Some cool animal species images:
Polistes (2), F, side, Dominican Republic, La Ve Jarabacoa_2013-03-15-14.41.37 ZS PMax
Image by USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring
Unknown Polistes species from the Dominican Republic
CD420 Cyclommatus tarandus
Image by listentoreason
Visit to Insectropolis with Brian, Nana and Papa, August 2009.
Not convinced about the species assignment, but it seems this beetle has farily extensive morphological polymorphism (for all I know the differences could just be from sex or life stage). Very similar specimines are near the bottom of this page.
From Wikipedia:
"Stag beetles are a group of about 1,200 species of beetle in the family Lucanidae, presently classified in four subfamilies. Some species grow to 8 cm (3¼ in), but most are about 5 cm (2 in).
The English name is derived from the large and distinctive mandibles found on the males of most species, which resemble the antlers of stags.
Male stag beetles use their jaws to wrestle each other for favoured mating sites, but despite their often fearsome appearance they are not normally aggressive to humans.
Female stag beetles are usually smaller than the males, with smaller mandibles.
The larvae feed for several years on rotting wood, growing into grubs which in larger species may be the size of a human finger."
Museum Homepage
London Zoo Sloth
Image by Martin Pettitt
London Zoo 4-5-2013 London Zoo is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. It was eventually opened to the public in 1847. Today it houses a collection of 755 species of animals, with 16,802 individuals, making it one of the largest collections in the United Kingdom.
