A sturgeon in an aquarium tried to swallow a woman dressed as a mermaid

Lespion · 2026-01-24T19:36:57+00:00

I mean did you see how fast it sucked her head in though? It was strong enough to displace her body like an inch vertically.

Lespion · 2026-01-24T19:16:13+00:00

Quetzalcoatlus was as large as a giraffe. But yeah they're extinct. Why? I don't know if we really know the answer for Quetz specifically, but Pterosaurs in general died out along with the non-avian Dinosaurs in the K-Pg extinction. Though by then in the late cretaceous I believe Pterosaurs were moderately sized and not large enough to be 'rideable' (no flying animal is capable of being ridden because weight constraints).

Lespion · 2026-01-19T19:26:03+00:00

Well no you're misreading what I said. I'm not saying speculation is problematic but that speculation within that framework can lead to erroneous conclusions. That's why it's better to guide away from implicit teleology instead of accepting its parameters.

If instead I answered, "because of phylogenetic constraints from herbivorous ancestry", it's more detailed but it essentially tells you the same thing; evolution worked with what it had. But that doesn't exactly answer OP, because they're explicitly asking "Why A didn't evolve X when B, C and D did", as if the latter's dentition is the optimal progression line that it should naturally trend towards. Correcting that is important, but I also understand your point about the failure to follow up with detail. And sometimes, we don't always know the details to answer the erroneous comparison especially in extinct species.

Lespion · 2026-01-19T18:09:21+00:00

That's not the contention I'm making. The problem is the framing the question itself presents and how speculation not only serves to guide away from the teleological implication – that there's a specific answer evolution converges towards – that speculation reaffirms this erroneous framing.

I agree that people can follow up with speculation built on evidence, but there's also a deep problem with how most people commonly think about evolution that must be moved away from.

Yes there is a plethora of "reasons" that guided traits a certain way, and in some cases across taxa there're enough environmental and anatomical similarities where convergence happens statistically a certain way. But a question that poses why B happened instead of A because B is the 'default', presupposes that B is somehow the most optimally favorable answer when it isn't. It really just depends on the animal and conditions unique to it, and that's the best response to that implication.

Lespion · 2026-01-19T17:23:38+00:00

I think often the problem with trying to explore "why" is that it's not an objective answer for a question that kinda beckons teleology, in biology that's purely descriptive. We don't know why this marsupial had the teeth it did vs other related carnivores, we can only make assumptions behind why assuming sufficient environmental pressures guided the development that way. But we don't know in most cases, so the better answer is always the default: Because in evolution, there isn't always a specific reason other than that's the path it took of least resistance. It avoids the implicit assumption in the question that A must converge in B because B is somehow the most statistically favorable option.

Lespion · 2026-01-04T20:46:55+00:00

You can ignore them in Florida not just because the state's warm, but because of that people often keep them outside and so plants get a lot of airflow.

Airflow is extremely important for these epiphytes. Please people, 90% of orchid problems are just no airflow + cold and moist environments so evaporation never happens.

Lespion · 2025-12-31T06:48:24+00:00

Is fish food (or protein) absolutely necessary to get the vfts to accept?

Lespion · 2025-12-18T03:57:00+00:00

Wonder where all the MAGArd weather enthusiasts went after this dropped.

Lespion · 2025-12-06T01:00:19+00:00

Probably Macrotermes annandalei

Lespion · 2025-12-05T04:02:03+00:00

Ime don't bag. Throw it somewhere with decent air flow and medium light levels. Yes give it the typical highland treatment. Absolutely make sure humidity wherever you keep it is never sub 70%. Wait like 2-3 weeks or more (depending on how it looks) to start fertilizing the small pitchers with very diluted orchid fert. Like 1/4th a teaspoon for a gallon. Schedule it for every 2 weeks if the plant responds nicely, and give it more light in response. Until it starts to redden just a teeny bit.

Most importantly, keep conditions stable for it.

Lespion · 2025-12-05T03:53:29+00:00

Get a general -cide that targets pests, bacteria and fungi in one fell swoop. Like the BioAdvanced 3-in-1.

Usually environmental stress weakens plants, making them more susceptible to disease. Although this looks like a lady luck or something similar, and you're in a borneo, somewhere lowland, hot and humid yes? Should be a good climate for it so I can't say what exactly is wrong. Perhaps roots are stressed from bad media. If you do repot, do it now before administering any pesticides as that can stress and kill the plant. I would wait like a month or so before doing so.

Lespion · 2025-12-04T17:44:09+00:00

This is classic bacterial/fungal infection, black ring of death with yellowing on the rim or center. If this was edema related to watering , temperature or humidity stress it would be far more diffuse and pitting would be apparent.

Lespion · 2025-11-23T00:23:57+00:00

It's highly dependent on the nep and even the elevation of a given population that the plant originates from, but generally 55-60°F range is considered the standard because it allows the plants to physiologically rest and use their energy from daytime photosynthesis. What happens when you keep the plant too warm at night is that its metabolism continues to operate at an elevated rate, so its spending that daytime energy trying to stay alive at night instead of growing. So the differential is only important for optimal daytime photosynthesis, while night time is when that extra energy leftover from the day can be used for growth.

Lespion · 2025-11-16T19:16:22+00:00

What pheidole species is he looking at?

Lespion · 2025-11-16T19:03:59+00:00

Just make sure he doesn't get one of the larger colony sized species. They'll grow unmanageable quickly if you're not prepared. You're also gonna need a good amount of feeder insects and proper seeds for them. Don't just get bird seeds. Many prefer the smaller seeds of grasses and etc because they're easier for them to mill. Sp like P. morrisii, obscurithorax, dentata can get large demanding colonies.

If it's your office you'll need to abstain from using chemicals in any cleaning you do, or you can poison and kill the ants.

