Did you know? “Ladybugs” aren’t actually true bugs at all. They’re beetles!🐞
There are more than 5,000 species of these insects, which are also known as ladybird beetles. Most are helpful to humans because they feed on plant pests. Ladybird beetles have chewing mouthparts that are well-suited for munching on their prey such as aphids and mealybugs.
The Stygian Owl (Asio stygius) is also known as the “devil’s owl,” thanks to its horn-like tufts.😈🦉
Other notable physical traits that distinguish this bird: the long, slender build of its body and its dusky plumage. The nocturnal bird has a wide range that includes parts of Mexico, Cuba, Honduras, and Brazil. It tends to inhabit montane forests, where it feeds on bats, small mammals, and birds.
Gone, but not forgotten! The dodo went extinct in the 1600s, when people and other predators invaded its island home. Mauritius, east of Madagascar, is the only place dodos ever lived.🦤
While the birds died out before photography, their skeletons offer clues to what they were like. For example, this bird couldn’t fly—it had small wings for a bird of its size, its sternum has no keel (the support birds need for flight muscles), and it had thick leg bones made for walking. See this specimen up close in the Hall of Biodiversity!
