Although the flies are sluggish, the crabs on which they reside are anything but. The flies … hardly move at all, are extremely reluctant in leaving their host crabs and are hard pushed to take flight. They do not need to flee predators, because the crabs they inhabit are fast animals and will flee: The flies spend most of their lives on the crab, and are reluctant to leave. carcinophila evolved from a group that breeds on cacti. endobranchia evolved from a group of species that breeds on fungi or bark, while D. (A third species of fly, Lissocephala powelli, has evolved a similar habit on Christmas Island, where it lives on the land crabs Gecarcoidea lalandii, Geograpsus crinipes, and Cardisoma carnifex, and the terrestrial hermit crab Birgus latro.) D. carcinophila, and this trait appears to have evolved convergently. endrobranchia is not closely related to D. ruricola, although it also inhabits the closely related species G. In 1967, a second species of fly, Drosophila endobranchia, was discovered on G. They were first observed on Montserrat by Henry Guernsey Hubbard in 1894, and presented at a scientific meeting later that year (where the crab was misidentified as Cardisoma guanhumi), but no further research was conducted until 1955, when specimens were again collected, this time from Mona Island, and named as Drosophila carcinophila by M. ruricola is the host organism for two species of commensal flies in the genus Drosophila. Drosophila Two Drosophila endobranchiae flies on the carapace of G. When confronted, they rear up and hold their open claws outwards in a defensive posture. Other predators may include birds, although information is scarce. ruricola is rich in protein, and has often been harvested by local people. ruricola is an omnivorous scavenger, feeding mostly on nitrogen-poor plant matter. A typical female carries around 85,000 eggs. Īfter mating, mass migrations occur, with the females returning to the sea to release their fertilised eggs. For the next three years, the young crabs live in burrows inhabited by other crabs, and eat food brought back to the burrow by the older crab. They move at speeds of 1–2 m/s (2.2–4.5 mph), or faster if startled. ![]() The return of the larvae to land seems to be infrequent, but when they do return, they return as megalopa larvae, in sufficient numbers to turn roads red. ruricola hatch in the sea, where the larvae live as plankton. It can be found at great distances from the sea, and at high altitudes it has been observed above 300 m (980 ft) on the island of Dominica, and at over 1,000 m (3,300 ft) on Jamaica. Outlying populations exist on Curaçao, in the Swan Islands off Honduras, Half Moon Caye of Belize, and the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina off the Colombian coast. ![]() It has been reported from Florida and Nicaragua, but few confirmed examples exist from the mainland Loggerhead Key in the Dry Tortugas marks the northernmost limit of its island distribution, which extends across the Bahamas and Cuba, through the Greater and Lesser Antilles, to Barbados. ruricola is found across much of the Caribbean, from Cuba and the Bahamas in the west through the Antilles to Barbados in the east. They also have a "nephritic pad", onto which urine is released, to be cleaned by microbes before the water is then reabsorbed. They are nocturnal, to prevent the hot sun from drying them out. ruricola crabs have a number of adaptations to terrestrial life, mostly regarding water conservation. ruricola grows in width at a rate of about 1 in (25 mm) per year, with the crabs reaching maturity after 5 years, and living for up to 10 years in total. ruricolaįour colour morphs exist within the species - black, red, yellow, and green. Description Gecarcinus ruricola A male G. ![]() ruricola include the purple land crab, black land crab, red land crab, and zombie crab. It is the most terrestrial of the Caribbean land crabs, and is found from western Cuba across the Antilles as far east as Barbados. Gecarcinus ruricola is a species of terrestrial crab.
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