Optional 4th Nature Walk
For this nature walk, I had a nice change of scenery as I was back home in Hawaii for thanksgiving. The weather outside was warm and sunny, at low 80's degree weather. This was completely different than weather back in Boston and it was very nice to take a nice stroll observing Hawaii's animal life. For this walk, I decided to travel into the valley behind my house. I started off the walk encountering a freshly dead cockroach on the side of the road as well as zebra dove which are extremely common in Hawaii. I eventually ran into a red fire ant hill and ended off in the inner valley running into a wild chicken and mongoose which was quite common in Hawaii and very common in the area and valley near my home. In the spirit of the insect theme of this nature walk, I recognized some similarities and differences between the two insects I encountered. Although the ant and cockroach are both arthropods and insects, there share key differences. Of course they have their shared similarities such as six legs, compound eyes, segmented bodies, etc. However, differences included the ants missing wings and having only one antenna while the roach had two. All in all, it was great to talk a walk in beautiful Hawaii and enjoy some scenery and wildlife. Additionally, I connected these two insects to class through the concepts of cooperation behavior in ants and deceitful communication as the cockroach might be special and have learned to play dead. In the end, the insects and animas in general were a great theme and the topics and concepts we covered in class such as diversity, body plan, traits, and ecology raced through my head the entire walk.
Comments
Add a Comment