The Malayan giant millipede, or 𝘛𝘩𝘺𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘺𝘨𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘳𝘶𝘴 Pocock, 1894 has the length of about 20 cm, making it one of the largest millipedes in Southeast Asia. Their cylindrical body is composed of dozens of segments, each bearing two pairs of legs, totalling an astonishing 200 to 300 legs.

This week’s neighbour is 𝘚𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘹 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘶𝘴 (Fabricius, 1804), also known as the Yellow Digger Wasp. It is a striking solitary wasp found in Hong Kong, characterised by its slender, thread-waisted body. They are notable predators that specialise in hunting Orthoptera, like grasshoppers and katydids.

Cucumber moths, 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢 (Saunders, 1851) are named after the group of plants it feeds on as they prefer plants of the Cucurbitaceae family. These plants enhance the attractiveness of the sex pheromones spread by females to attract males by increasing pheromone production and release.

While they display strong aggressiveness towards other fish, they usually do not attack humans. The few cases where this happens are mainly due to shiny jewelry worn by divers 💍. The light reflected by the jewelry is similar to that reflected by fish scales, causing the barracuda to mistake.

Camouflaged in the branches, is this week’s neighbor, 𝘕𝘦𝘰𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘬𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴 Brock & Seow-Choen, 2000 also known as the Hong Kong Spiny Stick Insect, a species native to the region which was described rather recently, in 2000.

The world's tallest living mammal, was long thought to have evolved its long neck to reach taller trees in a process of evolution. Modern research points sexual selection👩🏻‍❤️‍👨🏻—specifically, violent "necking" battles between males for dominance and mating rights—as the primary evolutionary drive.

These velvety green caterpillars feed voraciously on plants within the Brassicaceae family, such as cabbages, broccoli, and Chinese kale (gai lan), making them a frequent presence in local vegetable gardens and farms.

𝘗. 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘹𝘢 tadpoles use their immense size and stored energy to begin developing mature sperm and eggs before they become adults. By reaching sexual maturity during the tadpole stage, they emerge as adults ready to reproduce almost immediately, skipping the perilous juvenile growth phase entirely.

This solitary parasitoid wasp specialises in attacking the egg cases (oothecae) of common urban cockroaches, particularly the American cockroach and the Australian cockroach, serves as a beneficial biological control agent against household cockroaches.

The rock hyrax has effective adaptation mechanisms to minimize water loss. They only drink very little water and mostly obtain water from their daily diet🌱. Their specialized kidney can reabsorb most of the water and produce extremely concentrated urine.

𝘚𝘢𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘴 play a vital role as a specialized predator within ephemeral habitats. Both the adults and larvae are highly adapted for hunting soft-bodied prey, particularly the maggots and puparia of various fly species.

By taking on the pregnancy, the male frees the female to dedicate her energy to producing the next clutch of eggs almost immediately. This dramatically shortens the time between broods, allowing a monogamous pair to produce more offspring during a breeding season.

𝘈𝘤𝘩𝘺𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢 L. A robust, fast-growing taproot system acts as a biological drill, penetrating compacted, rocky substrates. As the roots grow and expand, they physically fracture hard soil layers, creating micro-fissures. These fissures improve aeration, allow water infiltration.

Because they process so much sugar, 𝘗𝘺𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢 excrete a sweet, sticky substance known as honeydew. In the delicate ecosystem of Hong Kong’s village edges, this waste product becomes a sought-after resource, often attracting swarms of ants and even certain species of moths.

After envenomation, victims gradually lose conscious control of their muscles, leading to respiratory failure and, without treatment, death. Synthetic versions of cone snail toxins have been developed into non‑addictive painkillers for cancer‑related pain and are being studied for diabetes treatment

The male Heliocypha perforata is also known as the Common Blue Jewel, a damselfly belonging to the family Chlorocyphidae. Male Common Blue Jewels display vivid, iridescent coloration that shifts between brilliant blue and green depending on the light.

