Showing posts with label consume. Show all posts
Showing posts with label consume. Show all posts

Parsitic Wasps Transfer DNA to Lepidoptera Caterpillars

Wasps enslave caterpillars. It could be seen as a genetics accident, though it appears to be a conscious decision by Someone out there. The wasps could not survive without caterpillars. If caterpillars all died out so would wasps.
predator wasps laying eggs in lepidoptera caterpillar
Parsitic wasps lay their eggs in all types of lepidoptera caterpillars. Both insects are so close in evolutionary terms that some wasp genes are actually in caterpillars. The reason for this is that 300 million years ago there was a common ancestor of Hymenopter, the insect order to which wasps belong, and Lepidoptera caterpillars.

When eggs are laid inside the caterpillars, a large bracovirus is injected which supresses the immune response of Lipidoptera, so grubs are not killed off. They hatch and eat caterpillars alive! Sometimes caterpillars survive and develop into buterflies and moths with bracovirus DNA because it was picked up from wasps before injection into caterpillars.
◆ Genetics by Ty Buchanan ◆
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Wedge-Tailed Eagle Diet Identified

It is amazing how little we know about supposedly common animals, ones that are easily seen and in contact with us. Rabbits were thought to be the main diet for the wedge-tailed eagle. However, the bird consumes other things as well. It should be noted that rabbits were introduced and the eagle must have have relied on other prey before the nuisance animal arrived.

When viral haemorrhagic disease (VHD) wiped out the rabbit population the wedge-tailed eagle actually fared better. Castings, the vomit of eagles, showed that their diet consisted of 20 bird species, seven reptiles, 19 mammals and a crustacean.

Some mammals they ate were large such as the eastern grey kangaroo. The common Galah was a native bird high on the diet. Rabbits are easy to catch when they are plentiful. A fall in rabbit numbers pushed them back to their traditional food sources. Despite the move, native animals have survived. Nature seems to be in balance. 
Conservation by Ty Buchanan
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Galactic Theory

New scientific theories are cropping up all the time. And that is just what they are - theories. So the Higgs boson particle has been seen. What a lot of tripe this is. It has only been shown to exist mathematically. The particle itself is still not proven to exist.

Large galaxies eat up smaller ones. It would have been thought that this had been believed for some time. Apparently it hasn't been generally accepted. New findings show that the Milky way will be absorbed into larger galaxies billions of years from now.

The Milky Way did expand by taking in smaller galaxies. Now it has peaked and this slowing down will allow Andromeda to absorb our home galaxy. When the Magellanic Clouds become part of the Milky Way that will be about it.

As galaxies become larger they produce less stars. The reason for this is not known. There are a lot of conflicting theories about this. Research by the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey done by Australian observatories is ongoing. We can expect either new theories or selection of the most probable one.
 Science by Ty Buchanan 
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