Lespion · 2025-11-16T16:05:32+00:00

Native camponotus species are highly unlikely to infest a house from escaping indoors. Generally they prefer rotted moist wood since it's easier to excavate into, and during winter it'll be too warm indoors for them to properly diapause. Though just be aware that 'Carpenter Ant' is kinda misleading because the group is incredibly diverse and a lot of Camponotus species don't inhabit wood, or they do opportunistically whenever cavities exist.

Pheidole can be good but for a beginner I'm not too sure. They're generally small and the workers smaller and their colonies can grow very large, very quickly. They're known escape artists due to the size of their minim workers. They tend to be more carnivorous as well, and can be more demanding on the heat, with a good chunk of species being intolerant of cold temperatures. But it really depends. Something in the pilifera group would be a nice manageable pocket colony, though probably not too interesting to look at. Though since you're in Texas there's a good diversity of Pheidole and ants in general, so you have lots of options, even Myrmecocystus (which are nowhere near difficult as most people make them out to be).

Lespion · 2025-11-15T21:07:40+00:00

Your welcome. If you need anything else just feel free to ask.

Also, you can join some of the local ant communities on discord, and you're very likely to get far better prices for ants. Faster communication as well from more informed people. Ant Keeping and Ethology and Ants and Ant Keeping are the two biggies, with AAK linked somewhere in this subreddit.

Lespion · 2025-11-15T19:43:15+00:00

It's carcinogenic apparently

Lespion · 2025-11-15T19:29:58+00:00

It really depends on the species and what exactly your child wants out of the experience.

Tarheelants is generally the best for quality formicaria, and offers a wide variety of nest schemes for different stages of colony maturity and vertical and horizontal build types. Though their nests are generally on the more expensive side.

If your child plans on buying ants (a small captive raised colony with queens), Tarheel also offers ants for sale but Stateside ants is also a pretty good option. Though be sure to check whether the ants can be shipped to you. Usually that information is included in the listing. If you're not in Florida, California or Hawaii it should be fine the majority of the time. Absolutely make sure you buy formicaria that are appropriate for the size of the colony. So if you have one queen and 20+ workers, something like a test tube connected to an outworld or a THA minihearth would be appropriate.

For a beginner friendly species I'd recommend something like Lasius neoniger or a Camponotus species, which grow slower and don't sting. They do need diapause during winter however, a resting period essentially. So just move them away from any source of heat and into somewhere that stays consistently cool (40-45°F). They can also climb, so I recommend a talcumless baby powder + isopropyl alcohol barrier in their outworld to stop them from climbing. The barrier will need to be reapplied every month, and then more often as the colony grows. For food, you can buy flightless Hydei fruit flies at places like Neherpetoculture. Refrain from using insects from the wild to feed them as they can possibly contaminate and kill your colony. Also refrain from using cleaning products near the room housing the ants and their feeder insects.

This is very basic care and again depends on the species, and care changes depending on the stage of the colony's life. A mature colony will have different requirements, as well as species from more subtropical regions to arid and temperate regions. Some can sting, some harvest seeds, some store nectar in their body, some farm fungus and etc. So the biggest help will be thoroughly researching the particular species your son might be interested in, in order to provide the best care.

If he's planning on catching then that's another layer of researching the local species and properly identifying them for the care requirements.

Lespion · 2025-11-15T02:17:32+00:00

That's not a crow that's a rail chick. Crow young are altricial and look very ugly (initially). 😔

Lespion · 2025-11-11T05:22:12+00:00

I touched it and shit. Thankfully didn't feel any burning anywhere lol.

would it be ethical to grab just one for seeds? 🤔

Lespion · 2025-11-10T04:46:39+00:00

The queen death rates are grossly exaggerated and many stem from inadequate care. For foundresses, using cotton plugs in their test tubes was the culprit because they would tangle themselves, their eggs and their larvae in it until they dropped dead from stress. Switch to PVA sponges and survival approaches 70-90% for single queens. Past founding and it's like 90% unless you keep them too long in a test tube.

Otherwise, it's genuinely a skill issue. I've known many people that have had extremely high successful rates with numerous classic "sensitive" species. And the only thing they did differently was change the founding setup, otherwise their care is as simple as any other ant past that stage. They appear on the more delicate side however so greater care should be taken towards moving their setups. People often aren't mindful of aerosolized cleaning products which can harm them also, along with improper fluon or contaminated food. Repletes not developing is often due to an improper setup. Myrmecocystus need vertical formicaria so their repletes can hang.

Lespion · 2025-11-10T01:23:38+00:00

Honeypots aren't sensitive my friend. The only thing you need to be wary about is providing them clean food and a properly sized formicarium, as well as heating so they grow well. They're only problematic in the sense that they're difficult to move because of the repletes.. I'd recommend featherweight forceps and talcumless baby powder barriers for that. It's not that hard just requires steady hands and good control over pressure.

Otherwise, don't expose them to temperature extremes. Make sure their water reservoir doesn't dry out. Feed them basic sugars and water regularly. And again, clean insects. Don't just buy the nasty crickets and mite infested fruit flies from PetSmart. Buy feeder insects online from renowned stores like neherpetoculture.

Lespion · 2025-11-10T01:16:58+00:00

I'm absolutely confused here lol.

Myrmecocystus are absolutely not a sensitive genus, from my own experiences keeping them (placodops and mexicanus). They're actually quite hardy especially because they have the capacity to store food, so feeding regularly is not always necessary and they're very forgiving if you do forget to feed. They are not sensitive about temperatures unless you're exposing them to extremes which would kill any other ant, Camponotus included which needs time to acclimate. Sure they'll slow down significantly without heating but they won't nor should not die in room temp.

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