The Book of Tiny Creatures
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About this ebook
Nathalie Tordjman
Nathalie Tordjman is a Paris-based journalist specializing in nature and the environment. She is the author of more than forty books and writes for numerous publications.
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The Book of Tiny Creatures - Nathalie Tordjman
WHO ARE THE TINY CREATURES?
SUCH DIVERSITY!
The bodies of tiny creatures are set up in many different ways.
Three big groups
Mollusks, such as snails, have soft, always-moist bodies, which may be protected by a shell. Most of them only have one foot.
Annelids, or worms, have a soft body, formed out of a series of rings, and no feet.
Arthropods have bodies protected by a hardened layer, called a cuticle, and articulated feet. They include insects, arachnids, myriapods, and crustaceans.
Arthropods: The most numerous group
An insect in detail 3-part body: head, thorax, abdomen 4 wings 2 antennae Wasp 2 eyes 3 pairs of feet Some insects, such as fleas, termites, and worker ants, lost their wings during evolution because they didn’t need them anymore.An arachnid in detail Orb weaver spider 2-part body: abdomen, cephalothorax 4 pairs of feet Spiders, scorpions, and mites are all arachnids. They never have antennae.A myriapod in detail Common centipede 1-section, elongated body Segments with 1 or 2 pairs of feet Head Myriapods are also called centipedes, but they never have 100 feet!A crustacean in detail Freshwater shrimp or side swimmer Head Body partially covered with a cuticle 7 pairs of feet All crustaceans have at least 5 pairs of feet. Some, such as lobsters, have a 2-part body.Under a magnifying glass Tiny creatures with soft bodies Mollusks Grove snail Garden snail Cellar slug Flat periwinkle Rustic limpet Pond snail Annelids Earthworm or night crawler Clam worm or Nereis Fish bloodsuckerREPRODUCTION
There are so many tiny creatures because they have such an astounding ability to reproduce.
Male-female couples
Most arthropods pair up as a male and a female. Then the couple separates, and the female lays eggs.
The male spider—in this case, a wasp spider—is often smaller than the female . . . who mustn’t mistake him for prey!
Many possibilities for mating
Snails, slugs, worms, and some crustaceans are hermaphrodites (both male and female). After mating, each lays its own eggs. Some mollusks, such as flat oysters, change sex during their lives. Female aphids, for their part, give birth to their offspring without mating with a male. This is called parthenogenesis.
Operation reproduction!
To meet up, the male and female send each other messages. A female butterfly attracts a male by sending a fragrant message.
The male field cricket attracts the female by chirring, or stridulating, outside his burrow.
Where to lay eggs?
The female praying mantis lays 200 to 300 eggs in air-hardening foam in egg cases called oothecae.
The female garden tiger moth lays 200 to 400 eggs under the leaves of a plant.