Phragmotic Soldier

Why the enormous, globular (phragmotic) head on this termite soldier? Soldiers protect the hive primarily against ant incursions. The mandibles are obvious. But the large head comes into effect as stoppers. They can literally plug their head into an opening and block unwanted entry.

I've got a large cranium. Maybe I'm phragmotic. Maybe I'll style myself as a 'human soldier,' a member of that elite caste of humans capable of jamming his head into openings to prevent burglaries and home invasions. I'll try it out the next time an unwanted solicitor tricks me in to opening my front door.

Photo source: Rundstedt B. Rovillos

Meet the Desman

I'm always happy when someone introduces a new ugly species to me. After nearly four years of daily blogging, it's good to know there's still more material out there.

Courtney introduced me to the Russian desman. They belong in the mole family, and like their cousins, they are functionally blind insectivores. However, these creatures come equipped with laterally-flattened tails and webbed feet. That's right; they're aquatic.

How do they find their prey? Like other moles, they come stock with Eimer's organs -- sensitive touch organs at the tip of their bi-lobed snouts. Like the good toucan says, they follow their nose.




































Their wild populations have been on the decline for decades, but seem to be on the rebound recently, thanks to stricter enforcement of Russian laws protecting them. One thing you can do to help: don't buy desman fur coats. Or, if you do, buy them secondhand. No one will notice the cigarette and stale perfume smell from the old lady you bought it from.

Thanks for the desman, Courtney.

Lunar ROUS

Photo source: ListVerse.com
ROUS alert. This beast, known as the moon rat (Echinosorex gymnurus), is the largest member of the order of Insectivora. That's right, there's no larger rodent-like scourge among the terrestrial invertebrates of Southeast Asia than the moon rat, which gets to be the size of a house cat.

What really ups their charm, besides those wee beady eyes, that glistening nose, and its scaly tail, is the onion or strong garlic smell they secrete from their anal glands.

Hmm, pair this creature up with the vinegaroon, and you've got yourself a ready-made salad dressing.

Thanks for the moon rat, David.

Cuddling Worms

Morgan forwarded this article about cuddling worms. Yes, researchers at Rockefeller University believe they've isolated the type of neuron that decides whether or not the worms are going to cuddle.

RMG is the name of the neuron, and it controls the 'hang out together' function of Caenorhabditis elegans. It processes all sorts of genetic and environmental factors to help it decide to be gregarious or not to be gregarious. Such factors include food avaliablity, oxygen levels, and the presence of popcorn and a good movie and one's lady friend by one's side.

I've found that my own RMG0-style neuron is responsive to only one stimulus input: the receptivity of my wife. We men, like these worms, are a simple creature.

Thanks, Morgan. You've brought the worm and human worlds that much closer. I'm not sure if that's a good thing, especially if you live in the tropics, but there it is.

Image courtesy of Rockefeller University via ScienceDaily.com

Nacktmull

Arne reminded me that it's been a while since my last naked mole-rat (oder Nacktmull, auf Deutsch). It's time to revisit one of my favorite animals.

A few fun factoids about this creature:
1) They are African rodents that live in matriarchal hives.
2) They aren't warm blooded in the true sense of the word: they regulate their body temperature by snuggling with one another (their ugly mugs actually make this image a bit more endearing) and by moving about their labyrinthine (love that word) burrows.
3) Their front teeth are outside their lips, so they don't ingest any dirt while burrowing.

and

4) They are the only animal whose adult spine will lengthen with the proper blend of (natural) hormones. When a new queen is selected, she actually grows in length to reflect her new status. I think my wife has done the same thing: she seems taller and more regal after every child.

May Your Village Always Be Safe

Sherry took my most recent rat post and plied her Christmas spirit to it. This is what she came up with. In the end, it's actually a good sentiment, and I thought I'd pass this Christmas card along.

Thanks, Sherry.

Plague Rats (Again)

This was the most sinister image of a rat I could find on short order. Rats are so easily depicted in cartoons as evil, menacing creatures. But in most photos they simply look like furry rodents. Maybe not your cup of tea, but not necessarily something to induce cringing.




















But maybe this tale (tail, punny) will change your mind.

Here is yet one more confirmation that rats are indeed vermin. It seems that the brown or common rat, the most common rat in Europe, may be carrying the latest and greatest dread bacteria, a newly emerged zoonotic pathogen (say those last three words three times fast) known as Bartonella s. (Bartonella? Sounds like an apple cider drink I'll be having for the holidays).

