Why are insects thriving in England’s rivers?
Researchers have studied insects in English rivers for thirty years. The Environment Agency monitoring data shows that insects and other invertebrates are increasing and it may be linked to lower levels of metals in the rivers, such as zinc and copper.
The New Scientist magazine (19 May 2023) reported that insects are more abundant now than at any time over the past thirty years.
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Fossils in Scotland revealed information about the evolution of the Scorpion, an invertebrate arthropod arachnid – and how it left the ocean to live on land.
Most arthropods (insects, centipedes, and crustaceans, such as crabs) currently living on land are small. From the Scorpion fossils found in a rock quarry near Edinburgh in Scotland in 1984, scientists (palaeontologists) found large specimens, said Ian Rolfe from the Royal Museum of Scotland.
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The Wrinkled Dune Snail (Xeroplexa intersecta previously Candidula intersecta) is an air-breathing pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the Geomitridae family of terrestrial (land) snails. It is an invertebrate, because it does not have a backbone. Its shell is its exo-skeleton (outside skeleton).
The Wrinkled Dune Snail is yellowish-beige with dark-brown and copper bands. The round, globular, coarse (not glossy) shell has a right-handed whorl, which is called a dextral shell. There are five whorls with a slightly raised central spire. Its shell aperture (opening) does not have a lip. The body is bluish-grey with long upper tentacles and short lower tentacles on ts head. Its head extends to form a snout (proboscis). Its eyes are at the tip of the tentacles.
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The Grove Unbanded Snail – Yellow Form (Cepaea nemoralis) is an air-breathing pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the Helicidae family of terrestrial (land) snails. It is a variant of the Grove Snail, also known as the Brown-Lipped Snail. It is an invertebrate, because it does not have a backbone. Its shell is its exo-skeleton (outside skeleton).
The Grove Unbanded Snail – Yellow Form can be varied in its appearance. The surface of its shell is semi-glossy. The shell has a right-handed whorl, which is called a dextral shell. The colour of the Grove Snail’s shell can be reddish, brownish, yellow, or creamy-white, with or without bands. The Grove Unbanded Snail – Yellow Form has a light, creamy yellow shell. It does not have prominent dark-brown bands or stripes. It has a white lip, not a brown lip. Its head extends to form a snout (proboscis). It has tentacles on its head. Its eyes are at the tip of the tentacles.
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The Milky Jellyfish (Chrysaora lactea) is a soft-bodied, invertebrate sea nettle in the Pelagiidae family of marine (saltwater) jellyfish. An invertebrate is an animal with no bones.
The Milky Jellyfish has a translucent (see-through) bell-shaped or umbrella-shaped dome body. It has short tentacles (limbs) with short arms. It has no bones, no brain, no heart, no blood, no excretory system, and no gills or lungs. It has nerve receptors in its body that enables it to detect smell, light, pressure, and touch. It is about 98% water.
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The Common Prawn (Palaemon serratus) is a marine (saltwater) crustacean in the Palaemonidae family of invertebrate ten-footed shrimp (decapod). It is related to the crab and the lobster.
The Common Prawn is transparent (see-through) to pinkish-brown with reddish striped-liked markings and patterns. It has an exo-skeleton (outside skeleton) called a carapace or shell. Its forward extension of the carapace in front of its eyes, called the rostrum, curves upwards. The rostrum is also bifurcated at the tip, which means that it is split into two parts. It has long, white antennae. It has bulging eyes. It has ten legs.
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The Common Earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris) is a terrestrial (land) invertebrate (without a backbone) in the Lumbricidae family of earthworms. It is also known as the Lob Worm.
The Common Earthworm is pinkish-greyish-purple. The body is cylindrical and a tube-in-a-tube, with a series of segments, called metamerisms. The last segment is the tail, and the first segment has the mouth and prostomium (flat paddle-shaped lobe). Each segment has bristle-like hairs called lateral setae. These hairs help it to move by gripping the surface of the soil. It has pores (holes) in its body that enables it to breathe. It exudes a fluid that keeps the body moist and stops it from drying out.
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The Garden Snail (Cornu aspersum) is an air-breathing pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the Helicidae family of terrestrial (land) snails. It is an invertebrate, because it does not have a backbone. Its shell is its exo-skeleton (outside skeleton).
The Garden Snail can be varied in colour, but its shell is mainly dark-brown, with stripes, flecks, or streaks in a lighter colour. The shell has a right-handed whorl, which is called a dextral shell.It has a brown lip. Its head extends to form a snout (proboscis). It has tentacles on its head. Its eyes are at the tip of the tentacles.
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The Grove Unbanded Snail (Cepaea nemoralis) is an air-breathing pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the Helicidae family of terrestrial (land) snails. It is also known as the Brown-Lipped Snail. It is an invertebrate, because it does not have a backbone. Its shell is its exo-skeleton (outside skeleton).
The Grove Snail can be varied in its appearance. The colour of its shell can be reddish, brownish, yellow, or creamy-white, with or without bands. The surface of its shell is semi-glossy. The shell has a right-handed whorl, which is called a dextral shell. The Grove Unbanded Snail’s shell is tan-brown and does not have prominent dark-brown bands or stripes. It has a white lip instead of a brown lip. Its head extends to form a snout (proboscis). It has tentacles on its head. Its eyes are at the tip of the tentacles.
