上次博文里的圖片,經過朋友介紹,實際上,它一種巨型陸地蟹,或者叫做山地蟹。有一個很好聽的英文名字:Coconut Crab,原因是它吃椰子而聞名!
一查Wikipeida才知道,在澳大利亞居多,在野外見到它不足為奇,但在居民區的垃圾桶上見到它就有點反常!說明野外食物不足,才跑到人居住的地方來。下面就是來自Wikipedia的介紹:The coconut crab, Birgus latro, is the largest
land-living arthropod in the world, and is probably at the
upper limit of how big terrestrial animals with exoskeletons
can become in today's atmosphere.[3]
The species inhabits the coastal forest regions of many Indo-Pacific
islands, although localized extinction has occurred where the crab is sympatric with man. Generally nocturnal, they
remain hidden during the day and emerge only on some nights to forage.
Their body is divided into four regions; the cephalic lobe, forepart,
trunk, and opisthosoma. It is a highly apomorphic hermit
crab and is known for its ability to crack coconuts
with its strong pincers to eat the contents. It is the only species
of the genus
Birgus.
It is also called the robber crab or palm thief,
because some coconut crabs are rumored to steal shiny items such as pots
and silverware from houses and tents. Another
name is terrestrial hermit crab, due to the use of shells by the young animals; however, there are
other terrestrial hermit crabs which do not get rid of the shell even as
adults. These—typically in the closely related genus Coenobita—are
the animals usually called "terrestrial hermit crab"; given the close
relationship between Coenobita and Birgus, the term would
generally refer to any member of the family Coenobitidae.
The coconut crab also has a range of local names, for example, unga
or kaveu in the Cook
Islands, and ayuyu in the Marianas where it is sometimes associated with taotaomo'na because of the traditional
belief that ancestral spirits can return in the form of animals such as
ayuyu.[4]