
Two subspecies are recognized:
P. x. xanthorrhous - Anderson, 1869: Found from south-western China and northern Myanmar to northern Indochina
P. x. andersoni - (R. Swinhoe, 1870): Originally described as a separate species in the genus Ixos. Found in central and southern China
It eats fruit, including Camellia japonica.
13-11-2016 BAIDICHENG, CHINA - BLACK THROATED TIT (Aegithalos concinnus)
In older sources, "black-throated tit" can also mean the rufous-naped tit or the rufous-vented tit, which are true tits.
The black-throated bushtit (Aegithalos concinnus), also known as the black-throated tit, is a very small passerine bird in the family Aegithalidae.
It ranges from the foothills of the Himalayas, stretching across northern India through north-eastern Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, northern Myanmar, Vietnam, and Taiwan. Disjunct populations also occur in southern Vietnam, the island of Hainan and further north in China up to the Yellow River. It lives in open broadleaf forest as well as pine forest, generally occurring in middle altitudes.
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Sunday 10 March 2019
31-10-2016 XIAN, CHINA - DARK CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY (Colias fieldii)
Colias fieldii , the dark clouded yellow, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found in southern Iran, India, southern China, Indochina, and Ussuri.
The larvae feed on Leguminosae species.
Subspecies
C. f. fieldii Yunnan, India
C. f. chinensis Verity, 1909 S.Ussuri
Accepted as a species by Josef Grieshuber & Gerardo Lamas
31-10-2016 XIAN, CHINA - PARADOXICAL KEELED MILLIPEDES (Family Paradoxosomatidae)
Orthomorpha is a genus of millipedes in the family Paradoxosomatidae containing approximately 50 species distributed in Southeast Asia.
Species of Orthomorpha possess 20 body segments and range from 15–50 mm long as adults. They range from 1.1–3.1 mm in body width, with prominent paranota (lateral keels) extending the width to 1.5–6.7 mm. Base coloration varies from brown to black, with brightly colored paranota and markings in various shades of yellow, orange, and brown, which becomes fainter in alcohol-preserved specimens. Some species have prominent bumps or "tubercles" on their dorsal metatergal segments.
Orthomorpha species range from Myanmar in the west, through the entire Indochinese Peninsula, to Lombok, Indonesia. The species O. coarctata, (also known as Asiomorpha coarctata) has been widely introduced by humans in tropics around the world.
26-11-2016 YANGON, MYANMAR - EURASIAN TREE SPARROW (MALE) (Passer montanus)
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The Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus) is a passerine bird in the sparrow family with a rich chestnut crown and nape, and a black patch on each pure white cheek. The sexes are similarly plumaged, and young birds are a duller version of the adult. This sparrow breeds over most of temperate Eurasia and Southeast Asia, where it is known as the tree sparrow, and it has been introduced elsewhere including the United States, where it is known as the Eurasian tree sparrow or German sparrow to differentiate it from the native unrelated American tree sparrow. Although several subspecies are recognised, the appearance of this bird varies little across its extensive range.
The Eurasian tree sparrow's untidy nest is built in a natural cavity, a hole in a building or the disused nest of a European magpie or white stork. The typical clutch is five or six eggs which hatch in under two weeks. This sparrow feeds mainly on seeds, but invertebrates are also consumed, particularly during the breeding season. As with other small birds, infection by parasites and diseases, and predation by birds of prey take their toll, and the typical life span is about two years.
Saturday 9 March 2019
9-3-2019 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - MONTPELLIER CISTUS (Cistus monspeliensis)
Cistus monspeliensis is a species of rockrose known by the common name Montpellier cistus or narrow-leaved cistus. It is native to southern Europe and northern Africa, in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecosystems of matorral—maquis shrublands.
Cistus monspeliensis is a shrub with narrow evergreen leaves and a hairy, glandular, sticky surface. The leaves are linear to lance-shaped, green, with a rugose, wrinkled upper surface, up to 5 centimeters long. In cultivation, C. monspeliensis attains a height of around one meter and a width of 1.5 metres.
The plant's inflorescence is generally a panicle of 2 to 8 flowers, each with five sepals and five white petals.
It is mainly distributed throughout the western Mediterranean Basin (Portugal, including Madeira; Spain, including the Canary Islands and Balearic Islands; Morocco; southern France, including Corsica; Italy, including Sardinia and Sicily; Malta; Algeria; Tunisia) but it is also present in Croatia; Serbia; Albania; Montenegro; Greece and Cyprus.
The plant has been reported elsewhere as an introduced species, and in California as an invasive species.
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