Hey, Fedi. I have a favour to ask you.

[ubi@ecoevo.social]

@ShaulaEvans The ecologist Ilka Hanski once theorised that pre-pyramid Pharaoh tombs, called mastabah, are designed to resemble the nests of tunneling dung beetles. Which were a symbol of rebirth.

The tomb lies in a tunnel chamber, under a rectangular tomb structure. Hanski argued that the structure resembled the dung beetle's nest, tunnel and a dung pat.

[hryggrbyr@fedia.social]

@ShaulaEvans Bumble bees live in burrows

[sarah111well@mas.to]

@ShaulaEvans I have some good bug stories - not so hot on facts.
Eg When I worked at Trading Standards Dept. a member of the public brought in a brand new cricket bat complaining about a noise coming from it. The bat was sealed in a plastic bag and sat next to my desk for several days before being shipped to a Laboratory for testing.
The result was a 7+cm grub from Pakistan that had tunnelled most of the inside of the cricket bat away!

[dazzr@social.tchncs.de]

@ShaulaEvans And another one: an impressive example of moth long-distance navigation capability, and a lovely piece of research to track and analyze their flight strategy.

The navigation strategies of migrating death’s-head hawkmoths rival those of birds.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2022-08-12/silence-of-the-lambs-deaths-head-hawk-moth-flies-straight/101315688

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abn1663

[micron@mastodon.social]

@ShaulaEvans The jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii can reverse its aging process.

https://www.bbcearth.com/news/the-animal-that-lives-forever

[lindarosesmit@mastodon.social]

@ShaulaEvans there are lady bugs in the ocean. They live in and around tunicates etc.

[ghouston@mamot.fr]

@jetlagjen @afewbugs @ShaulaEvans I think aphids using parthenogenesis can also have "telescoping generations", i.e., they are born already pregnant.

[statsguy@mas.to]

@annehargreaves @ShaulaEvans Yes they are! Sadly I don't have a photo of any.

[yattoz@shelter.moe]

@ShaulaEvans here's one I learned yesterday: earwigs are harmless creatures, and they have beautiful wings that fold in super tiny elytra. When they unfold they look like they belong to some kind of unreal cristal butterfly.

[talesfromthearmchair@hachyderm.io]

@ShaulaEvans Male bees (and wasps, and ants) are _haploid_ and do not have fathers. They are not just the only animals, but the only _eukaryotes_ to evolve reproduction that differs from the normal alternation of haploid/diploid generations. (Reproduction is usually very strongly evolutionarily conserved, for obvious reasons: if a mutation messes it up somehow, there's no chance for it to get sorted out again in future generations, because there won't _be_ any future generations.) So euphemising sex ed as "the birds and the bees" is unhelpful, as "the bees" are literally _the_ worst available model organism for human reproduction.

[tiotasram@kolektiva.social]

@ShaulaEvans okay, here are some fun/gross/terrifying bug facts about polycheate worms (which live in the ocean):

1. The Bobbitt Worm is a marine ambush predator that burrows in ocean sediment and then shoots out to grab prey with its mandibles, the force of which sometimes cuts prey in half. It grows up to 3 meters long in extreme cases, although it's only about 25 millimeters in diameter. At least one article I read mentioned toxic bristles, but I wasn't able to find a legitimate source for that and suspect it was sensationalization.

2. The Bearded Fireworm does have toxic bristles (as do other fireworms). They can cause a painful sting that lasts for hours. They're also quite beautiful.

3. The Palolo Worm spawns by growing tail segments filled with sperm or eggs, and then on a specific night tied to the lunar & solar cycles, releasing these segments to float to the surface, where they disintegrate into a frothy mass. They're apparently delicious fried in coconut oil.

In case you want to do your own deep dive (😉) on segmented ocean worms: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polychaete

[amenonsen@mastodon.social]

@AnAutieAtUni @ShaulaEvans As it happens, I was pointing to a tiny, delicate green-and-white jumping spider (most likely Epeus sp.) on a wooden railing just a few hours ago, and before I finished saying "look at this spider", it had hopped up on my finger, cool as you like. And after several seconds, I tapped lightly on the railing, and it hopped off again. Lovely.

[timdesuyo@mastodon.social]

@ShaulaEvans

the cockchafer and the red-headed cockchafer exist

[mudlark@bark.lgbt]

@ShaulaEvans oh, oh I have two:

isopods are one of my favourite creatures, but I can’t tell you about them because they’re not bugs - they’re actually crustaceans!

Jumping spiders are the only spiders that can look without turning their heads, but unlike most eyes which look left and right and the retinas stay put, the jumping spider has fixed eye lenses, while the retinas move around behind them!

[afewbugs@social.coop]

@ghouston @jetlagjen @ShaulaEvans yes they can! https://simonleather.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/living-inside-your-grandmother-the-wonderful-world-of-aphids/

[patrickobeirne@mastodon.ie]

@ShaulaEvans
Sign them up to https://mastodon.ie/@thebeeguy

(I assume you're not talking about software ;))

[amenonsen@mastodon.social]

@AnAutieAtUni @ShaulaEvans Oh, and this is a jumping spider too. It might not exactly be a "fun fact", but still…

https://mastodon.social/@amenonsen/115699005033414203

[grammasaurus@mastodon.social]

@GeekyTeaKitty @ShaulaEvans @futurebird or @AlexWild

[jetlagjen@gts.phillipsuk.org]

@afewbugs @ghouston @ShaulaEvans they really are amazing little things!

Ants farm them on some of my fruit bushes, so at the right time of year I get to see babies, adults, and winged adults up close. It's fascinating to watch how the ants care for their herd.

[grumpyoldtechie@hostux.social]

@ShaulaEvans The first computer bug was an actual bug

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper#Anecdotes