Marsh Dancer female has a dark brown abdomen that is thicker toward anal end,thorax with purplish or yellow stripes,small lateral blue rings open on dorsal side along abdomen will mark the female.The large frons,black eyes with brown below and a hairy face will confirm identity.Abdomen 23mm,wing 17-18mm.
Marsh dancer can be seen in Paddy areas in wet zone near surrounding low vegetation,tank near to jungle shrubs and lower hill areas.
Sri Lankan Kangaroo Lizard -(Otocryptis wiegmanni) is a small, grounddwelling agamid lizard endemic to the wet zone forests and lower mountain forests (up to 1300 meters) of Sri Lanka.This lizard when disturbed may run bipedally (Rises on to its hind legs when running). That is the base for unusual name ‘kangaroo lizard’ for it. It is commonly seen in the leaf litter near forest streams of shady rain forests.
It is commonly found in wet and intermediate zone habitats and is rarely seen in the dry zone except in riverine habitats. It is not found in highly populated areas.This lizard is active during the daytime and it is commonly found in pairs. It feeds on small insects and uses its hind legs to run, especially when threatened. It is usually found on tree trunks in the afternoon and under large leaves at night. This lizard leads a semi-arboreal life. When perceiving danger, it spurts away quickly on its large hind legs and might eventually climb up a sapling or tree. It feeds on small insects, grubs and tender shoots. It is closely related to the Indian Kangaroo Lizard (Otocryptis beddomii) of the rain forests of South India.
Adult body size,about 7 cms. Tail: 15 cms. Its colour ranges from dark reddish brown to dull brown. Males are darker than females. Lays between three and five eggs in a nest in the ground between July and January. Its diet consists of insects (Ants, Moths, Grasshoppers and Beetles), Spiders and occasionally plant materials such as tender shoots.
This lizard also called Wiegmann’s Agama or Brown-patched Kangaroo lizard ,several Sinhalese names for this lizard – Kala Katussa, Yak Katussa, Pinum Katussa, Thalli Katussa
Asian Groundling is a Very common dragonfly in Sri Lanka. Abdomen – 19-20mm and Wings – 22-23mm. wings 22-23mm. Female is lighter in color and much yellowish with clear wings contrary to male figured above. Habitats are slow flowing streams, weedy tank edges and marshes from the sea level to mid-hills.
Paddyfield Parasol female is very similar to the young male. The black dorsal lines are thicker than the males and the terminal segments are generally darker. The colour at the base of the wings is generally much less prominent.
The adult male is easily identifiable,but not common. It is generally orange/yellow in colour and different from the female.
Paddyfield Parasol can be seen in many places from open wasteland to the edge of forests,paddy fields and can be Found in Asia; Sri Lanka ,Bangladesh, China, Hainan, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia
Erebus ephesperis is a moth of the Noctuidae family. It is found in Asia, including Sri Lanka ,India,Japan, the Korean Peninsula, China, Singapore and Borneo.
The wingspan is about 90 mm and the patterning is very obliterative, breaking the body outline with shadow like countershading.Adults feed on fruit juice, including peach.
In the adult moth Careful examination of its underside revealed that the moth is a male, possessing both retinaculum and frenulum near the wing bases .
I have captured this dorasl view of Erebus ephesperis at Kalutara,Sri Lanka on the night of 24th July 2012.
These spiders make certain zig-zag pattern on web therefore also known as writer or signature spider.This spider weaves four zig zag stripes in its web, and holds its legs together in pairs. It holds its legs in pairs to disguise itself as a four legged creature; it does this to not appear to look like a spider.
These spiders have many names around the world, they are known as an Argiope, a Black and Yellow Garden Spider or a Writing Spider in North America. It is known as Wasp Spider in Germany and the rest of Europe and the St Andrews Cross spider in Austrailia. They know it as KOGANE-GUMO in Japan and east asia. There are 75 different species of this spider but they all look the same. Their colours vary in between their stripes but they all keep the black and yellow stripes, They distribute also Sri Lanka, Maldives,India, Pakistan.Their habitats are Moist Deciduous forests in the sunny parts.
They build their web only about a meter off the ground to catch the low flying insects such as bees and wasps that travel from flower to flower. Their web is almost invisiable, only for the zig zag strips on the web you wouldnt see it. These zig zag strips are known as the stabilmentum, they form these strips to warn bigger animals of its location, so they wont destroy it by walking through it.
When they have the web built, they line up their legs with the white strips of zig zaging silk. The centre of the web is hollow and this is where the spider sits. They group their legs together to appear as a four legged creature but also for another reason. When their legs are together, their hairs on their legs intertwine and act as a sun reflector along with the bright white X in its web. They do this because they know bright colours attract insects such as bees and wasps. Their legs reflect the sun and with their brightly coloured body they fool the insects into thinking they are flowers
Most of these spiders the male is much smaller than the female, Female: 8-12 mm;and Male: 3.5-4.5 mm.and after mating the female will kill the male. The male spins a web along side the females web known as a companion web, after mating the female will lay her eggs onto this companion web and wrap them up into a sac. Spiders are canabals and they eat each other to stay alive in the sac until they are strong enough to break through the sac walls.
Signature spiders are able to eat an insect twice its size, and this is all they eat.
There are over 2,500 species of stick insect in the World. They have a worldwide distribution, but most species are found in the tropics. The stick insect can sometimes reach over 13 inches (33 cm) long.Be They rely on a hard outer body for rigidity. To allow for rapid growth, they shed their outer skin several times. After shedding a skin, they will hang from a twig to harden their new outer layer. During this period they are weaker – try not to disturb them.These creatures breathe through a series of holes called spiracles which are located along the side of the body.
Stick insects are very good at hiding. At night they can become slightly darker to make them harder to spot . This is their way of trying to look like a stick swinging in the breeze.Also, the swaying movements may help the insects see objects against the background. Rocking movements by these sedentary (sitting) insects may replace flying or running as way to define objects in the visual field.
Stick Insect Eggs are round and brown with a yellow nodule. They look like tiny seeds. One female can lay several hundred eggs during an average life of around a year.
Inconveniently for anyone keeping stick insects as pets, stick insect droppings or waste can easily be mistaken for eggs and vice versa.
The Green Forest Lizard has a bright green dorsal coloration, usually with 5 or 6 white, cream or dark green transverse stripes; these are changeable.Often the stripes continue on to the tail. The head is yellowish- or brownish-green whereas the male develops a bright red head and throat in the breeding season. The underside is a pale green, the tail is light brown.
The length of head is one and a half times the size of its breadth, the snout is a little longer than the orbit. The lizard has a concave forehead, swollen cheeks and smooth, unequal upper head-scales.
The body is compressed, the dorsal scales are large and usually feebly keeled, but sometimes smooth. these scales point backwards and upwards and are as large as or a slightly smaller than the ventrals, which are strongly keeled and mucronate. 30 to 35 scales cover the middle of the body. The gular pouch is not developed, the gular scales are feebly keeled, they are nearly as large as the ventrals. A short oblique fold is in front of the shoulder and is covered with small granular scales. The Nuchal and dorsal crests are continuous, composed of closely set lanceolate spines with smaller ones at the base.The hind-limb reaches to the front of the eye or further. Calotes calotes has a very long and slender tail.
Though very little knowledge is available in roosting ecology of the green forest lizards.
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