The cicada is the loudest insect in the rainforest. To attract a mate, the male cicada clicks small plates of skin on its sides at a rate of more than 1000 times a second. Meanwhile it listens for a female to reply, with a flick of her wings. Cicadas live in rainforests all over the world.
In many rainforests, female inhneumon wasps lay their eggs in the body of another insect, while it is still alive. When the eggs hatch, the wasp grubs feed on the insect. They leave its vital parts until last, to keep it alive and fresh for longer.
The dazzling feathers of male birds of paradise give the birds their names. People thought that these birds were so stunning they could only come from paradise. The males use their feathers to attract a mate. The court raggi's bird of paradise, puts on a special courtship display. He hangs upside down from a branch, to show off his magnificent orange feathers, and has to grow them again the following year.
A female scorpion carries her babies no her back, to keep them safe from enemies. The babies cling no with their sharp pincers. If one falls off, their mother stops and wait for it to climb back on again. After a few days, they are ready to fend for themselves. Scorpions are found in rainforestr all over the world.
The tent caterpillar moth in South America gets its name from the way its caterpillars live. They build fine, silk nests among the rainforest trees. The adult moths are superbly camouflaged, to blend in with the lichens growing on a tree trunk.
In Africa, a female hornbill lays her eggs in a hole in a tree. Then, helped by her mate, she seals herself in covering the entrance with droppings of mud. Only a tiny slit is left, through which the male delivers food. This keeps the nest safe from snakes until the chicks are old enough to leave the nest, and learn how to fly.
Hoatzins live in South America. They build their nests in trees that overhang rainforest rivers and streams. If danger threatens, hoatzin chicks simply five head-first into the river. When it is safe, the chicks climb slowly back up, using tiny claws on their wings to help them grip.
Bromeliads are rainforest plants related to pineapples. They grow high up on tree branchs in South America. Rainwater collects in tiny pools formed by their overlapping leaves. These pools are used as nurseries, for arrow-poison frog tadpoles.
Bees are attracted to the colour and scent of a flower. They feed on the nectar in the flower and gather pollen, which they store in sacs on their legs.
Did you know that the bat's long tongue is perfect for whisking out the nectar from a flower? Pollen is brushed onto the bat's fur as it moves from flower to flower.
A ladybird is a very brightly coloured insect. The ladybird is a very useful insect in the garden as it will eat the aphids which eat your plants and flowers.
Lightning per second How many lightning strikes occur worldwide every second?
On average, about 100. Those are just the ones that hit the ground, though. During any given minute, there are more than a thousand thunderstorms around the Earth causing some 6,000 flashes of lightning. A lot of it goes from cloud-to-cloud.
Deepest lake What is the worlds deepest lake?
Lake Baikal in the south central part of Siberia is 5,712 feet (1.7 kilometers) deep. It's about 20 million years old and contains 20 percent of Earth's fresh liquid water.