Tag: leaves

If you’ve ever wondered what would happen
if you crossed a slug with a leaf, friends, we have your answer right
here. This strange creature that appears to be part leaf, part slug and
part tongue is a Leaf-vein slug (Athoracophorus bitentaculatus),
a species of land slug native to New Zealand. They’re nocturnal and
thought to feed primarily on algae and fungi found on the surface of
plants, which means they don’t damage plants like plenty of other slug
species do.

This particular specimen was photographed by Redditor Aaronlolwtf while they were out trimming some flax last year. To view more examples of this fascinating little creature, click here. (via Reddit)

Could plants move in connection with the moon?
There is a possibility in the correlation between the moon and the movement of leaves.
Peter
Barlow of the University of Bristol made the discovery while attempting
to determine why the leaves of some plants seemed to move up and down
during the night despite the lack of sunlight.

By analyzing the
movements of bean plants over the last 100 years and matching them up
with estimates of the local gravitational influence of the moon he was
able to determine that these movements seemed to correspond extremely
well to the moon’s gravity.

After gathering as much data as he could on
the subject Barlow hypothesized that water motion within the joints
of the leaves may be responsible for this peculiar form of movement. The phenomenon has since come to be referred to as “leaftide”.

Spitbug nest
The froghoppers, or the superfamily Cercopoide, are best known for the nymph stage, which produces a cover of frothed-up plant sap resembling spit; the nymphs are therefore commonly known as spittlebugs and their froth as cuckoo spit, frog spit or snake spit.

The froth serves a number of purposes. It hides the nymph from the view of predators and parasites, it insulates against heat and cold, thus providing thermal control and also moisture control. Without the froth the insect would quickly dry up.