Dive into the wild world of sharks with the Nat Geo photographer and Explorer Brian Skerry.
Matching: Sharks Puzzles Matching: Sharks These games challenge you to find shark
This fun science experiment turns dirty water clean. (Kind of.)
and Now How Things Work Kamri Noel and four of National Geographic’s experts find
Female black widows are shiny black, with a red-orange hourglass pattern on their abdomen. Male black widows are not black, but brown or gray with small red spots. Black widows are poisonous arachnids—animals that have a skeleton outside their body, a segmented body, and eight jointed legs. They are not insects. Their deadly poison is said to be 15 times stronger than rattlesnake venom. Black widows use a silk-like substance to weave tangled-looking webs, typically close to the ground in covered or dark places, such as near drain pipes or under logs. The female hangs upside down in the web to await her prey, exposing her bright markings as a warning to potential predators. The black widow senses vibrations to the web. When an unlucky intruder gets trapped, the spider immediately begins weaving its glue-like webbing around it. Insects such as flies, mosquitoes, or even larger prey like grasshoppers are typically caught. Once captured, the black widow injects its victims with poison, paralyzing them. The tips of the black widow’s legs are coated with an oily substance that prevents the black widow from getting caught in its own web. Adult male and female black widows live solitary lives, meeting only to breed. The female black widow lays approximately 200 eggs. The eggs incubate for some 20 days in a small, round papery sac that’s attached to the mother’s web. After hatching, the baby spiders stay in the cocoon for up to one month. Three species of poisonous North American spiders carry the common name black widow under the genus Latrodectus. Each species occupies a distinct region of North America, as their names suggest: Eastern black widows (L. mactans), northern black widows (L. variolus), and western black widows (L. hesperus). These three species have very similar physical and behavioral characteristics. The name “black widow” comes from the female’s habit of eating the male after mating.
The female black widow is approximately 1.5 inches (38 millimeters) long. The male is about half the female’s size.
The black widow is prey for birds and other spiders. Although poisonous, the black widow is not considered aggressive unless threatened. In fact, the male black widow is reclusive and hardly ever seen by humans. While the black widow’s poison is rarely fatal to humans, it can cause severe pain and nausea.
Save the Earth tips Find out how you can help make a difference.
The mountain lion goes by many names, including cougar, catamount, panther, red tiger, deer tiger, and puma. This cat can be found throughout much of South and North America. The mountain lion used to be found all over the United States, but now is primarily seen in the western U.S. An endangered subspecies of mountain lion also remains in Florida. These felines are comfortable in many different habitats and, aside from humans, have the widest geographic range of any land mammal in the Western Hemisphere. In North America, mountain lions eat mainly deer, but they also eat smaller animals, such as mice and rabbits. These cats have a poor sense of smell, but have excellent vision and hearing that help them hunt in the early morning and evening hours. Their powerful hind legs enable them to jump as far as 40 to 45 feet (12 to 13 meters). This carnivore stalks its prey until an opportunity arises to pounce. Mountain lions “cache” their prey, or hide it under leaves and soil, where they can come back and feed on it over the course of several days. Mountain lions don’t roar, but females have a loud scream, which is believed to attract males. Females have an average of two to four cubs per litter and give birth in a den. The cubs are born with spots, which usually disappear by the time they are roughly nine months old. Their eyes also change from blue to yellow by the time they reach 16 months old. By 18 months, the young cats leave their mom to go fend for themselves. Because of their size, strength, and predatory skills, mountain lions are considered one of the “big cats.” Tigers, leopards, cheetahs, and jaguars are also part of this grouping. Take the big cat quiz to see how much you know about these fierce felines. Then, just for fun, see which wild cat you’re most like with our personality quiz.
Save the Earth tips Find out how you can help make a difference.
From extra-fluffy fliers to chatty chirpers, these owls are utterly outstanding.
Save the Earth tips Find out how you can help make a difference.
Egyptologist Chris Naunton unwraps some secrets about what it’s like to study ancient Egypt.
I want to see if I could find out more about that side of him, and of course how
Portugal is the westernmost point of Europe and lies on the west coast of the Iberian Peninsula.
Save the Earth tips Find out how you can help make a difference.
See pictures and read about Yellowstone National Park on National Geographic Kids.
Festival more to explore National Parks Nature Boom Time Videos Travel the U.S. and find
Meet the S.M.A.R.T. Squad.
it’s reusing materials to build something new or wearing fantastic clothes she finds
Six tons of pure power whacks an ice floe floating in cold Arctic waters. The seal lying on top of the ice doesn’t stand a chance. Knocked into the sea, the seal becomes a meal for one of the ocean’s top predators—the huge orca, or killer whale. Orcas hunt everything from fish to walruses, seals, sea lions, penguins, squid, sea turtles, sharks, and even other kinds of whales. Depending on the season and where they are, their diet varies—some orcas eat more fishes and squid than seals and penguins. But wherever they are in any of the world’s oceans, average-sized orcas may eat about 500 pounds (227 kilograms) of food a day. Orcas have many hunting techniques, and bumping seals off ice is just one of them. Often referred to as wolves of the sea, orcas live and hunt together in cooperative pods, or family groups, much like a pack of wolves. They work together as they hunt. Groups of orcas cooperate to herd fish into a compact area so that they’re easier to eat. They will also slap their tails onto the water’s surface, causing a wave to wash prey, such as penguins or sea lions, off ice floes and into the water. Sometimes a pod of whales will join forces to surround a larger animal, such as a blue whale. They chase, bite, and wear it down until it becomes a meal. Orcas‘ teeth, numbering about 45 and each measuring about 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) long, are shaped for ripping and tearing prey. Orcas do not chew their food. They can swallow small seals and sea lions whole. The prey slides down the orcas‘ throats! Bigger prey is eaten in chunks. The color pattern of orcas may help them sneak up on and attack their prey. Their backs are black, their stomachs are white. Animals looking down on an orca from above, such as a seal on an ice floe, might not see it because the whale’s dark back blends with the water below. On the other hand, the whale’s white underside blends with the light streaming down into the sea from the surface, making it hard to spot from below. With orcas camouflaged so well, those prey fish, penguins, or seals are likely to miss the danger heading their way, as the killer whale once again proves it is the oceans‘ superbly designed hunter.
Save the Earth tips Find out how you can help make a difference.