It turns out that the rats are actually carrying the bacteria carriers, which are the rat fleas. That's right: this ugly tale is three layers deep (rat -- flea -- bacteria). And rats aren't the only culprit; voles, gerbils, and other rodentia are guilty of carrying these bacteria as well. These bacteria, of which some 20 species are floating around) can wreak all sorts of destruction, affecting hearts and spleens, etc.

Thankfully, if some 21st-century plague is headed our way, cats won't be blamed this time. In fact, we may find our feline friends in high demand. They'll be haughtier and more demanding than ever.

Thanks for the article, Ida.

Moley Moley Moley

For this post I thought I would juxtapose an actual mole photo with that of a mole cricket. These two creatures have quite a bit in common. They're omnivores that burrow looking for food, and are considered to be pests in most areas. Unlike the mole, however, the mole cricket can fly. That would add a whole new complication to mole abatement if we had to chase down flying ones.



Photo source: Knuttz.net

Chow Time for Roaches

Jade, our resident invert breeder, has sent us a veritable panoply of roach photos. Enjoy.

Check out Terminix for more pictures of common household roaches.

First we have Orange spotted roaches (Blaptica dubia). The males have the wings, and the juveniles have the color. That leaves the ladies flightless and drab (not really--they've got a chic glossy brown thing going on).



















Next we've got your classic hisser (Gromomorphia portensia). As Jade says, "You can't go wrong with these guys." Hmm. Well. I've never tried to go right with them, so I wouldn't know.


















Last, but absolutely, definitely, by no means least, we have Turkistan Roaches (Blatta lataralis). In the trade these fast little vermin are known as 'red runners.' I would be known as a 'pasty-white runner' if I encountered a group of these in my cupboards.

Just in case any of you are wondering, these photos were all taken at meal time. Jade feeds his roaches dog food and bananas, which is better than lots of dogs and monkeys get for food.

ROUS Seeking Mine

Mozambique is but one country littered with lethal mine fields. There have been many different methods developed to discover these mines, ranging from running mad-cow-diseased cattle over the fields to detonate the bombs to sacrificial child-soldiers to armored mine-clearing vehicles. But all such methods have significant flaws or limitations, or are just plain evil.

Enter the Giant Gambian Pouched Rat.

Photo source: Time.com
These rats are ideally suited to clearing land mines. They are intelligent, easy to train, easy to transport, cheap to feed, work well with any handler, and are resistant to tropical diseases (unlike dogs who weigh too much, get bored, and succumb to such diseases too readily). 36 such rats have already cleared the country of thousands of mines. Two rats can accomplish in one hour what a human de-miner would take two weeks to do.

How do they do it? They are trained to sniff out the TNT in the mines. As they scamper across the field, they sniff the ground. Once they catch a whiff of the explosive, they scratch at the ground. The rat's handler then clicks a remote, which signals the rat's collar to chirp, making the rat run back to the handler for food. The rats find the mines, but are too light to detonate them. They can be used again and again and seem to really enjoy the work.

I have a new found respect for vermin. Which reminds me: I need to give my brother a call.

Elephant Shrew

The elephant shrew is neither an elephant nor a shrew. They can be found in almost any environment in southern Africa, scampering about and probing with their noses in an effort to feed their insectivorous diet.

Are these legal to own in the US? I could use a few around my property. They could hunt down the crickets and spiders that plague me. I normally don't encourage rodents to take up residence around my house, but who couldn't use some more insect-eating creatures (spiders excluded)?

Thanks for the photo, Ida.

Photo source: Sharenator

Toys, Gifts and Jellies

Some postal workers in Philadelphia, US, were sorting through the mail when they came across a package labeled "toys, gifts and jellies." But something inside the package was making a noise (I see the beginning of a children's book here). The postmaster sent it off to customs where it was x-rayed and found to contain more than two dozen live giant beetles, some as large as a child's hand (5-6 inches across).

The beetles were a mix of Hercules, Rhinoceros, and Goliath beetles (I see a great jazz band name somewhere in there), all of which are known to be destructive pests.

Photo source: AP via Yahoo!

















At least whoever shipped these (and they are now known to the authorities) gave the postal workers an exciting day. It isn't everyday you get to handle monster insects (and hey, free dollar bill!). I know some of you invert-lovers would be walking on Cloud 9 for weeks.

Thanks for the article, Ida.

Miscreant Youth

Imagine yourself working your fields, doing back breaking work day after day in the hot sun, trying to coax your beets to grow. Just as the sun reaches its zenith, you stand upright to stretch your aching back. You cock your head at the sound of approaching rain.

Whaa..?

