The Praying Mantis

Termites are very unique creatures. I initially learned about their specific capabilities in my biology class. A group of protists known as Parabasalids contains what is known as Trichonympha, which have cellulase enzymes capable of digesting cellulose. Trichonympha also has a mutualistic relationship with Termites and in fact lives in their guts to digest cellulose for the creature. This innovation is very interesting especially for modern society. If people could create cellulase enzymes that could synthesize energy for humans, world hunger would come to an end.

Specifically, the Formosan Termite is unique and sometimes known as a "super termite" as it is the most aggressive and voracious species in the entire subgroup. Now these termites along with other types have a very organized way of living. They establish colonies either under or above ground. Additionally there is usually a queen who lays a significant amount of eggs, while the workers and soldiers maintain the identity of the colony. Specifically for Formosan Termites, they have around 360 workers and 40 soldiers. This seems a lot until compared to the average size of a termite colony of almost 5000 termites. This makes Formosan colonies one-tenth the size of other species!

The differences in colony sizes of different termites as well as level of aggression help to understand how such similar animals develop so differently. While the termite is relatively harmless to people, the fact that Formosan Termites are so aggressive is an anomaly at first. However, with a better understanding of biology and the laws of thermodynamics, people can better understand how this species is adapted to variation. The aggressive trait in animals is one that is very taxing to the amount of energy of the being. This explains why most termites are harmless. However, Formosan Termites have much smaller colonies than other termites, and therefore have a more efficient use of resources. This explains why biology has allowed this species its unique set of behavioral traits.

Additionally, this species is very resilient and usually causes much damage to the places they are in. These termites reside in places such as Hawaii who's residents pay around 100 million dollars per year to fix termite damage. The fact that a species as small as termites are able to cause such devastating damage is astounding! It really shows the differentiation of all human life. When thinking of organic organisms, the more we understand about the world, the harder it is to make sense of it. Life has evolved in ways that would be unimaginable if not seen by our very own eyes.

Not only is the name of this species the "assassin" bug, but some types will feed on the blood of humans! This bug is located in almost every continent and can be found in a variety of places, even in apartments! While these creatures while may only get as big as 4 inches, they pack a powerful punch. These bugs hunt by piercing its victims and injecting a toxin that liquifies the targets organs. The assassin bug then drinks the remaining fluid from its prey.

While these bugs sound horrifying, they more often than not help the environment they live in. Assassin bugs are strictly secondary consumers and a lot of their diet includes pests. Due to this, they are an organic option when maintaining plant life in a garden. These bugs won't even eat the plants they stand on, they would only use it as a place to hunt. However, while these insects are very helpful, they don't have the best relationships with humans. Many reports have been made on careless people being attacked and bitten by a type of assassin bug.

These bugs are also very intelligent. Certain types of assassin bugs such as Termite-eating assassin bugs use dead termites to attract live ones! Additionally, a type of assassin bug that eats bees will cover its legs with tree resin to attract them.

Now it's one thing for a bug to be a good hunter, but these bugs are able to manipulate their environment in order to increase success in terms of hunting. These bugs are able to plan for food before it comes, which is an evolutionary trait that may separate species from each other. When scientists theorized the development of human beings, a popular idea is that the prefrontal cortex caused humans to evolve into the people they are today. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for planning events in the same way. If these bugs are operating in a similar fashion, there's no telling what may happen in the future. The ability for these animals to do this is astounding.

The severity of this bug highlights the deadliness of the insect world. While human beings have many threats, an insect has lurking predators from seemingly every corner. These bugs are extremely deadly and even they have predators. This really emphasizes the nature of bugs. For the most part they look like aliens, and they practice survival of the fittest on a day to day level. Thankfully, must bugs aren't able to permanently harm humans.

The Giant Water Bug is the largest actual "bug" in the world. This species can be as much as four inches long. What makes this insect stand out is its ability to catch fish, salamanders, and frogs that are for the most part twice as big as it. This is just another example of the uniqueness present in different types of insects. This bug has every deadly way of taking down its prey. It first latches onto its victim, and uses  a very sharp-like mouth to insert deadly saliva which destroys the insides of its target. That property alone is interesting because it makes me wonder how an insect that could have a chemical composition that is harmless to itself but deadly to other species. What traits does this individual have that stop it from hurting itself?

The Giant Water Bug differs greatly from the insects I have looked at so far mainly due to the diligence it has for the offspring. While the female will lay the eggs and leave after mating, the male will take care of the hatchlings until they are able to fend for themselves. Additionally these bugs are very clever. If they are met with a predator too big, they will play dead and can secrete a liquid from the anus to enhance its effect. This conscious act to decipher what is threatening and to act upon it as well as to take care of its young is something I would like to look at more closely. How much of this behavior is the species aware of? How can a species tell what is too much of a threat and change from being a predator to playing dead. Is this merely an adaptation from trial and error, or is there another factor here at play. I ask this question after looking at videos where this bug is up against species that are in completely different environments. When encountering these different species, how can the insects know which ones are too dangerous? I have seen examples of them knowing to deceive species that they have never encountered before.

