What is Digg?Sponsored by Microsoft
Microsoft responds to the headlines. view!
microsoft.com/everybodysbusiness - Read our developers' points of view on the headlines making news.
34 Comments
- mileswj, on 01/09/2008, -2/+15That was quite interesting to read, better then 90% of the ***** on here.
- j1ggy, on 01/09/2008, -1/+13Isn't that the same thing a dingo does? You take it home thinking it's a cute puppy and it steals your baby.
- Lokishot, on 01/09/2008, -3/+12Those sneaky *****!
- H4n90fThur5D4y5, on 01/09/2008, -0/+8Ok. *Diggs you down*
Fascinating article, btw. - h4mx0r, on 01/09/2008, -1/+8Can we get the ants to take care of us?
- KiTchMe, on 01/09/2008, -0/+6There are many examples like this in the nature. For instance, one of the orchids tricks wasps into mating with the orchid by releasing a certain scent, and in return it gets pollinated.
- humanerror, on 04/03/2008, -2/+7How embarrassing to give your baby a bath and then discover that actually it's not a baby, it's food.
- Zapkiller, on 01/09/2008, -0/+4Denmark, yay!
- throatgouger, on 01/09/2008, -1/+4Ant larvae, caterpillars in disguise
- cotaskmemalloc, on 01/09/2008, -1/+4I give this article a B+
- MiDri, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2You sir/madam win the internet, here is your prize... *Pulls really hard on the internet* ... Um, it won't move.. well... it's yours anyway, you deal with it.
- johnnysaucepn, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2No, they don't have to be genetically similar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Host-parasite_mimicry
- cotaskmemalloc, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2Why? It's interesting. A hell of a lot more interesting than another iPhone or Linux article.
- denytenamun, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2The caterpillar will have some sort of smell no matter what. My best guess would be that it started out with some caterpillars being less likely to be eaten by ants because of a variation in their natural scent. The ones that smelled more like ants and less like food lived.
- angusmancan, on 01/09/2008, -2/+4Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherf'g caterpillars on this motherf'g anthill!
- inactive, on 01/09/2008, -3/+5Where's your god now!
- sark666, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2Fascinating. I can't imagine how this would evolve. And yes there are numerous examples of this, but it baffles me.
If, say some deer have some unusually fast offspring, it's more likely to evade being prey and thus more likely to live to breed, basic natural selection.
But how does one explain the evolutionary steps involved in this? If we go back far enough where the caterpillar did not do this yet, how would it actually evolve? The first generation that say slightly mimicked this odour, but maybe not sufficient enough to fool the ants would be killed. How would following generations develop this ability further as the first gen exhibiting this wouldn't be around to pass on this new trait? I'm amazed by these examples but fail to see how the 'baby steps' would get us here. - zionKing, on 01/09/2008, -0/+2"The Alcon blue grubs are well known for deceiving the ants into feeding them while letting their own brood starve."
What a bunch of deadbeats these aunts, whoring around with grubs instead of feeding your own kids... - phrozted, on 01/11/2008, -0/+1"The chemical con trick used by Alcon blue butterfly larvae to get ants to take care of them has been detailed by scientists working in Denmark."
Well, thank God! I guess we can all go home. - FroopY, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1Ants, Digg down... no one got it?
- j1ggy, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1A cowbird will lay eggs in other bird species' nests. The chick grows very fast and will usually consume most of the food the host brings back to the nest. The original chicks will usually starve to death or are pushed out of the nest.
- slezzzter, on 01/09/2008, -1/+2Allow me:
"In the beginning God created the ants. And they were good. But they were bored. So then God gave them caterpillars to take care of. And it was good." - ChaosMotor, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1Ants + Caterpillars = BFF 4 Lyfe
- WallsOfPeril, on 01/10/2008, -0/+1Evolution is so amazing and funny sometimes.
Similar trickery detailed in a video w/article here:
http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view.php3?art ... - sark666, on 01/09/2008, -0/+1Damn edit timing out, just wanted to add, a fascinating docu on numerous interwoven relationships like this is called queen of the trees, about fig trees in africa.
Here's a little clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMNPZPYCCw4 - nwoantibody, on 01/09/2008, -2/+3So how does evolution explain this? During millions of year, it was doing a weird smell, that was good for nothing and had no purpose, until eventually it mutated it's genes to secrete a molecule that fits perfectly in the receptor of some particular type of ant, so that the ant thinks it's raising it's own? While not being a smell that could endanger it for millions of years before it became a useful smell. Being of course evolution who refutes itself. A caterpillar wouldn't produce a smell has higher chances of surviving; since it can't be detected by predators. But instead for millions of years it was doing some weird ass smell, until 1 mutated, and outbred all the rest of it's species?
Btw, I'm atheist; so don't give me the ***** without answering the question. - Pixelante, on 01/09/2008, -0/+0Being taken care for by caterpillars.
- j1ggy, on 01/09/2008, -2/+1I'd guess it originally happened by accident, and the original species either died out or was bred into the new species due to their higher survival rate. And no I'm not going to give the creationism alternative.
- RepublicansSuck, on 01/09/2008, -2/+1Those diesel engineers keep getting smarter and smarter!
- cowsgonemadd3, on 01/09/2008, -5/+3Ants must have little sense then.
- PerfectMac, on 01/09/2008, -7/+4I use smell to locate bitches on the rag
- djclay, on 01/09/2008, -5/+1Perhaps one day they can be modified to take care of the growing red ant problem. However I fear they may a) mutate uncontrollably and turn on their human masters, and/or b) populate so fast you can't see through the butterflies while driving on the highway. Albeit butterflies are prettier and less stingy than ants, they are a bitch to clean off the windshield after a few hot summer days.
- Sterango, on 01/09/2008, -8/+3lol wtf... i find it odd how a body can know about other bodies out there and actually formulate itself over millenia to make use of them. Makes no sense to me. Im guessing somewhere down the line, ants and those caterpillars were kind of genetically close then they started to split
- wjackson, on 01/09/2008, -14/+2Digg down, please.
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is