Author: Andrea Dobrescu
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125/150: Dead Man’s Fingers – Don’t be scared, I help the environment!
Fungi: Asomycota: Sordariomycetes: Xylariales: Xylariaceae: Xylaria: Xylaria polymorpha (Greville, 1824) Contrary to its creepy common name, Dead man’s fingers, Xylaria polymorpha is an important fungus in the forest ecosystem with a black outer layer and white inside. This fungus is a saprotroph meaning they obtain energy from decaying matter and are seen from May to…
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85/150: Common Milkweed is bitter and milky, perfect for the Monarch Butterfly
Plantae: Spermatophyta: Angiospermae: Dicotyledonae: Gentianales: Asclepiadaceae: Asclepias: Asclepias syriaca (Blanco, 1837) Asclepias syriaca or Common Milkweed is native to eastern North America and receives its name from the milky sap excreted from the stem and leaves when damaged. This full sun, drought tolerant plant blooms in early to mid-summer attracting a variety of insects including…
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77/150: Mapleleaf Mussel – Important environmental indicators of Canadian Rivers and Lakes
Animalia: Mollusca: Bivalvia: Unionoida: Unionidae: Ambleminae: Quadrula: Quadrula quadrula (Rafinesque, 1820) The Mapleleaf mussel is a freshwater mussel found in North America. Mapleleaf mussels are a threatened species in Ontario since 2008 and have completely disappeared from Lake Erie, Detroit and Niagara rivers. The main threats to this species are habitat destruction, invasive Zebra mussels…
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62/150: I can live in the dirt or in your home, I hitch-hike on insects and mammals alike, and have venomous pincers. What am I?
Animalia: Arthropoda: Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones: Neobisiidae: Microbisium: Microbisium parvulum (Banks,1895) Pseudoscorpions are rarely seen but are common arachnids that resemble tiny scorpions with their two large pincers and 8 legs. Unlike scorpions, they are 3 mm in size with no stinger. Using venom glands located on the mobile finger of their pincers they prey upon booklice,…
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49/150: BEHOLD! The longest migration of any bird, The Arctic Tern
Animalia: Chordata: Aves: Charadriformes: Laridae: Sterna: Sterna paradisaea (Pontoppidan, 1763) The Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) is a winter, sea-faring bird with the longest yearly migration of any known species. They will travel a total of 70,900 km in one year from their breeding site in Northern Canada and Europe to their winter home near Antarctica.