I personally like the Giant Water Bug very much. Unlike most other insects, it does not look like the small version of a monster, and it has very different tendencies than I would expect. From a species that in its own kingdom ruthless, the ability it has to care from its offspring is very surprising.

Originally, I heard about this arachnid as a joke and I was mortified. I was sitting in lunch one day and a person told me, "Do you know there are spiders that can eat birds?". I thought it was a joke but when I looked into it, I learned about the Goliath Birdeater, the largest spiders to ever exist, do in fact eat small birds. This spider is a type of tarantula, and thankfully lives in South America. Now you might want to know how big this species is. Well, on average they have the body size of 4.75 inches and the leg span of 11 inches. Now a spider that is 2-3 feet big is something to be scared of. They can actually eatbirds that get caught in their nets but rarely do: they consume a variety of prey that is smaller than the species itself. Additionally, what is interesting about this species is that after mating, the female doesn't leave the egg sack of the spiders in her web - she carries it with her. Often times the egg sack is as big as a tennis ball, and contains about 70 spider eggs. 

I think people should really stop to notice unique species can be. It is almost surreal to see a house spider as big as a thumbtack that could be the same species as the Goliath bird eater who is bigger than some small animals. What is interesting to understand is how such a variation of the species evolved to become so big. Ultimately evolution is dependent on environment, so it would be interesting to see what in the Southern American climate would allow such a spider to develop.

Additionally the way this spider hunts is very different from species we are used to. While the Goliath bird eater has eight legs, it has very poor eyesight. The species is also virtually unable to smell or hear its prey, relying primarily on its hair to get a sense and to track it down. The fact that it can use the vibrations in its environment entirely being as big as it is is almost unbelievable. Like other species of spiders, this one molts and through the process of molting can regenerate entire limbs! Now that is just crazy. It has very dangerous venom that does not only harm the insides of its prey, but dissolves everything inside into a juice that the spider than consumes. This is very interesting because although this venom has devastating effects on its victims, its bite is relatively harmless to people. A spider such as the black widow although smaller has a much more devastating bite than this huge species.

I think my biggest takeaway from this species is just how illogical the species is. The habits and and tendencies of this animal could not be predicted by anyone.

 

I've spent the last two hours frustrated. I am trying to begin my passion blog but have no Idea what to talk about. I am frantically trying to find anything I would think is interesting, but I can think of nothing. In the midst of this struggle, I watch a video of a praying mantis (female) biting her mate's head off during mating. What really caught my attention, was that afterwards they kept mating. I knew then what my topic was going to be on. For maybe the first time in my life, procrastination has helped me complete homework.

For this week's topic, we are going to diverge into the behavior and characteristics of the Budwing Mantis. What makes this mantis unique, is that it is one of the most aggressive Praying Mantis' out of all of the species. While the females can be only 6-7cm long, they will still attack... well pretty much anything. When approached, they will raise their wings in a menacing position, that will scare away even a male Budwing Mantis. What is fascinating is how a bug so small evolved to be so aggressive. The female Budwing Mantis refuses to run away from predators; she actually stands them down. It makes me wonder what goes on in these insects head: how do they think? Due to the female's survival, she teaches all of us a lesson in fear. Being threatening is more playing the part than actually possessing the means to cause harm.

The male Budwing Mantis is much smaller at about 3-4cm (about half the size of females). Unlike females, they are not nearly as aggressive. Unfortunately, many mating attempt ends in death. Apparently this is to help provide nutrients for female Mantis' and aid them in reproduction. I on the contrary, don't think that this is justified. When I was younger and learned about bee colonies, I thought it was cruel for female bees to mate with males and then kick them out of the hive. However, these bees have it so much better than the male Praying Mantis.

What is interesting, is even without a head, male praying mantis' are still controlled by nerves in their abdominal muscles and can still reproduce. The ability for an animal to do this makes one examine the complexity of a species. I think that the ability to explain this is beyond science, because I have not been able to find a concrete reason as to how nerves can still be activated without a head.

Due to a better understanding of the Budwing Mantis, I at least became very fearful of finding it accidentally around me. Thankfully, these species can only live in a very specific climate, and are found only in and around the country Kenya. While these creatures are intriguing, they are horrifying. The Budwing Mantis looks like an actual alien, and behaves in ways that are beyond at least my understanding. If I were a male, I'd try to mate a different species. I don't think they're aware of the many DIFFERENT fish in the sea.