Volume 1 The Wise Killer
Chapter 5: The Wise Killer
1. How do arthropods store prey, lay eggs and feed larvae in underground hives? They supply the larvae with completely fresh and intact food that lasts, even today's human technology requires a series of chemical means. This is only possible if the nerve organs of the insect are destroyed so that they remain alive but unable to move.
2. Insects rely on walking on their backs, with their spinal cord on the abdomen rather than their back. The coleoptera insects, the prey of the arthropod mud beetle, wear armor, and the only soft ribs that can be operated on by stings are joints covered with a thin membrane. So how can you hit it with one hit, make it fall to the ground immediately, and avoid damaging the body and even dying due to struggle? The only surgical site can be the central nervous system.
3. The motility organs of insects are innervated by three ganglia, so it is easy to guess the surgical site: the closer the three motor ganglia are to the insect, the more complete the coordination of the movements, but the easier it is to be paralyzed by a single blow.
Yan beetle
4. Among the insects on the territory of the arthropod mud bee that are close to the ganglia and can be used as larval food, the scarab beetle is too large and in the feces, and the parasitism of the beetle is not in line with the characteristics of the mud bee to love cleanliness; while the spiny tibia small beetle is too small, then only the giddings and weevils are eligible.
5. At this point, the reason why mud bees choose these two foods is clear, not because of taste problems, but because of the problem of matching hunting conditions. How clever this killer is in his prey selection! All that remains is to confirm this conclusion through experiments and observations.
6. Fabre experimented by using a sharp metal tip, dipping a drop of corrosive liquid (such as ammonia), gently piercing the connection point between the first pair of legs and the chest of the insect, and injecting the liquid into the nerve center inside it. Through experiments with insects such as Scarab family, Gidding family, weevil family, step beetle family, and Tianniu family, the results verify the above conclusions of Fabre. But I suggest you try it out for yourself!
Spiny shin beetle
【Notes】
In the past, from the source of our imagination, we had thoughts that were closer to the real world of life. Today, we make the real life world into a virtual world, but instead cut off the space of imagination. ”