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The Twisted Relationship Between American Cockroaches and Jewel Wasps
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Nature is a stage where astonishing dramas unfold, showcasing the intricate web of relationships between diverse organisms. One such mesmerizing tale is the peculiar association between the American cockroach ( Periplaneta americana) and the jewel wasp ( Ampulex compressa). The relationship between these two species is unique and fascinating. The female jewel wasp wasp has a specialized predatory behavior that involves using American cockroaches as hosts for their offspring. The wasp targets the American cockroach as a living nursery for its developing young. It does so by injecting a venomous sting into specific parts of the cockroach's nervous system, temporarily paralyzing its front legs. Once the cockroach is immobilized, the wasp leads it ...
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1733 |
bio_man |
A year ago |
Praying mantises are the only invertebrates known to see in 3D
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Any animal capable of seeing in 3D, such as humans, have the ability to visually perceive depth. No other insect but the Praying mantis is capable of this. Because of this, this predatory insect excels at detecting prey that comes within striking distance, but unlike us, their depth perception only works when the prey is moving. In a new study, scientists glued the world’s tiniest 3D glasses (above, left) on 20 praying mantises ( Sphodromantis lineola) and showed them a series of movies depicting patches of moving dots that were camouflaged against a matching background, and which are perceived as potential prey items to the insect. The insects tried to catch these dots that appeared to be within 2.5 centimeters of their perch. And they coul ...
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1317 |
bio_man |
6 years ago |
One of the world's largest insects
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If you're not an insect lover, this is your final chance to turn your head!The giant Malaysian katydid ( Macrolyristes corporalis) is one of the largest insects in the world, with their bodies growing to 15 cm (6 inches) long with a 25 cm (10 inch) long wingspan. Though the last thing you want to hear is that this giant insect is carnivorous, they pose absolutely no threat to humans (aside from haunting your dreams, of course). Relatively speaking, the males of this species have the largest testes of any known animal at 14% of their body weight. If humans had the same ratio, a 91 kg (200 lb) man would have testes that weighed nearly 13 kg (28 pounds)! ...
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1257 |
bio_man |
6 years ago |
Shivering bees
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Unlike most bees, which hibernate during colder months, honey bees remain active all winter long despite the freezing temperatures. A honey bee colony’s ability to survive the winter depends on their food stores of honey. Once the colony begins to run out of honey, the worker bees force the useless drones from the hive, to maintain the food store. As temperatures drop, the honey bee workers form a cluster around the queen and brood, keeping them warm. Bees on the inside of the cluster can feed on the stored honey. If surrounding temperatures rise, the bees on the outside of the group separate a bit, to allow more air flow. As temperatures fall, the cluster tightens, and the outer bees pull together. As it gets colder, the worker bees actively ...
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8435 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
These giant looking mosquitoes aren't really mosquitoes after all
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The crane fly is the world's most misunderstood insect that looks like a mosquito, but is actually a fly. Although it might look like the daddy longlegs of mosquitos, it is actually harmless and doesn't suck your blood. In fact, some sources suggest that this insect eats other bugs and mosquitoes larvae, acting as natural form of pest control.
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10681 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
One long snout
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The aardvark's outsize snout is tailor-made to house a foot-long, sticky tongue that's the perfect tool for extracting termites from their mound nests. Bush-meat hunters are fond of eating aardvarks, but the "antbear" ( Orycteropus afer) is still relatively common across sub-Saharan Africa.
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3120 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
A buttload of coachroaches
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A female Madagascar hissing cockroach giving birth from her butt. After the brood hatches from her body, she secretes nutritional goo to provide them their first meal. That's dedicated parenting.
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9946 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Incredible, these ants can build live bridges with their bodies
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Army ants ( Eciton hamatum, shown above) can form living bridges without any oversight from a "lead" ant and with a clear cost-benefit ratio. The ants will create a path up to the point when too many workers are being diverted from collecting food and prey. Bridges will be the length of 10 to 20 ants - only a few centimeters, but swarms form several bridges a day, which save collective energy and maximize foraging time. The ants exhibit a level of collective intelligence that could provide new insights into animal behavior. Watch the video found here: http://phys.org/news/2015-11-ants-bridges-bodies-video.html ...
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3379 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Nature's scuba divers
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Some bugs, such as water scorpions, long-toed water beetle and predaceous diving beetles (shown below) use the molecular properties of water to create miniature scuba diving tanks and spacesuits. The cohesive forces between water molecules essentially makes water molecules "stick" together, allowing bubbles to form against a wall of tension. These little insects are small enough to take advantage of this, by trapping a bubble in their outer wings or tiny bristles on their shell. ...
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8081 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
This plant will solve all your termite problems
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The pitcher plant, much like the Venus flytrap, is a carnivorous plant that survives by digesting insects. It's sweet nectar entices insects to feed off it, though this may come at a cost as they risk falling into a deadly pool of acid at the bottom of the pitcher plant's bucket-shaped leaf.
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3106 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
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1709 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Mosquitoes have preferences too
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According to a new study published in the journal PLOS One, it was found that identical twins are equally attractive to mosquitoes than fraternal - or non-identical - twins. This correlation lead researchers to conclude that mosquitoes might be making preferential choices based on differences in our DNA. What causes this preferences? While it may be nice to believe that that mosquitoes are attracted to "sweeter blood", it's not true at all. Female mosquitoes - the ones that bite, in order to get protein necessary for egg development - are actually drawn to us by chemical signals related to body odour. ...
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17890 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
These wannabe spiders use thorn-like weapons on their arms to attack small prey
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Belonging to the class Arachnida, Amblypygids, also known as whip spiders or tailless whip scorpions, form a separate order of arachnids alongside the spiders, scorpions, and others. The name "amblypygid" means "blunt rump", a reference to a lack of the flagellum ("tail"). They are harmless to humans, and possess no silk glands or venomous fangs. They rarely bite if threatened, but can grab fingers with pedipalps (thorn-like appendages), resulting in thorn-like puncture injury. ...
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22364 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
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3496 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
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13171 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
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