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Showing posts with label Amazon Rain forest tribes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amazon Rain forest tribes. Show all posts

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Iguazu Falls [Brazil-Argentina]

Iguazu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River located on the border of the Brazilian State of ParanĂ¡ and the Argentine Province of Misiones. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. The Iguazu River starts at the city of Curitiba and runs for the most part of the course in Brazil and at the end at the border of Brazil and Argentina.

The waterfall system consists of 275 falls along 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi) of the Iguazu River. Some of the individual falls are up to 82 metres (269 ft) in height, though the majority are about 64 metres (210 ft). The Devil's Throat (Garganta del Diablo in Spanish or Garganta do Diabo in Portuguese), a U-shaped, 82-meter-high, 150-meter-wide and 700-meter-long (490 by 2300 feet) cataract, is the most impressive of all, and marks the border between Argentina and Brazil. Two thirds of the falls are within Argentine territory.

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Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Bullet Ant


Paraponera is a genus of ant consisting of a single species, the so-called BULLET ANT, named on account of its powerful and potent sting, which is said to be as painful as being shot with a bullet. It is called by the locals "Hormiga Veinticuatro" or "24 (hour) ant", from the 24 hours of pain that follow a stinging. The bullet ant inhabits humid lowland rainforests from Nicaragua south to Paraguay. Workers are 18–25 mm long and resemble stout, reddish-black, wingless wasps.

The pain caused by this insect's sting is purported to be greater than that of any other Hymenopteran, and is ranked as the most painful according to the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. It is described as causing "waves of burning, throbbing, all-consuming pain that continues unabated for up to 24 hours". It is thought that the ant has evolved this way to ward off any predators who would normally unearth them. In some indigenous communities, to enter manhood, a boy has to endure being stung by the ant 20 times without screaming. A paralyzing neurotoxic peptide isolated from the venom is poneratoxin.



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