# zoo: apropos of extreme dwarf entities, three new species of nano-hawk moths (Cautethia Grote, Sphingidae)

<< Hawk moths are known for being some of the largest night fliers in the insect world (..) three new species from The Bahamas are breaking records at the opposite end of the size spectrum. At about the length of a vitamin pill, they are among the smallest discovered. >>️

<< Hawk moths are a diverse group of insects, with some 1,700 species worldwide. In addition to their remarkable wingspans, they also have incredibly long proboscises, the straw-like tongues they use to siphon nectar.  The title for the world's longest proboscis is held by a hawk moth endemic to Madagascar, which comes in at just under 12 inches when fully unfurled. >>️

Brian V. Smith. New hawk moth species are among the smallest ever discovered. Florida Museum of Natural History. Jul 11, 2022. 

https://phys.org/news/2022-07-hawk-moth-species-smallest.html

Jacqueline Y. Miller, Deborah L. Matthews, Riley J. Gott. Three new species of Cautethia Grote (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) from the Lucayan Archipelago and keys to West Indies species. Insecta Mundi. 0937,  1-28. Jun 24, 2022 (pdf).

https://centerforsystematicentomology.org/insectamundi/0937_Miller_etal_2022.pdf

Also

Apropos of extreme dwarf entities, the nano-chameleon (Brookesia nana). FonT.  Feb 9, 2021.

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2021/02/zoo-apropos-of-extreme-dwarf-entities.html

keyword 'nano' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=nano

keyword 'nano' in Notes 

(quasi-stochastic poetry)

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=nano

keywords: life, zoo, evol, dwarf, nano

# phyto: weird, jazzy Nature, the 'transference of sexuality', 'some sexual consequences of being a plant'.

<< Plants have characteristic features that affect the expression of sexual function, notably the existence of a haploid organism in the life cycle, and in their development, which is modular, iterative and environmentally reactive. For instance, primary selection (the first filtering of the products of meiosis) is via gametes in diplontic animals, but via gametophyte organisms in plants. Intragametophytic selfing produces double haploid sporophytes which is in effect a form of clonal reproduction mediated by sexual mechanisms. In homosporous plants, the diploid sporophyte is sexless, sex being only expressed in the haploid gametophyte. However, in seed plants, the timing and location of gamete production is determined by the sporophyte, which therefore has a sexual role, and in dioecious plants has genetic sex, while the seed plant gametophyte has lost genetic sex. This evolutionary transition is one that E.J.H. Corner called ‘the transference of sexuality’. The iterative development characteristic of plants can lead to a wide variety of patterns in the distribution of sexual function, and in dioecious plants poor canalization of reproductive development can lead to intrasexual mating and the production of YY supermales or WW superfemales. Finally, plant modes of asexual reproduction (agamospermy/apogamy) are also distinctive by subverting gametophytic processes. >>

Quentin Cronk. Some sexual consequences of being a plant. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. doi: 10.1098/ rstb.2021.0213. Mar 21, 2022. 

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2021.0213

Also

keyword 'phyto' | 'plant' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=phyto

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=plant

keywords: evol, evolution, phyto, plant, sex, sexuality

# evol: the feathered dinosaur may have been one of the last surviving raptors

<< A new feathered dinosaur that lived in New Mexico 67 million years ago is one of the last known surviving raptor species, >>

<< Dineobellator notohesperus adds to scientists' understanding of the paleo-biodiversity of the American Southwest, offering a clearer picture of what life was like in this region near the end of the reign of the dinosaurs. >>

<< Jasinski (Steven Jasinski) and his coauthors gave the species its official name, Dineobellator notohesperus, which means "Navajo warrior from the Southwest," in honor of the people who today live in the same region where this dinosaur once dwelled. >>

New feathered dinosaur was one of the last surviving raptors. University of Pennsylvania. Mar 26, 2020.

https://m.phys.org/news/2020-03-feathered-dinosaur-surviving-raptors.html

Steven E. Jasinski, Robert M. Sullivan,   Peter Dodson. New Dromaeosaurid Dinosaur (Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae) from New Mexico and Biodiversity of Dromaeosaurids at the end of the Cretaceous. Sci Rep 10, 5105. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-61480-7. Mar 26, 2020.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-61480-7