tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7443075087825368900.post6635244408319807347..comments2024-01-04T05:26:02.451-07:00Comments on Life is short, but snakes are long: Snake-eating beetlesAndrew Dursohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720822623046554913noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7443075087825368900.post-52263114755738704262017-01-18T13:27:55.173-07:002017-01-18T13:27:55.173-07:00Thanks for your insightful comment Sam. I'm no...Thanks for your insightful comment Sam. I'm not overly familiar with the parasitoid literature. My statement above was relaying what Blouin-Demers and Weatherhead wrote in their paper, and at the time I couldn't think of any other examples. Your third example sounds like a parasite that can be lethal at high levels, which I don't think is quite the same as a parasitoid (because individual screwworms don't kill their hosts). A quick search revealed that most fish-infecting helminths are referred to as 'parasites', but I didn't get to delve into their natural history yet. On the other hand, calliphorid flies are definite parasitoids of toads I'm surprised that Blouin-Demers and Weatherhead overlooked this, since it seems to have been known for a long time. I'd love to see some more literature on other cases; can you post some links?Andrew Dursohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04720822623046554913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7443075087825368900.post-51038211055122087072017-01-18T13:10:58.992-07:002017-01-18T13:10:58.992-07:00That's not the only invertebrate parasitoid of...That's not the only invertebrate parasitoid of vertebrates. There are helminths that kill fish, parasitic flies that kill toads and lizards, and even large animals like deer, sheep, and humans can be killed by heavy infestations of screwworms.Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11166620380128198127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7443075087825368900.post-47291633170967883522012-06-20T06:33:39.873-06:002012-06-20T06:33:39.873-06:00I suppose it was already known from other behavior...I suppose it was already known from other behavioral studies of this beetle genus. A quick search reveals this paper:<br /><br />http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/4534795<br /><br />the first sentences of which are:<br /><br />"Pheromone emission in male burying beetles was first described by Pukowski (1933) who had observed a conspicuous behaviour of males that had remained alone on a carcass: They climb an elevated place and <br />adopt a 'typical, very surprising posture' (translation by the authors) with the head held down and the extremely extended abdomen pointing up. This posture <br />is maintained for several hours, and only the tip of the abdomen is moved slightly up and down or in circles."<br /><br />So in this case, the behavior was so conspicuous that it was described before its true function was known.Andrew Dursohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04720822623046554913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7443075087825368900.post-67701967552209877652012-06-19T22:34:48.446-06:002012-06-19T22:34:48.446-06:00not what I expected! but now I just have more que...not what I expected! but now I just have more questions. How do you first find out this posture is releasing and that posture isn't? This is what always happens with science! You get one little piece of information and it makes you curious. Then, if you're Durso, a few decades later, you get a PhD.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01088011471453746445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7443075087825368900.post-82232241891843164342012-06-18T22:59:08.470-06:002012-06-18T22:59:08.470-06:00The article says they could tell just by looking a...The article says they could tell just by looking at their posture - they looked 8 times over 4 hours, and scored each male as either releasing or not. More boring than your image, and also less quantitative...Andrew Dursohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04720822623046554913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7443075087825368900.post-83541864398414127412012-06-18T22:50:17.982-06:002012-06-18T22:50:17.982-06:00"poop-coated vomit" Wordsmith extraordin..."poop-coated vomit" Wordsmith extraordinaire, Mr. Durso. <br /><br />But I wanted to ask how the hell you test the sex pheromone emissions of male beetles? I have this image in my head of a huddle of scientists intently trying to sample the "aura" of a little beetle caught in pincers or something. Please tell me I'm wrong...?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01088011471453746445noreply@blogger.com