Freethought & Rationalism Archive

liquid · 01-25-2002, 05:35 AM

Don't forget law as well...

Quetzal · 01-25-2002, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Peter Soderqvist:
By the way, did you know that, some wasps species paralyzes their victims of caterpillars, through a sting, and puts in an egg into the victim's body, and after a while, it develops into a larva? And the larvae start slowly eating the body from the inside as food, he the larvae has a lot of food for a while; the tortured victim cannot do anything about it, because the victim is still paralyzed? Is this intelligent design by your god?

Peter, that's not even the best example. My favorite is the Predator becomes Prey in nature. A stellar example is:

Everyone knows tarantulas are superb predators. There are species of tarantuala that feed on everything from other insects to small birds. Our friend here, Hemipepsis spp., is their nemisis. There are 250 species of Hemipepsis spread throughout the New World! They are very common in the US southwest (Pepsis formosa is the official state insect of New Mexico!

"Land of Enchantment" indeed!) These wasps do exactly the same thing as your caterpillar example: they attack, stun, and then drag off to their burrows tarantulas that are 10 times their size to incubate their larvae.

The "designer" didn't just create one of these interactions - he created a whole pile of them!

[ January 25, 2002: Message edited by: Morpho ]</p>

Oolon Colluphid · 01-26-2002, 06:11 AM

I also rather like phorid flies for the same reason. They are being trialled as a natural pest control, because the things they parasitise are fire ants. Despite the ants' defences, the phorids lay their eggs in the ants. The larva burrows through the ant till it gets to the head, and eats the contents of the head, which eventually falls off.

What a wonderfully devious bit of evolution... or an incredibly sick and twisted designer!

Oolon

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

01-25-2002, 05:35 AM	#61
liquid Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: UK Posts: 1,440	Don't forget law as well...

01-26-2002, 06:11 AM	#63
Oolon Colluphid Contributor Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Alibi: ego ipse hinc extermino Posts: 12,591	I also rather like phorid flies for the same reason. They are being trialled as a natural pest control, because the things they parasitise are fire ants. Despite the ants' defences, the phorids lay their eggs in the ants. The larva burrows through the ant till it gets to the head, and eats the contents of the head, which eventually falls off. What a wonderfully devious bit of evolution... or an incredibly sick and twisted designer! Oolon

Freethought & Rationalism Archive

The archives are read only.