Raise the Roof!

Recently, our newest Animal Caretaker, Chris Russell, had an idea for Naked Mole Rat enrichment. Here’s his story and photos.

Last week, our Naked Mole Rat friends got an expansion added to their tube system, allowing them to venture forward and reach new heights. Literally!

Animal Care staff constructed a test tower, to see how our mole rats would do with exploring “up” instead of their normal “out” on a flat plane. This species is known to have wide spreading tunnel systems that can spread out as far as 6 football fields! Since we don’t have that much space, we decided that they can go up instead and see the world from a new perspective.

Within seconds, our naked mole rats were pouring into the elevated tubes to explore their new view. They continued to use it all day. We think this can be counted as a mission success!
We hope to add more chambers to construct a 2nd story tube system, so stay tuned!

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Fresh Sheet – July 28, 2012

This week’s shipment of butterfly pupae includes “The Good”, Papilio polytes (Polite Swallowtail), “The Bad”, Hypolimnas bolina (Blue Moon), and “The Beautiful”, all of them! Visit our Tropical Butterfly House to enjoy our cast of characters.

Philippines

50 - Papilio lowii (Sunset Swallowtail)
69 - Papilio palinurus (Banded Peacock)
20 - Papilio rumanzovia (Crimson Swallowtail)
80 - Idea leuconoe (Paper Kite)
20 - Pachliopta kotzeboea (Pink Rose)
10 - Graphium agamemnon (Tailed Jay)
80 - Parthenos sylvia philippensis (The Clipper)
19 - Papilio polytes (Polite Swallowtail)
14 - Cethosia biblis (Red Lacewing)
40 - Hypolimnas bolina (Blue Moon)

Total = 402

“Fresh Sheet” is our weekly shipment report of pupae on display in the emerging window. Visit Pacific Science Center’s Tropical Butterfly House and meet our newest residents.

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Fresh Sheet – July 21, 2012

There’s only one place in Seattle where you can view butterflies emerging every day of the week. Visit us soon!

El Salvador

20 - Battus belus (Belus Swallowtail)
15 - Catonephele numilia (Numilia)
10 - Heliconius charitonius (Zebra Longwing)
20 - Heliconius erato (Small Postman)
20 - Heliconius hecale (Tiger Longwing)
15 - Heliconius hortense (Mountain Longwing)
15 - Lycorea cleobaea (Large Tiger)
55 - Morpho peleides (Blue Morpho)
20 - Morpho polyphemus (White Morpho)
30 - Myscelia ethusa (Royal Blue Butterfly)
10 - Papilio androgeus (Queen Page)
15 - Papilio erostratus (Dusky Swallowtail)
05 - Papilio pilumnus (Three-tailed Swallowtail)
08 - Parides montezuma (Montezuma Cattleheart)
10 - Parides photinus (Queen of Hearts)
15 – Archeoprepona demophon (One-spotted Prepona)
18 - Prepona omphale (Blue Belly-Button)

Total = 301

LPS-LLC

10 - Athyma perius (Common Sergeant)
05 - Attacus atlas (Atlas Moth)
10 - Cethosia cyane (Leopard Lacewing)
10 - Charaxes brutus (White-barred Charaxes)
10 - Charaxes candiope (Green-veined Charaxes)
10 - Charaxes castor (Giant Charaxes)
10 - Charaxes cithaeron (Blue-spotted Charaxes)
10 - Charaxes lasti (Silver Striped Charaxes)
20 - Graphium agamemnon (Tailed Jay)
10 - Graphium angolanus (Angola White Lady)
10 - Graphium antheus (Large Striped Swordtail)
10 - Graphium policenes (Small Striped Swordtail)
20 - Hypolimnas bolina (Blue moon)
10 - Idea leuconoe (Paper Kite)
05 - Ornithoptera priamus (New Guinea Birdwing)
10 - Pachliopta kotzeboea (Pink Rose)
10 - Papilio demodocus (Orchard Swallowtail)
10 - Papilio lowii (Sunset Swallowtail)
10 - Papilio nireus (Blue-banded Swallowtail)
10 - Papilio pilumnus (Three-tailed Swallowtail)
30 - Papilio polytes (Polite Swallowtail)
10 - Papilio rumanzovia (Crimson Swallowtail)
10 - Salamis anacardii (Clouded Mother Of Pearl)
10 - Troides rhadamantus plateni (Platen’s Birdwing)

Total = 270

Grand Total = 571

“Fresh Sheet” is our weekly shipment report of pupae on display in the emerging window. Visit Pacific Science Center’s Tropical Butterfly House and meet our newest residents.

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Eat the Hissers?

Our guests often recognize our Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches as celebrities from the television reality show “Fear Factor.” Unfortunately, the insects’ fame involves them being eaten. Have you ever considered eating a cockroach? Well, put down your fork.

Recently a story was going around from the Science Interpretation staff that eating raw cockroaches causes the tongue to go numb. This fact seemed possible but it was a new one to the Animal Care staff. We are quite aware of the tongue-numbness caused by banana slugs and sea anemone. In fact, we personally know people who have tested this theory. But we'd never heard such a thing about Hissing Cockroaches. Were they being “badmouthed”?

Life Sciences Manager, Sarah Moore, wanted to verify the claim WITHOUT putting it to the taste test herself. Having zero interest in a numb mouth, she instead asked the expert, David George Gordon, author, lecturer, and Bug Chef Extraordinaire.

Mr. Gordon agreed with Sarah’s assumption that somehow slug lore became conflated with cockroach lore. Furthermore, he shared this important advice:

I DO know for sure that eating raw cockroaches can invite parasitic worms inside— the ones that can cause blindness in birds and mammals. So I certainly wouldn’t recommend eating raw roaches — nor would I lick a cockroach or a slug, for that matter.

Good advice from a Bug Chef: Don’t eat raw cockroaches!

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