𝘛. 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘢 enjoys a remarkably long lifespan, living up to seven years. In their third year, individuals reach sexual maturity and thus start breeding. Males do not mate directly with females. Instead, they deposit a spermatophore on a silk pad and perform a tapping ‘dance’🕺🏻to attract a female.

𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘤𝘺𝘱𝘩𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘢 is a widespread damselfly frequently encountered in the territory’s clean, fast-flowing rocky streams and forested waterways, such as those in Bride’s Pool, Wu Kau Tang, Tai Po Kau, and Lam Tsuen.

Just like other free-diving animals, the leatherback sea turtles can also shunt blood away from the less important organs to prioritize oxygen delivery to the brain and heart so that they can sustain their performance 💪🏻 with a lower oxygen consumption rate.

In the wild, these grasshoppers are masters of camouflage .They belong to the Catantopinae subfamily, characterized by a spur or spine located between their front legs. While they are agile jumpers, they rely on their mottled brown and black patterns to remain undetected on leaves or tree trunks.

Unlike other bats, male short-nosed fruit bats will build their nests by using different materials leaves, especially palm trees🌴. They will chew and cut the stems of leaves to shape their nest like a tent⛺ which is used as a resting site during the day.

With its impressive size, 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘶𝘮 𝘥𝘶𝘹 is a formidable hunter. As an ambush predator, it typically waits on sunny vantage points such as leaves or tree trunks to spot passing prey. Once a target is identified, the fly catches it mid-flight.

In winter, these mudskippers create a wall, water is trapped by the wall which combined with sunlight has amazing attributes. It was found that the trapped water has a higher temperature at 22°C🌡️than water outside of the territory at 16°C.

These little spring-loaded insects are more than just grasshoppers. They have short, stout antennae and unique hearing organs called tympana, tucked right onto the sides of their bellies.

These guardians of crops also need to protect themselves🛡️, thus their hemolymph (sort of blood in invertebrates) contains pederin which acts as a toxin. For humans, contact with crushed individuals can cause skin irritations called dermatitis linearis.

Their legs are heavily sclerotized or hardened and transformed into broad, flattened, toothed structures. Interestingly, despite being subterranean, they are proficient swimmers. In flooded rice fields, they can be seen paddling between plants using their broad forelegs.

This powerful intrinsic potential for rejuvenation allows even tiny fragments to survive and develop into entirely new colonies. 🌱Scientists are leveraging this characteristic through "micro-fragmentation" techniques ✂️ to accelerate reef restoration.

Studies in the UK show that stealing from humans is a “low-risk, high-reward” strategy. If a person looks directly at the gull👁️, it is far less likely to strike, but if the human looks away, the gull seizes the opportunity.

Their display of chrome or pale yellow coloration and red-dusted patterns helps them blend into forest foliage and mimic bird droppings to deter predators. Although they are yellow as adults, the caterpillars are bright green with a yellowish belly and a brown head.

During the process of glycolysis, molecules of pyruvate are produced and reduce the pH value that lowers the affinity of oxygen to haemoglobin inside the light organs, resulting in limited concentration of oxygen, a signal for the fish to sense the level of light emission, and eventually control it

During hot sunny days, these insects engage in the obelisk posture, which is a thermoregulatory behavior used by dragonflies to prevent overheating. By elevating their abdomens to point directly at the sun, they minimize the surface area exposed to direct solar radiation.

Most marine gastropod shells are dextral. Using specialized teeth at the base of the pincer, the crab spirals into the shell from the opening, efficiently breaking it apart to access the soft animal inside.

When the weather gets warmer, if you want to come across these beetles. Try and look for these flowers 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘮 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦, 𝘝𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘶𝘮 𝘰𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘮, 𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘢 sp., and 𝘡𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘹𝘺𝘭𝘶𝘮 𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘦 in your next outing.

