Of Parasites, Venom, and Zombies

What happens when you genetically engineer a parasitic wasp to turn agricultural pests into zombies? Well, in the perfect scenario, you end up with a very effective and pesticide-free means of killing off crop pests. On the other hand, you could end up with a set up for a Stephen King novel.

This is in the works folks, and I wish the researchers well. When I also read that they're planning to find out if the wasp venom has medicinal benefits for humans, I got the chills.

Thanks for the link, Ida.

Photo source: Popsci.com

While Strolling Through Healesville

Bonni was taking an innocent stroll through the Healesville Sanctuary, which is in rural Victoria, Australia, when she stumbled upon this insect. It's about a centimeter long. Anyone know what it is? I'm assuming some variety of ant, but anyone know the species? There are more than 12,500 classified species of ant, so I'm not expecting any miracles.

Thanks, Bonni.

UPDATE: There seems to be unanimous consent that this is a bulldog ant. Thanks, all.

Why the Elongated Nose?

This little animal weighs in at a mere 12 pounds, and it little more than a foot tall at the shoulder. They are dwarf antelopes. They are the Dik-dik of East and Southwest Africa.

They live in heavy vegetation, where they can hide, and they mark their territory with their feces. Why the elongated, tubular nose? It makes for a great snorkel. But no one has told the dik-dik that. Instead, they use the extra blood vessels and mucous membrane in said nose to survive the heat of the brush in which they abide. So, why the long nose? All the better to dissipate excess heat, my dear.

Thanks for the Dik-dik, Coralie.

A Spider After My Own Heart

A new spider has been discovered in Israel. Most new spiders are small, but this monster has a leg span of 5.5 inches. Though it looks highly mobile, Cerbalus aravensis is a spider after my own heart -- it's a sit-and-wait hunter. Nocturnal, and most active during the intense heat of the summer, it constructs a camouflaged den with a gotcha-door. When unsuspecting insects or lizards walk by - BAM - it strikes. Instant meal. That's lazier than fast food. It's right up my alley.

Thanks for the link, Jeff and David.

Photo source: 1) Yael Olek/University of Haifa. 2) Roy Talbi/University of Haifa

Green Vine Snake

Photo source: Jayanth Sharma
Behold the maw of the green vine snake (Ahaetulla nasuta). They are known in their native India for being very aggressive and ill-tempered. They make for poor pets, unless you don't mind them striking the glass ceaselessly (which some of you might).

Ever wonder how a photo like this was taken? Look below and get your answer. Of course, this begs the question of how the photo of the photographer was taken.

Monkey Mockery

You might be inclined to mock this monkey. But you wouldn't dare do so to his face. He's a hamadryas baboon (Papio hamadryas), which makes him among the largest primates on the planet. That makes him your superior when it comes to strength and agility. He might not understand your taunts, but you would sure understand your flesh being flayed.

Photo source: John Booth

Bedraggled

It's been a long, long time since my last wet cat post. Luna here is a healthy Persian cat. She can't help it if she is a spectacular exemplar of 'bedraggled.'

Thanks for the photo, Kelly. You seem like a dutiful cat owner, if a bit sadistic.

Spider Tapestry

Here's another spidery tale from Judy...

What do you do if you have four years to kill and 1,063,000 golden orb spiders (Nephila madagascariensis) at hand? Well, if you're Peers and Godley, you enlist some help and weave an 11-by-4 foot tapestry.





















I highly recommend reading the article to get all the details, but suffice it to say that these two gents spent quite some time hunting down apocryphal tales of articles woven from spider silk. They then duplicated the feat. It involved developing a machine to which 24 spiders at a time could be hooked up and milked of their silk. After about 10 minutes of being hooked up, and about 80 feet of silk later, the spiders were safely returned to their boxes. And just in case you're wondering: that saffron color is the natural hue of the spider silk.