Alopecosa koponeni sp. n. is a new species described in 2014 from the arctic tundra in the vicinity of Churchill, Manitoba! It was discovered by Centre for Biodiversity Genomics resident arachnologist Dr. Gergin Blagoev and Dr. Charles Dondale from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Continue reading “113/150: A Wolf Spider Like No Other”
There are only a few mammals endemic to Canada and one of them is the Richardson’s Collared Lemming. This adorable little rodent is found in the Arctic, west of Hudson Bay and was named after Sir John Richardson, a Scottish naturalist who explored the Canadian Arctic. Continue reading “87/150: Richardson’s Collared Lemming – an endemic mammal to Canada”
Sea peaches are part of the class of invertebrates Ascidiacea – known as sea squirts or tunicates. They are more closely related to chordates (animals with a back bone) than other invertebrates because at some point in their life stage they exhibit vertebrate characteristics such as a dorsal hollow nerve cord, a notochord, a post-anal tail, and pharyngeal slits. However they never develop a bony backbone. Continue reading “81/150: This species is just peachy!”
This past week Canadian Blood Services has been promoting awareness of blood donation with Blood Donor Week. We thought we’d share some info about leeches. On first mention of leeches, many people probably think of Hirudo medicinalis, the medicinal leech. But this is only one of almost 700 different species of leeches. Continue reading “69/150: Leeches – They don’t all want to suck your blood!”
Philarctus bergrothi is part of the northern caddisfly family Limnephilidae, which are found within higher elevations in the northern hemisphere. Caddisflies are closely related to moths and butterflies. While moths and butterflies have scales on their wings and bear terrestrial larvae, caddisflies have hairs on their wings and bear aquatic larvae. Continue reading “42/150: Nature’s Underwater Architect”
