Backyard Killer Strikes on UIUC Campus!

Written by: Nicholas Moy

The Eastern Cicada Killer (Sphecius speciosus) is a local wasp that doesn’t mess around.  Like any good mother, this Hymenoptera is just looking out for her young, however not many mom’s would go to such extreme measures.

A cicada killer. Photo by Lynette Schimming

A female cicada killer lives in a well-kept home, a burrow, that may extend multiple feet underground.  After conception the killer takes to the skies to stake out her first victim.  As the name implies, she is hunting for cicadas.  Once she has determined her target she quickly paralyzes it with its large stinger, and then grabs the cicada upside down using her legs.  Next is the hard part, taking care of the body; the long journey back to the burrow begins.  A cicada killer may drag the cicada by foot, fly the cicada, or even climb a tree and then fly in a gliding fashion toward the burrow if home is too far away.  Once home, the killer then drags the cicada into the depths of the burrow and stores the body in a pre-made cell. The soon-to-be mother lays her eggs on the secured cicada carcass, which will serve as the larvae’s food for the next two weeks.  The venom of the paralyzing sting keeps the cicada meal preserved for twice as long as normal, long enough for larvae to eat it and grow into prepupae for the winter.  This is another natural example of a mother that will do anything for her kin, even kill!

Assassins in the Insect World?

Author: Chirstina Silliman, Masters student, University of Illinois.

For their small size, there are many insects that can do humans quite a bit of harm or, at the very least, bug us. We know to steer clear of wasps, ants, mosquitos, ticks, and when they menacingly head our way.  What you may not know is that the insects themselves have quite a bit to watch out for as well! Not only are predators like spiders or frogs waiting to gobble up a passing fly, but there are other insects just waiting to grab up their own tasty meal. One of the most interesting (and overlooked) insects is the assassin bug.

An assassin bug drains it's prey

Cordyceps: The Mind Control Mushroom

Written by Rahul Naronha

You thought zombies and mind control existed only in science fiction? Guess what. You thought wrong. Here is your daily does of entomological nightmare fuel, courtesy of David Attenborough.

Cordyceps is a fungal genus that is perhaps the strangest of insect predators. Over the course of its evolution, it has adopted a very strange and unsettling method of reproduction. The process starts when a spore lands on an unsuspecting insect of the correct species (each cordyceps species preys on a single species of insect; we will focus on a species that preys on ants). The spore secretes enzymes that allow it to tunnel through the insect’s tough exoskeleton and enter the body, where it feeds on the soft innards. Once the fungus has obtained enough nutrients to reproduce, it initiates the most mind blowing part of its sinister plot.

In order to ensure that its fruiting body has the largest possible “blast radius” over which it can eject its spores, the fungus enters the ant’s brain and literally takes control over it. It directs the ant to climb higher and higher until it finally dies, at which point the fruiting body bursts from the back of the insect’s head and uses its high vantage point to spew out a deadly rain of fungal spores across the forest floor, infecting any unlucky ants that happen to be foraging below. To add insult to injury, some ant colonies have become aware of this gruesome fungal predator and if one of their members is determined to be infected, the poor guy is dragged from the nest and dumped far away to die alone.

Mind control is something which humans have only dreamt about, yet insects have been victims of it since long before science was invented. Damn, nature, you scary.

Army Ants Colonies Lose Queen Can But Join New Colony

In the past, scientists have seen that when army ants from different colonies run into one another in nature, fighting closely follows.  However, researchers at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology recently have found that when a colony of army ants loses its queen, the orphan ants can be adopted by other colonies of army ants, without any fight occurring.  These orphans can become completely integrated members of the new colony within a few days, the time it takes for the odor of the old colony to disappear.  In the research conducted, seven out of ten colonies that were followed exhibited this behavior.  The researchers lost track of two of the remaining three colonies, and the last colony produced small winged males in an effort to try and find another queen and to pass on the genes from the colony. 

Thanks to http://wfsc.tamu.edu/winemiller/lab/UMEB_Experience.htm for the picture.

Article found at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104122532.htm

Somersaults Aren’t Just For People

Posted on behalf of Kristiya Kittiviriya:

The mother-of pearl moth caterpillar (Pleurotya ruralis) is a green, fleshy and pretty defenseless little thing. So what’s it to do when it’s in the presence of a predator or disturbance of some sort? Run away? Ha, caterpillars are so slow…except this one.

Original photo found here.

“No I in Team”

People are more than capable of taking care of themselves; however, this is not the case for ants. Ants are the epitome of teamwork. Not only do ants have special tasks that they must perform in their colony such as foraging, cleaning or protecting, they also can float on water and build bridges. In these circumstances, some of the ants hold on together with leaves and make a support system for the rest of the colony, and most importantly the queen, to pass. Along with protecting the colony, many of the ants work together to provide food for the rest. In any occasion, one ant would not be able to attack an animal much larger than itself, however, if hundreds of ants attack at once the prey has no chance. In the video below not only do you see the teamwork it takes for a colony to cross water but also how much easier it is for ants with different mouthparts and body sizes to work together to attack their prey.

 

Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreak

The mountain pine beetle, D. ponderosae, tunnels into living pine trees and lives under the bark. Picture from the New York Times.

The mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae, family Curculionidae) has emerged in recent years as a threat to pine forests throughout the Rocky Mountains of the US and Canada.  These beetles kill trees via the fungus they inject to prevent the movement of sap through trees.  The reasons for the recent outbreak are unclear, but climate change and the forest fire suppression policies of the past 100 years have likely played a role.

No Guts, No Glory

Posted on behalf of Kristiya Kittiviriya:

Of course we all know that insects (or basically living things for this matter) have to defend themselves in this cruel, cruel world. Releasing toxins to deter predators is nothing new, but the armored ground cricket (Acanthoplus discoidalis) has an intense way of becoming highly unpalatable. The defense mechanism? Bleeding and puking.

Wasps Use Ladybug as Temporary Prisoner for Larvae

Recently, a scientist in Canada has discovered a Braconidae wasp that uses ladybugs (coccinellidae) as a temporary host for its larvae. However, unlike when this family of wasp lays eggs on a caterpillar, killing the caterpillar when the larvae erupt from the eggs, the ladybug is only slightly paralyzed by the egg being attached to its leg. Stranger yet, after the larvae hatches from the egg, and the larvae matures and leaves the host, the ladybug is completely unharmed, and is still able to reproduce and live as though nothing ever happened.

Here is a video of a Braconidae wasp laying eggs on a ladybug. (Thanks to youtube)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYcniJwbqoI

Article found at science daily http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091117102046.htm

Insects Are the New Mice

Posted on behalf of Julia Gens:

It was recently discovered by scientists that insects, such as some moths and fruit flies, react to microbial infections in the same manner as mammals (reported here).  So what’s the big deal?  This means that insects can be used instead of animals to test the efficacy of new antimicrobial drugs.  They can also be used in determining how virulent fungal pathogens are.

Not only would this reduce the usage of mice for testing by up to 90% but getting results would be quicker as well.  It takes an average of 4-6 weeks to get results when testing with mice, whereas using insects for testing yields results in as little as 48 hours.  And remember: time is money!

Dr Kavanagh presented his research on September 8^th, stating: “we have shown that immune cells in insects and mammals are structurally and functionally similar despite being separated by over 400 million years of evolution.”