Luna Moth (Actias luna), freshly emerged from the cocoon
- family Saturniidae, the Silk Moths, so named because of the silk cocoons the larvae make within which to pupate :3
(photo by Les Halstead)
ymutate: Honeypot Ants, Australia
ending the series of posts of aboriginal art is this photo of honeypot ants which play a role in aboriginal culture.
from wikipedia: Honeypot ants such as Camponotus inflatus are edible and form an occasional part of the diet of various Australian Aboriginal peoples. Papunya, in Australia’s Northern Territory is named after a honey ant creation story, or Dreaming, which belongs to the people there, such as the Warlpiri. The name of Western Desert Art Movement, Papunya Tula, means “honey ant dreaming”.
Honeypot ants, also called honey ants or repletes, are ants which are gorged with food by workers, to the point that their abdomens swell enormously, a condition called plerergate. Other ants then extract nourishment from them. They function essentially as living larders. Honeypot ants belong to any of five genera, including Myrmecocystus. They were first discovered in 1881 by Henry C. McCook.
Many insects, notably honey bees and some wasps, collect and store liquid for use at a later date. However, these insects store their food within their nest or in combs. Honey ants are unique in using their own bodies as living storage, but they have more function than just storing food. Some store liquids, body fat, and water from insect prey brought to them by worker ants. They can later serve as a food source for their fellow ants when food is otherwise scarce. In certain places, they are eaten by people as sweets and are considered a delicacy.
Some worker ants turn into honeypots right from their emergence from pupa stage. The young ants stay in the nest, and the worker ants who collect honey, feed them. As they feed more honey than they need, the surplus honey gets stored in their abdomen. As their abdomen expand, the ants lose their mobility.
These ants can live anywhere in the nest, but in the wild, they are found deep underground, literally imprisoned by their huge abdomens, swollen to the size of grapes. They are so valued in times of little food and water that occasionally raiders from other colonies, knowing of these living storehouses, will attempt to steal these ants because of their high nutritional value and water content. These ants are also known to change colors. Some common colors are green, red, orange, yellow, and blue.
Magnetic Bacteria? - Magnetotactic Baceria!
by Sandi Clement
In nature, organisms use a variety of methods to figure out where they are and where they need to be going. Plants use sunlight and the force of gravity to determine which direction they should grow, birds migrate in part using the sun and stars to guide their path, and we humans can simply ask for directions at the nearest gas station.
Some organisms use the earth’s geomagnetic field to orient themselves and navigate through their environment. Organisms that use the earth’s geomagnetic field have some type of internal compass. The smallest organisms that use this navigational method are called magnetotactic bacteria.
Magnetotactic bacteria were discovered in 1975 by Richard P. Blakemore. Blakemore noticed that some of the bacteria that he observed under a microscope always moved to the same side of the slide. If he held a magnet near the slide, the bacteria would move towards the north end of the magnet.
These bacteria are able to do this because they make tiny, iron-containing, magnetic particles. Each of these particles is a magnet with a north pole and a south pole. The bacteria arrange these tiny magnets in a line to make one long magnet. They use this magnet as a compass to align themselves to the earth’s geomagnetic field…
(read more: The Curious Microbe)
(image: Biomagnetism Group, Univ. of Munich)
Whale Worms (Osedax spp.) aka “Bone Eating Snotflowers”
via MBARI
Scientists working at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) in 2004 discovered two new species of unique tubeworms that feed on the bones of dead whales. The worms are in a new genus called “Osedax,” which is Latin for “bone devourer.”
The worms’ bodies and feeding strategies are very different from most animals. They have no eyes, legs, mouths or stomachs, but they do have colorful feathery plumes and green “roots.” The reddish plumes extend into the water and act as gills. They connect to a muscular trunk, which can be withdrawn into a transparent tube when the worms are disturbed. At the other end of the trunk, hidden inside the whale bone, the body widens to form a large egg sac. The green roots, branching off from the egg sac, grow into the whale bone similar to the way garden plant roots spread into the ground. They are filled with symbiotic* bacteria that break down the fats and oils inside the bone, providing food for the worms.
Whoa.
The SOHO satellite is being inundated with so much radiation right now that it looks like it’s in a snowstorm. Cursed coronal mass ejection!
(via Spaceweather.com)
(via itsfullofstars)
