CORON, PALAWAN, PHILIPPINES 7: WHATNOTS

These are just some of the things that caught my interest in Coron... Whatnots, I may say!!!


Q1: Do you recognize me?

The first time I showed this in Facebook, a friend immediately commented, "What a cute frog!"


As we were having our dinner, I noticed this at one side of the ceiling... 
therefore, it couldn't be a frog!


Of course, looking closely, it is the ever famous "TUKÔ"!

It is a present issue in the Philippines wherein   the gecko is considered to be endangered and shouldn't be sold. 
In fact, in websites, they say it costs a million but I think, they just made fun of the illegal sale and trading issue.


Now, you can see me in full body view!!!

The tukô is the Philippine gecko.

FROM WIKIPEDIA:
The Tokay Gecko is known as a Tuko or Toko in the Philippines, Tokek in Indonesian/Javanese, and tắc kè in Vietnamese, for its characteristic vocalizations. People have mixed feelings about it ranging from terror of the belief that its feet can tear your skin off to admiration for its entertaining vocalizations;^{[citation needed]} in the Philippines, most people respect it and value it because it eats dangerous pests such as scorpions and giant centipedes.^{[citation needed]}
The Tokay Gecko is the second largest Gecko species, attaining lengths of about 30–40 cm (11–15 inches) for males, and 20–30 cm (7–11 inches) for females, with weights of only 150–300g (5–10 oz). They are distinctive in appearance, with a bluish or grayish body, sporting spots ranging from light yellow to bright red. The male is more brightly colored than the female. They have large eyes with a vertical slit pupil. Eyes are brown to greenish brown and can be orange or yellow.

There were also lots of "cute" and unique bugs there.
Unique because we don't see them as big and as colorful in our place.


Q2: Have you seen me before?

This appears to be a scarab beetle but unfortunately, I couldn't identify this specifically.
Maybe someone can help me here.
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
Scarabs are stout-bodied beetles, many with bright metallic colors, measuring between 1.5 and 160 mm. They have distinctive, clubbedantennae composed of plates called lamellae that can be compressed into a ball or fanned out like leaves to sense odors. The front legs of many species are broad and adapted for digging.


Q3: How about me?

I am a bug but I look like a beetle.

I am a shield bug.
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
Pentatomoidea is a superfamily of insects in the Heteroptera suborder of the Hemiptera order and, as such, share a common arrangement of sucking mouthparts.^[1] They are commonly referred to as shield bugs, chust bugs, and stink bugs.
Acanthosomatidae is a family of Hemiptera, commonly named “shield bugs,” for which Kumar in his World revision recognizes 47 genera; now this number is 54 genera, with about 200 species, and is one of the least diversified families within Pentatomoidea.^[1]
I remember the time when we had our Entomology class (scientific study of insects) and we used to look for bugs and beetles, moths and butterflies.
I loved the colorful jewel bugs most of all. 

Q4: What kind of bird am I?

I thought it was just a plain crow, but I found out what kind of bird it was.
I am an Asian Glossy Starling.
http://www.birdwatch.ph/html/gallery/asianglossy.html

Scientific Name:	Aplonis panayensis
Habitat:	Lowland areas from second growth to cities
Birdwatch note:	Common and gregariousFlies to and from roosts in noisy flocks. Adults are all black glossed with green while immatures have white underparts finely streaked with black. Both adults and immatures have blood red eyes.

Here are other shots I have...

And I like the silhouette shots.

Q5: Do you recognize what I am?

Do you consider me a fruit?
Here are more pictures of me...

Or am I a nut?

I am a cashew fruit.
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
The cashew is a tree in the family Anacardiaceae. Its English name derives from the Portuguese name for the fruit of the cashew tree, caju, which in turn derives from the indigenous Tupi name, acajú. It is now widely grown in tropical climates for its cashew nuts and cashew apples.
The tree is small and evergreen, growing to 10-12m (~32 ft) tall, with a short, often irregularly shaped trunk. The leaves are spirally arranged, leathery textured, elliptic to obovate, 4 to 22 cm long and 2 to 15 cm broad, with a smooth margin. The flowers are produced in a panicle or corymb up to 26 cm long, each flower small, pale green at first then turning reddish, with five slender, acute petals 7 to 15 mm long. The largest cashew tree in the world covers an area of about 7,500 square metres (81,000 sq ft).


BUT, I am not a real fruit.
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
The fruit of the cashew tree is an accessory fruit (sometimes called a pseudocarp or false fruit). What appears to be the fruit is an oval or pear-shaped structure that develops from the pedicel and the receptacle of the cashew flower.^[1] Called the cashew apple, better known in Central America as "marañón", it ripens into a yellow and/or red structure about 5–11 cm long. It is edible, and has a strong "sweet" smell and a sweet taste. The pulp of the cashew apple is very juicy, but the skin is fragile, making it unsuitable for transport. In Latin America, a fruit drink is made from the cashew apple pulp which has a very refreshing taste and tropical flavor that can be described as having notes of mango, raw green pepper, and just a little hint of grapefruit-like citrus


Nor am I a real nut.
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
The true fruit of the cashew tree is a kidney or boxing-glove shaped drupe that grows at the end of the cashew apple. The drupe develops first on the tree, and then the pedicel expands into the cashew apple. Within the true fruit is a singleseed, the cashew nut. Although a nut in the culinary sense, in the botanical sense the nut of the cashew is a seed. The seed is surrounded by a double shell containing an allergenic phenolic resin, anacardic acid, a potent skin irritantchemically related to the more well known allergenic oil urushiol which is also a toxin found in the related poison ivy.


Q6: What am I?

.I saw this shell on top of the wooden shelf, with a few smaller shells beside it. Of course, it was dried up and empty.
When I was trying to remember what kind of shell this was, all I could remember was Codakia, which is actually another kind of shell.
But, this turned out to the Tridacna Maximus.
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
The maxima clam (Tridacna maxima), also known as the small giant clam, is a species of bivalve found throughout the Indo-Pacific. They are much sought after in the aquarium trade, as their often striking coloration mimics that of the true giant clam, however the maximas maintain a manageable size, with the shells of large specimen typically not exceeding 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in length.

Q7: Have you seen me in Fishville?
The scalloped shell may actually be the live Tridacna.

 Am I brain coral?

I guess it is... looks like a brain to me!
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
Brain coral is a common name given to corals in the family Faviidae so called due to their generally spheroid shape and grooved surface which resembles a brain. Each head of coral is formed by a colony of genetically identical polyps which secrete a hard skeleton of calcium carbonate; this makes them important coral reef builders like other stony corals in the order Scleractinia.

Q8: Have you seen me before?

Aren't they beautiful?

These are called Million Flowers.


Q8: I am quite common, right?

I was so attracted to the vermillion color!

This is a lily!

FROM WIKIPEDIA:

Lilium is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs. Most species are native to the temperate northern hemisphere, though the range extends into the northern subtropics. They comprise a genus of about 110 species in the lily family (Liliaceae).

Lilies form an important group of flowering garden plants, and are important culturally and in literature in much of the world. Some species are sometimes grown or harvested for the edible bulbs.
Lilies are leafy stemmed herbs. They form naked or tunic-less scaly underground bulbs which are their overwintering organs. 
The large flowers have six tepals. They are often fragrant, and come in a range of colours ranging through whites, yellows, oranges, pinks, reds and purples. Markings include spots and brush strokes. The plants are late spring or summer flowering.

These are some of the flora and fauna that caught my eye in Coron.
Aren't they interesting?