Vampire Finch

Wasn't up for doing the mythology article today I will do one tomorrow. 

Art

Goal for the week 4.5 hours

Today 

work on the sphinx

Animal

Photo by KathB

Re-run from livejournal 

On the Galapagos island, Wolf island, there is a small black and brown bird that feeds on the blood of sea birds, mostly boobies. The vampire finch (Geospiza difficilis septentrionalis) is highly endangered bird that is sexually dimorphic the males being mostly black and the females being brown with stripes like most other female finches. It has been theorized that they had originally been removing parasites from the sea birds and gradually came to drink their blood instead. The sea birds seem unfazed by this and mostly sit still for the finches. They also will eat the eggs of the sea birds, seeds, and the nectar of Galapagos prickly pear. 

Eastern bloodsucking conenose

I'm having  hard time finding good blocks of time to work on art. I tend to get better results from longer blocks of time. I may start experimenting with new schedules. 

Art

Goal for the week 18.75 hours

Today

make clay

work on the guy with the Anubis head

Animal

Photo by Cotinis

The eastern bloodsucking conenose (Triatoma sanguisuga) is an assassin bug that ranges all over from the eastern United States to South America. Assassin bugs in general prey on other insects such as cockroaches and bedbugs and a number of the very beneficial north American assassin bugs also have the spots on side and that general body shape so one should take care not to jump to conclusions. The eastern bloodsucking conenose does feed on the blood of vertebrates particularly rats and mice though it is not completely unheard of for them to go after sleeping humans. When they do bite humans it is generally around the mouth. The nymphs have a sticky coating on their body that they use to pick up dust and debris to help camouflage themselves. They are long lived insects and can take 3 years to fully develop. Their feeding bite is generally painless , but they should  be handled  carefully as they also have a defensive bite that is very painful and can cause nausea and in some cases severe allergic reactions. 

A blood feeding assassin bug that looks sort of like the Eastern bloodsucking conenose but might be a different species versus an adorable baby vampire bat video

Monito del monte

I'm thinking that this will not be an art week as I'd like to get the damage in the studio cleaned up. Though I should still get the January shows mailed off.

Animal

photo by Gabriel Ortiz. G

The Monito del monte (Dromiciop gliroides) is a small marsupial found in the mountains of Chile and Argentina mostly in Chilean bamboo forests. They are nocturnal omnivores with prehensile tails it is said that their metabolism is so fast they can double their body weight within a week. They are more closely related to Australian marsupials then American marsupials and it is thought that they are related to some marsupials that came to South America from Australia via Antarctica. The Huilliche of Chile have a malignant somewhat vampiric creature called the Colo-colo that has the body of a long mouse and the head of a rooster and will drink the saliva of sleeping people in a way that is eventually fatal it also cries like a baby. The native people of that area also call this animal a colocolo and consider it such bad luck they will burn their houses down if it is seen living in the house. I think these things may be related.

Cartoon explaining the colocolo legend and the house burning

Vampire moth

Not to much going on. I think I have most of the family related shopping done.

Art

goal for the week: unrealistic

Today

titmouse

dragon

Animal

It appears there is a vampire moth (Calyptra thalictri) now, It was discovered by Vladimir Kononenko in 1999 in Siberia. Previously they they were thought to only feed on fruit but, it seems the males will also go for the blood of mammals. They have a hollow two chambered proboscis that they rock back and forth to pierce skin. Then the blood pressure pushes barbs out of their proboscis making them difficult to detach. They are also known to drink the tears of large animals such as elk. Vampire moths are thought to be completely harmless to humans as they are not known to carry any diseases and they take an extremely long time to pierce skin so would likely be brushed away anyway. The current theory for why the behavior developed is to provide a nutritional boost to the young that feed on mostly sodium poor meadow-rue leaves.

Video of vampire moths feeding on scientists