The Saola was only discovered to science in 1992. There are no Saola in captivity. No Saola have been seen by scientists in the wild. A few records on camera trap exist. In 2004, there were still reports of Saola deep in the Truong Son mountains. This individual was confiscated from hunters in A'Luoi district, in the western reaches of the province. The other pictures are from interviews with Ka Tu ethnic hunters in A'Luoi and A'Vuong districts (Minh Hoang). The last photo is James with rangers from Hue Forest Department examining Saola tracks in A'Luoi - and identifzing schistamoglottis plants, reportedly favoured food for the saola.
In 2013, its status is critical. See what is happening on http://www.savethesaola.org/
A green chiton attached to a half crab. We observed this alien looking commensal beast while undertaking an intertidal survey on the reefs off Hawera. It made us jump when we first turned over the rock.
Rhagodima cf. nigrocincta
Cincta (cinctus, cinctum) in latin means "surrounded by". So the portmanteau "nigrocincta" can mean "surrounding by black color". This might refer to colors and patterns on the abdomen of this species. Or it may not refer to black patches on some legs which does not form full circle/ring as in R. Annulata.
But these informations are not clear to me as per the description by Henry Meyners Bernard who described the species as Rhax nigrocincta along with Rhax Howesii (currently assigned as Rhagodes melanopygus). Another information I can find is that as per Simon's 1885 description R. annulata has body length of 18mm and as per Bernard's description of R. nigrocincta is around 1.25 to 2 inches. T̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶p̶e̶c̶i̶m̶e̶n̶ ̶w̶e̶ ̶s̶a̶w̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶a̶r̶o̶u̶n̶d̶ ̶1̶.̶2̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶1̶.̶5̶ ̶i̶n̶c̶h̶e̶s̶ ̶l̶o̶n̶g̶.̶ (The specimen was just 2 cms long after I re-checked the video where it climbed to my friend's hand. Videograb is attached as last photo.)
Henry Meyners Bernard's 1894 article on the species called "On two new species of Rhax. Journal of Linnean Soicety London" can be read here: https://ww.rcin.org.pl/dlibra/publication/88759/edition/67942/content?ref=struct
The illustrations on the book has been digitized and uploaded to Wiki Commons over here:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rhagodima_nigrocincta.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rhagodima_nigrocincta_cutted.jpg
Comparing the images above I can see similar black patches on the legs. Also the white moustache pattern has good resemblance on the individual. But I don't see the spurs specified in illustrations.
Note: I am not conforming on the species level identification here. I have just added my notes here for future reference for anybody who wants to take this subject for research.
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host plant: Ulmus minor
pics 1&2 specimen 1, pics 3&4 specimen 2
pic 5 specimen 1, 30 h later
pics 6&7 7 days later
pics 8-11 14 days later (hatched the day before)
At work!
Breached at least 8 times over the course of a few minutes
hunting from nearby tree, about 10:30am, looking intently down at snow, then landed and mantled for a couple of minutes, burying its head into the snow several times before flying off in the opposite direction
A female Giant Ichneumon wasp (Megarhyssa macrurus) oviposits into the side of a tree.
I was honored to have this observation selected as observation of the day for June 11, 2020, and again as observation of the week (week of June 21, 2020). It is covered in this blog post: A Trip to Texas Provides a Long Sought Photographic Opportunity - Observation of the Week, 6/21/20.
Osmylops sp., probably Osmylops sejunctus (Walker), larva extracted from Eucalyptus leaf litter, Aranda, ACT, 5 May 2019
It was swimming/hiding around this floating fruit juice package.