What is Digg?11 Comments
- inactive, on 07/07/2009, -0/+11"The insects’ chemical sensors can detect a carcass 2 miles away within hours of an animal dying. After flying to it, a pair of beetles begin excavating - slowly sinking the carcass into the earth and leaving little sign on the surface that it was ever there.
As the carcass is lowered, the beetles trim off feathers or fur. Then they mold the animal until it looks like a mushy gray tennis ball, coating it with antibacterial bodily secretions. Inside, the meat stays pink and fresh.
Beetle eggs hatch nearby, and the larvae find their way into the carcass, where they devour everything but the bones over the next two weeks, each larva growing to the size of a pinky.
In late summer, the larvae will emerge as beetles and feed on other insects until the following year - when they begin looking for a dead animal for their own offspring “nest.’’"
Very very fascinating!! - radicaldementia, on 07/07/2009, -1/+12“People need to care about more species than just polar bears...This is a beautiful bug.’’
Could not agree more. We often tend to forget that we, meaning all vertebrates, are the exception and that invertebrates, particularly arthropods (bugs), are the center-stage of animal life. If all mammal or bird species suddenly went extinct, it would be bad but not terribly disastrous in the general course of nature. But if you killed off all the ants(12,000 species) or beetles (350,000+ species), it would cascade and result in a mass extinction never before witnessed in the history of the Earth. - DeadSkinMask, on 07/08/2009, -0/+4So....Boston.com has more than just pictures?
Great story, but it kinda feels like reading a Playboy for the articles... - pitdog, on 07/08/2009, -0/+4This boston.com site is getting better and better, not only their great picture galleries, but actually some interesting stuff to read.
- Owch, on 07/08/2009, -0/+3I love this beetle! It is a beautiful bug. I am glad to hear people are willing to take the time time to save it.
- joelsmif, on 07/08/2009, -0/+3Daniel Quinn's "The Story of B"
- ymhr, on 07/08/2009, -0/+3http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enazNu0YgPs
If anyone's interested, a nice Bill Oddie narrated clip there of a burying beetle in action. - Whackly, on 07/08/2009, -0/+1I'm gonna drop a barf. Puking for science is awesome.
- roddack, on 07/08/2009, -0/+1maybe a beautiful bug but tragically it doesn't meet the cuteness requirement for the vast majority of people to give a ***** about it.
which now to think of it from an evolution stand point is kind of interesting to see in a s;ecices stqrts getting "cuter" to live - Fastfuud, on 07/08/2009, -0/+0"You are not the king of the Portal!"
~Strawberry Clock
(sorry...newgrounds reference) - inactive, on 07/08/2009, -4/+1Slow day?
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