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The Chocolate Chip Sea Star (Protoreaster nodosus) is a marine (saltwater) starfish in the Oreasteridae family. It is also known as the Horned Sea Star. It is an invertebrate, because it does not have a backbone.It is not a fish, so scientists prefer to say that it is a sea star.
The Chocolate Chip Sea Star has five elongated tube limbs, called arms or feet. It has several black or dark-brown tubercles on its arms. It has a greyish body with dark stripes that connect the tubercles.
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The European Pond Snail (Radix peregra) is an air-breathing, freshwater mollusc in the Lymnaeidae family of pond snails. It is an aquatic pulmonate gastropod. It is an invertebrate because it does not have a backbone. Its shell is its exo-skeleton (outside skeleton).
The European Pond Snail has a brown shell that spirals clockwise. It has four whorls with fine grooves. The last whorl is next to the opening. Its tentacles are short, and the posterior end of its foot is round.
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The Black Longspine Sea Urchin (Diadema setosum) is a marine (saltwater) invertebrate echinoderm in the Diadematidae family. It is related to the Starfish (Sea star).
The Black Longspine Sea Urchin has extremely long, narrow, hollow spines that are mildly venomous. It has a hard, spherical (ball-shaped) shell, called a test. On its spherical body are five white dots. It does not have eyes. It is sensitive to touch, light, and chemicals, due to the numerous sense cells around its mouth.
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The True Glass Snail (Aegopinella nitidula) is a small, air-breathing, land pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the Gastrodontidae family of glass snails. It is an invertebrate, because it does not have a backbone. Its shell is its exo-skeleton (outside skeleton).
The True Glass Snail has a spiral, heliciform shell that is flattened and disc-shaped with a low spire, like it is a bit squashed. The opening lacks a thick margin like other land snails have. Instead, its shell is thin and light. The shell is almost transparent, as if made of glass, but it usually has light-brown, amber, or dark-brown markings.
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An insect is an invertebrate creature that has six legs, three body parts, a pair of antennae, and compound eyes. An invertebrae is a creature without a backbone.
The three body parts of an adult insect are the head, the thorax (chest), and the abdomen (stomach). There are other body parts attached to these three main body parts.
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The Yellow Scroll Coral (Turbinaria reniformis) is a marine (saltwater) invertebrate in the Dendrophyllidae family of stony coral. It is an animal, not a plant.
The Yellow Scroll Coral is usually yellow or yellowish-green. It is a laminar (plate-like) species that forms horizontal plates or shallow chalices (cup-shapes) with thick walls. The skeletal cups are called coralites. The plates form a stony skeleton. Polyps protrude from the skeleton. The polyps have a central mouth disc with eight tentacles around the circular disc.
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The Tube-Dwelling Anemone (Cerianthus membranaceus) is a marine (saltwater) invertebrate, without a backbone. It is an animal, not a plant. It is also known as the Cylinder Anemone.
The Tube-Dwelling Anemone has about 200 tentacles in two whorls around its central mouth, called an oral disc. The tentacles along the outer whorl are long and slender with stinging cells. The tentacles along the inner whorl are shorter. The tentacles can be many colours, such as white, yellow, orange, green, brown, blue, black, purple, pink, and violet.
The tentacles do not retract, but the whole animal can retract into its tube. It has a long cylindrical column which is buried in the soil. The tube is its permanent home.
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The Beadlet Anemone (Actinia equina) is a marine (saltwater) invertebrate in the Actiniidae family of anemones, which means that is has no backbone. It is also known as the Sea Tomato. It is an animal, not a plant.
The Beadlet Anemone is bright red with tentacles, and its mouth in the centre. It has short, conical tentacles arranged in rows of six or more, which is called the crown of tentacles. The crown surrounds its oral disc (mouth). The tips of the tentacles can be pointed or blunt.
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The Roman Snail (Helix pomatia) is a spiral-shaped, terrestrial (land), invertebrate gastropod mollusc in the Helicidae family. An invertebrate does not have a backbone and gastropod means stomach-footed. It is also known as the Burgundy Snail.
The Roman Snail has a thick, spherical creamy-white to light-brown shell with distinct brown bands. The shell has 5-6 whorls.
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The Red Knob Sea Star (Protoreaster linckii) is a starfish. It is a marine (saltwater) invertebrate, because it does not have a backbone. It is also known as the Red Knob Starfish, the Red Spine Star, or the African Red Knob Sea Star. It is not a fish, so scientists prefer to say that it is a sea star.
The Red Knob Sea Star has five elongated tube limbs, called arms or feet. It has several bright red tubercles on its arms. It has a grey body with red stripes that connect the tubercles.
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The Purple-Striped Jellyfish (Chrysaora colorata) is a soft-bodied invertebrate marine (saltwater) animal. An invertebrate is an animal with no bones. It is also known as the Purple-Striped Sea Nettle.
The Purple-Striped Jellyfish has a translucent (see-through) bell-shaped or umbrella-shaped dome body with purple stripes. It has long tentacles (limbs) with eight long dark purple arms and four ‘frilly’ arms. It has no brain, no heart, no blood, no bones, no excretory system, and no gills or lungs. It has nerve receptors in its body that enables it to detect smell, light, pressure, and touch. It is about 98% water.
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