A Trifling of Animal Trivia Trivia Quiz

Answer: green

Butterflies, of the order Lepidoptera, have thousands of lenses within their two compound eyes. However, they are only able to see blue, red, green, and purple, although some sources also add yellow to the list. On the other hand, they can see ultraviolet light which we cannot. They are also luckier than most insects which are unable to see color at all.

Answer: grows another eye

The land snail, our common garden enemy (Helix aspersa), usually has two sets of tentacles and will grow another eye on the upper ommatophore (eye stalk). The second, lower, set is used for smell. Both sets of tentacles are retractable.

Answer: seahorse

The seahorse (genus Hippocampus) is not a speed demon by any means. He is able to swim, but doesn't do it well. The dwarf seahorse is the slowest moving fish in the world, transporting himself no more than five feet per hour. Because they are such poor swimmers, one can often find them with their tail wrapped around a non-movable object, such as soft coral.

Answer: between 20 and 35

Pigs (genus Sus) have been heard to make more than twenty different sounds, all for different reasons. In their language they chomp their jaws, clack their teeth (so did my grandmother), grunt, roar, squeal, snort, snarl as well as oink, which is looked upon as a type of grunt.

The male will use a mating "song" to attract a female. The female will use her "it's time for dinner" sound to call her piglets. The piglets have their own distress call which is used when they need their mother's help.

Answer: F

The common housefly (Musca domestica) whose life span ranges from two weeks to a month, does not vocalize, per se. Instead, the motion of his wings while flying causes the air currents to be disturbed which causes the noise commonly known as a "buzz". The muscles of the wings cause them to vibrate up to 200 times a second.

Answer: 13 inches

The average flea (order Siphonaptera) can jump about 13 inches horizontally (7 inches vertically), which makes it a jump of roughly 200 times its body length. That would make it about a 900 foot jump by a man of six feet. (Can Superman even do that?) They take off for their jump at about 3mph and have been known to reach 4.3mph.

Answer: they don't have set times

Ants, of the family Formicidae, do not sleep the way we normally think of sleep. They have two "rest periods" per day, each lasting about eight minutes, the second rest period being a deeper one than the first. The entire nest observes both rest periods. On the other hand, British researchers have found that the queen fire ant sleeps an average of ninety times a day, for a bit over six minutes each time. That works out to about nine hours a day, and even with that she only lives about six years.

Answer: hummingbird

The hummingbird (family Trochilidae) has a brain that weighs 4.2% of its body weight. The average hummingbird weighs less than a US nickel and some species weigh less than a penny. Like the house fly of which we spoke, the hummingbird's humming is caused by the air and the beating of the bird's wings. Further, like the butterfly of which we also spoke, it can see ultraviolet light.

Answer: it doesn't

A camel's (genus Camelus) milk has enough nutrients in it to keep a person going throughout the day. It is rich in proteins with potential antimicrobial action, something not found in cow or goat milk. It is claimed that the merit of camel's milk can be found in the linoleic acid and the polyunsaturated acids in it. It seems to be very helpful with diabetic patients. It is lower in lactose and cholesterol than is cow's milk, but is much higher in many vitamins, minerals, fat and protein.

Camel's milk will not curdle without additives and it doesn't coagulate as easily as does other types of milk. Cheese is now being made by using both a vegetable and a camel rennet to coagulate the milk.

Answer: blue-black

The giraffe's (genus Giraffa) tongue is roughly 18 inches long and is it is thought that the dark color protects it from becoming sunburned while eating the roughly 75 pounds of food an adult needs daily. There are a few other animals that have a dark, blue to black tongue, such as the giraffe relative the okapi, the polar bear, and the chow-chow.