Research suggests that this unusual cooperation among males gives them a significant advantage when hunting larger prey. By working together, they can take down animals much larger than themselves, including deer and monkeys !

Bee Flies are active during warm, sunny days in mild weather. They are typically found in mountainous and open areas where flowering plants are abundant. Adults primarily act as pollinators as they feed on nectar from local flowers such as those in the Asteraceae and Apiaceae families.

Termite colonies may survive for up to five decades, but the mounds tend to outlive the colonies. One mound may house more than one species of termites after the previous colony has perished, with other insects and animals like aardvarks and warthogs also living in and on the mounds.

The HKBM was recently honored to receive a specimen donation of 11 dry lichen and algae specimens collected decades ago. Often hiding in plain sight, these organisms serve a significant role in monitoring the environment.

Brown is the new black! This week’s neighbor is 𝘌𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘹 𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘺𝘮𝘢 (Hampson, 1892), also commonly known as the Lappet Moth, is a moth that elegantly masters the different tones of brown. It is a member of the Lasiocampidae family, and a fairly common native species in Hong Kong.

An myth surrounding Black Muntjac that they are “Vampire Deer” due to their long, dagger-like upper canines, which can grow up to 6 centimeters in males—the longest among deer species. 🧛‍♂️🗡️ The length of their canines often determines dominance in fights, longer canines will have stronger competition.

Unlike most caterpillars, these larvae lack typical prolegs. Instead, they have a flattened, adhesive underside and move with an undulating motion similar to a slug, often using a lubricant of liquefied silk to glide across surfaces.

While Long‑spine Porcupinefish is typically less toxic than the more famous pufferfish, the poison was at such low levels that laboratory equipment could not detect it in any part of the fish. Another study proved that even when the meat appears safe, toxin can still be found in the ovaries.

This week’s metallic emerald green neighbor is the Oriental Flower Beetle, 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘢 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴 (Linneus 1758). These beetles, from the Scarabaeidae family, are widely distributed across the countryside and outlying islands of Hong Kong, such as Lantau and Sai Kung.

This sticky feat is made possible by barnacle cement that barnacles secrete from glands on their heads. It’s a complex cocktail of proteins that solidifies into a tough bond🧪, a natural adhesive works underwater, withstands salt and pressure, and remains effective for years⏳

Hopping into the new year is our neighbor, the carinate locust, also known as 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘢. These locusts get their name from the prominent ridges, or carinae, on their pronotum, which is the plate covering the thorax. This gives our neighbor a robust and armored appearance.

Crucially, if environmental conditions become too harsh or resources too scarce, the viviparous lizard can halt or even reabsorb the development of her embryos, preserving her own health and increasing her chances of future reproduction. This behaviour illustrates the “selfish mother hypothesis”.

Our neighbor for this week is 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘢, commonly known as the six-spotted zigzag ladybird (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). A highly common and ecologically beneficial beetle, it is found across the city's gardens, agricultural fields, and urban parks.

Arctic fox use a special technique to hunt lemmings, known as ‘snow dive’ or ‘mousing’. With their acute sense of hearing👂🏼, they could locate the lemmings moving beneath the thick snow and capture them by leaping into the air and diving into the snow.

Males gather in special trees called leks, where they can display themselves to the females. To make sure he stands out, a male will clear the leaves from his chosen branch, so he can be easily seen. Sometimes, up to 12 males will display in the same tree.

This vibrant and iridescent critter with a shield-like back is 𝘏𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘶𝘴, also known as the Shield Bug.Scutelleridae bugs are predominantly phytophagous, meaning that they are plant-feeding insects. They use their enlarged, beak-like mouthparts to extract juices from plants

If the mother has another fertilized egg in her uterus when there is already a joey inside the marsupial pouch, something astonishing happens. The mother can pause the development of the embryo, known as embryonic diapause.The reason behind this ability is to prevent competition between offsprings.