What did you learn about nature this week?
I was tickled to realize I had learned to recognize Euphorbia dioeca! Such a small plant but it feels like a tremendous accomplishment since there are four different native species of Euphorbia in my new garden. Immense thanks to @nathantaylor. (Also sometimes it is pink flowered but I can recognize that too!)
So how about everyone else? What did you learn in the last week or so?
A bunch about Cardamine diphylla!
Within a single species, the immature stages of Ortheziidae have the same number of antennal segments. Who’d have guessed that? I had expected they would accumulate segments each time they moulted.
I was reading up a little on marsh beetles because I saw one creekside this week–I have a tendency to read up on observations. And, last week, I read this article on crows:
[https://www.npr.org/2025/04/12/nx-s1-5359438/a-crows-math-skills-include-geometry]
I like watching crows for some reason, and I am always appreciative of how smart they seem to be.
Also, fun topic–thanks for asking.
While waiting for a bus, I was looking at what I thought was scarlet pimpernel (Lysimachia arvensis), and I noticed that the fruits looked like those of the cheese mallow. I thought that was very odd, as the fruit form is one of the ways I can recognize Malvaceae.
As it turns out, I was right about the fruit form and wrong about the flowers. It wasn’t scarlet pimpernel at all, but Carolina bristlemallow – which, despite both its common and scientific names referring to Carolina, is thought to be native to South America.
That is one of the sweetest, prettiest little flowers I have seen in some time, though I am a smidge wistful they do not appear to have been observed east of the isthmus of Tehuantepec save one stray. Nonetheless thank you so much for sharing it. (Now I have learned, too.)
Desmids have barium sulfate crystals in their rear which you can see under a microscope. The purpose of these crystals hasn’t been clarified, but given how heavy barium is and how rare it is shows up in living things I can’t stop thinking and wondering about this.
Weddell seals have an incredible range of vocalizations, including: sounds reminiscent of humans moaning in pain and bizarre ultrasonic sounds!
I learned that sloths are excellent at swimming. (Not sure if they go for sprint events or longer distance).
Hominids are an “edge” species (woodland/grassland) and probably co-evolved symbiotically with plant species such as hazel, blackthorn, burdock etc to mutual benefit.
That loons have solid bones ( for diving), cannot walk on land (leg placement) and they are not ducks.
This week I learned about tigers and lions and what happens when the different sexes breed with each other to create the hybrids. Obviously something only found in captivity, it’s important to know about when big cat rescues are involved and helping these creatures. Apparently male lions have genes that can cause their offspring to be extremely large, but female lions have a gene that offsets this, so a lion baby will only grow as large as it’s father. But when a male lion breeds with a female tiger, the liger is always gigantic, almost double the size of the male lion. Female tigers don’t have the same growth inhibiting gene that female lions have. So when a male tiger breeds with a female lion, the tigon will always be a similar size to the lion.
I also learned about the liliger (lion and liger) named Alyssa who lives at the Wildcat Sanctuary, and I watched a video about her becoming friends with a rescued lion named Leo who was grieving after his sister passed away. Because Alyssa is mostly a lion, she acts much more lion-like. In the video she makes chuffs at Leo, which is friendly tiger behaviour that he wouldn’t understand 
This week I learned that naked bats are a thing. They are such silly creatures. This I actually learned through iNaturalist!
I also learned that Australian Bustards exist. Very interesting birds 
I love learning about new things, especially nature-related facts. There’s always more to know and be fascinated by.
I learned that it is possible to determine the sex of bee flies (Bombylius major) based on their behavior in the field even if they are too busy flying around for you to get a photo and check whether the eyes touch.
Females are generally found near the ground, looking for nests of solitary bees or other holes they can fling their eggs into. Males stake out a territory a few meters above the ground and hover there, defending it from other males and keeping a lookout for females. My companion demonstrated this to me by tossing a small bee-fly-sized object in the general direction of the hovering fly, who immediately left his post in order to give chase.
how to tell the difference between some members of the Gutierrezia and Amphiachyris genera.
Last week I learnt that nocturnal birds like night jars and frog-mouths are really responsive when their call is played. If you go to the right place, and play a few merlin recordings of both birds, they will swoop down and land right in front of you!
This week I learnt that apparently those black markings at the tips of most dragonfly wings are for balance, and those dark pupil like dots you see in the eyes of mantises are not actual pupils (but instead a illusion)!
I don’t think it was quite this week, but I recently learned that a coquĂ’s two notes are not produced by blowing into the throat sac and then sucking it back. He blows into the throat sac twice, once for “co” and once for “qui”.
Yesterday, while removing them from our very chewed up lillies, I learned that the beetle Lilioceris lilii (Chrysomelidae) makes a chirping noise when under threat. It surprised me because the beetle is quite small, and I know of no other native beetle of this family that makes any noise.
Unfortunately for the beetle, the chirping noise is not a great defense mechanism against a curious human who will then repeat the offending action to see if it really was the beetle that made that noise and demonstrate it to everyone nearby afterwards.
(The beetle, probably: https://youtu.be/SSUf0fh7fr8)
I found out that i can’t really talk about minerals or plants in Hungarian because I studied them in Australia (informally) and don’t have the vocabulary. So.. this week was catching up on phrases by reading articles and presentations.
I have a strict limit on the number of words I can actively recall. I wonder what will I forget as the result.
Someone please quote the nursery rhyme when another child squeezez himself into the bed just for the last on the other end to fall off.
this is so simple and goofy but…
the other day watching a robin prance around my backyard, it dove into the dirt for a worm and was shaking it’s little hind end. every single time.
made me laugh a lot and i had never noticed it before!
Do you mean “Ten in the Bed” ?
There were ten in the bed And the little one said, “Roll over! Roll over!” So they all rolled over and one fell out…
I know the feeling of new information in sometimes seems to make two things fall out.