The Dung Rollers - Let's Dine on Dung

Dung beetles, as the name implies, are beetles that feed on dung. The most prominent trait of this beetles is that they roll dung into round balls, which are either used as food supply or as brooding chamber where their off-springs hatch and grow.

To search for dung, dung beetles make use of their sensitive sense of smell, while some species simply attach themselves to dung-providers (usually herbivores) to wait for their sumptuous meals. Some cunning dung beetles will try to steal dung balls from another, so when dung pile is found they have to roll dung ball rapidly away to prevent theft.

Two dung beetles rolling dung ball

Dung beetle larva hatches within dung ball
Source: Click here

Some species have interesting mating ritual. The male and female first meet at the dung pile, if love at first sight occurs, the male will start to make a dung ball. The female will ride on the dung ball as the male rolls it away. During this period, other males will try to steal her and the dung ball from him. When they finally arrive at the burial spot (soft ground), together they bury the dung ball and mate. The male will leave and find the next mating partners. Some species the females will stay and wait till the eggs are hatched, while some will leave after mating. The dung ball provides all necessary nutrients for the larvae to feed and become mature.

Dung beetles benefit the nature through recycling dung to nutrients-rich soil for agriculture. Without them, the animal kingdom would be inundated with feces, try to imagine a world without Dung Beetle!

The Ultimate Body Invaders

In the world of Nature, every organisms are trying very hard to win the game of survival. In order to win the game, some come up with an extraordinary method---to invade another kind and manipulate the host to create a condition favoring the survival of the invaders, while putting the hosts in great danger. The following are 5 ultimate body invaders that adopt the unique mechanism to ensure the survival of their species. 

Cordyceps 

Cordyceps invaded host. 

Cordyceps are fungi from the genus ascomycete fungi, among which there are a lot of different species. The fungus parasites on insects and different species parasites on different hosts. As the cordyceps fungus infects an insect host, its mycelium (fungus part) replaces the host's body tissues. The fruiting body of the fungus will eventually puncture the host body and protrude out to allow the release of ascospores (spores). Many of the times, during the development stage, the fungus manipulate its host such as controlling the insect to climb up a plant and attaches itself there before it dies, ensuring optimal dispersal of the spores of the fungus. Some cordyceps genus are proven to have medicinal properties.  

Paragordius tricuspidatus

Parasitic worm emerging out of cricket.

Paragordius tricuspidatus is well-known for manipulating behaviour of its cricket host. The eggs of this parasitic worms are laid at the river edges where the crickets reside. The microscopic size eggs are ingested by accident by the crickets, and hatch within. The larvae of the worm get nourishment from the host and grow, eventually filling the entire body cavity of the cricket. They can grow up to 10 - 15cm in lengths.  Upon maturation, the parasitic worms are ready to exit the hosts, the worms will induce an abnormal behavior to the cricket hosts --- to jump into the water. Most of the crickets will drown, while some will survive and lead a normal life after the excision of the parasites. After which, the worms will slither out and find its mating partners. The manipulation in behaviours are believed to be cause by a release of proteins that affect the Central Nervous System (CNS) of the crickets.  

Dinocampus coccinellae

Paralyzed ladybug guarding cocoons

Dinocampus coccinellae is a species of wasp that parasites on Ladybug. The female wasp lays one egg in the soft abdomen of the ladybug. After the egg hatches, the larva starts to consume the ladybug's eggs, then the gonads and the body of their host. However the ladybug host is still alive. When the parasites are ready to emerge, they paralyze the ladybug and tunnel out of its body. Then the parasites pupate in a cocoon attaching to the leg of the living ladybug, The ladybug's occasional twitching ward off any potential preys of the parasites,  making the ladybug the "bodyguard" of its parasites. A few days later, the wasps will emerge from the coccoon. 1 out of 4 ladybugs will recover from the paralysis and come back to health after all the cocoons have emptied.  

Leucochloridium paradoxum

Snail with infection.

Leucochloridium paradoxum, a kind of parasitic flatworm, infects a snail and alters the original behaviors and appearance of the snail; after which increasing the chances of the snail being eaten by a bird which is the next and final host of the parasite. To do so, the parasite resides into the translucent eye-stalks (preferably left one) of the snail, altering the normal eye-stalks into yellow-greenish stripes, inducing caterpillar mimicry. Birds do not usually snack on snail, however the altered eye-stalks of the snail, resembling a caterpillar results in birds mistakenly consuming the infected snails. The parasites also cause the snail to be more visible to the birds by making the snails stay under the sunlight instead of hiding in the shade.   

Myrmeconema neotropicum

Normal ants.

Infected ant with red gaster raise up high to mimic wild-berries. 

Myrmeconema neotropicum is tetradonematid nematode parasite that induce berries mimicry in tropical ants. The parasites mate and lay eggs inside the gasters (the hindmost abdomen) of the ants. The infected ants will develop bright red, egg-filled gasters that resemble red berries available in tropical forest. The parasites also cause the weakening of the exoskeleton linking the gasters to the rest of the body of the infected ants. The infected ants will walk with their gasters raise up high, allowing birds to mistaken them as wild berries and pick up the gasters which detach easily from the ant.The parasite eggs will be passed in the birds' dropping and later collected by the tropical ants again.  

Blood Suckers

First glance at the words "Blood Sucker", many will start to think of vampires or mosquitoes. BUT, I am not going to talk about either of them. The two extreme creatures that I am going to talk about, not only do they have disgusting appearances but are also blood-thirsty creatures.

They are the Fleas, and the Ticks.

Some facts about Fleas

Larva of a Flea. Source: Click Here

• Flea larva may live on the carpets, or any fabric surfaces.
• The flea larva actually feeds on the poop of an adult flea besides dead skin debris of animals.
Eventually, it will spin itself into a cocoon, and can stay inside for more than a year waiting for a host to arrive.
• Flea can jump 150 times its body length, which is about 240m high for a human being of 1.6m! In order to attach itself onto its host.
• The flea has a very poor eyesight, it can only sense its hosts through movement and concentration of carbon dioxide.

• It can drink blood of up to 15 times its body weight. In conversion, it is approximately 750kg of liquid consumed by a person with 50kg body weight!
  
• The poops it produces are rich in nutrients for larvae to grow.
• One of the best way to get rid of fleas, is the use of vacuum cleaner.

Some facts about Ticks

• A tick is an eight-legged bug, a relative to spiders.
• Very similar to fleas, a tick tracks its host by following the trail of carbon dioxide released by the hosts.
• A tick locates the blood vessels closest to the skin surface of its host, at which it will bite and start leeching for blood.
• The horrifying fact is that, a tick can drink up to a maximum of 600 times of its body weight of blood! (which is 30,000kg of fluid for a 50kg-person)

A female tick with eggs. Source: Click Here

• Once latched on a host, a tick may be 'glued' onto the host and suck blood for up to a few days. Until its body weight increases about several hundreds times its original weight!