You look to the horizon and see what looks to be a fast approaching, swirling cloud of blackness that blots out the sky. But what you're looking at is a locust swarm--and the utter ruination of your beets.

A locust swarm can be comprised of billions of individuals and can eat tens of thousands of tons of vegetation each day. But why in the world do these normally herbivorous locusts seem to spontaneously swarm? It's because of their miscreant youths.

A new study posits that when times get tough, the tough become cannibals. This phenomenon seems to be isolated to the flightless youth, who turn on each other in a bid for locust flesh (oh, if only locusts could make zombie movies...). This cannibalism triggers fear and flight reflexes in the other youths, who then continue this pattern of fear-driven flight quite literally when they gain their wings (they earn their wings by doing a good deed). Thus is a swarm born. Thus we have the genesis of the swarm. Thus is the root of the swarm discovered. Thus...sorry.

It's comforting to know that most species of animalia have trouble with their teenagers. Except for bugs that go through a pupal phase--that's the way to do it.

Thanks for the link, Ida.

Photo source: AP via BBC News

British Invasion

This fish is making headlines in Britain. An angler caught it while fishing for pike, and now there are fears that this fish, the snakehead, might be invading Britain's waterways, despite importation bans.

This little monster, which reaches a length of 3 feet (44 lbs!), kills everything it comes across, and is even reported to kill people. Hailing from Southeast Asia, they can crawl across dry land and even live out of water for four days. Hopefully, this specimen represents a single fish that was released by an aquarist who lost interest in keeping it as a pet. Hopefully, it wasn't able spawn and produce more hell fish.

In the meantime, for all you Brits, keep your eyes open, swim at your own risk. Watch where you step.

Thanks for the article, Rachel, Jade, and Ida.

Photo source: The Sun

Look Again

Naked mole-rats keep cropping up in the news these days. This photo is of the mug of a juvenile at the Bronx Zoo.

Notice anything unusual about its mouth and teeth? Look real close. See it yet? Yup, the rodent's lips are behind its teeth. (Go ahead, look again). That's so the critter can dig, dig, dig without having to open its mouth. How's that for functionality?

Photo source: Yahoo! News

Grumpy Old Rat

I don't think this is a true hairless rat, given the tufts of fur on the old man's face. But I'm not one to bicker about details with someone as grumpy as him.

I'm not sure what I'd do if I opened up my pantry and saw this guy scowling back at me. I would probably just shut the door, walk away, curl up in some dark corner, and pray that he would finish his morsel and find some other house to haunt.

Thanks for the photo, Ida.

Sinister Therapy

It seems from prior posts that many of you have had less than pleasant encounters with the house centipede. Perhaps it was out of a sinister impulse that Jade sent this photo along, to drive the blade a bit deeper. He likes this one because you can see the beast's eyes.

Or, perhaps Jade thought it would be therapeutic, that another safe encounter with this critter will lessen the fear, dull the pain, and expose those frightening experiences to the light of day.

Whatever the case is, thanks Jade.

Delve Too Deep

The dwarves of Moria delved too deep, and unearthed the Balrog. The scene below is what you get when you delve too deeply in a Japanese beetle-infested lawn. Not quite as scary, but definitely more grubby.

The last time I posted on these pests, booge recommended the use of grub impaling death sandals as a means of controlling them. I second that recommendation.

Photo source: stephentrepreneur

Poor Thing

This poor thing can never show her face in the sewers again. Hairless. In human captivity. Collared with a radar dish. She can't get no respect.

I don't see the stitches or the wound that the dish is keeping the rat's chompers from, but I can only assume it was human-induced (hopefully for its own good).

This brings back memories of my sister's rat back when we were kids. When the thing grew a tumor she took it to the vet and had it removed (the rat came home in a radar dish). I brought it (the tumor) in to show-and-tell the next day, floating in a vial of water. I was the talk of the classroom for a good day or two. That is my one claim to fame.

Photo source: LinkInn.com

ROUS

If there is one thing our planet is woefully short on, it's giant rats. Thankfully, an expedition into pristine wilderness territory in Indonesia has yielded just that: a new species of Rodent Of Unusual Size.

This specimen weighs in a a cool three pounds. That makes it five times larger than your average city rat. What makes this tale (tail...) even more charming, is that the rodent was fearless of humans. It even wandered into camp a few times (you have so much to learn about us humans, lil' rat).

The man in the photo, a mammal expert named Martua Sinaga, has more spine than I. It would take a lot (a promise to pay off my mortgage, for instance) to cause me to pick up a heretofore unknown species of giant rat with my bare hands.

Thanks for the story, Hank, Jenny, and Rick.

Photo source: National Geographic