Current Events - Assassin Bugs Can Eat Spiders!

A new study shows that a type of insect called the "assassin bug" can trick spiders into becoming the opposite of their usual role in nature - prey.  These insects pluck different spider web strings, and these vibrations lure in the spider owners.  Assassin bugs can mimic a tired insect caught in a web almost perfectly!  Once the spider has come near, the killer bug gently taps it while getting in position to attack.  Once in position, it stabs its victim with its proboscis, and can kill the spider within 10 seconds.

Some more studies into this insect show that certain species of assassin bugs may be able to help get rid of a certain parasitic disease.  According to scientists, when tourists visit South America, they get bitten by assassin bugs, and some of those bugs carry parasites in them that spread into the bitten person.  That person can stay healthy for 20-30 years without any sign of symptoms for the disease, and that gives the parasite as much time as it needs to get a good hold on the internal organs of the body.  By studying the behaviors of assassin bugs, maybe we'll be able to tell how the parasites get into them, and prevent that from happening - stopping the disease from spreading to humans and causing thousands of deaths.

Assassin Bug

Some other assassin bugs that eat termites could be used for pest control.  They, instead of luring spiders near, use dead termites to attract live ones near them, in able to get dinner.  We could probably save a lot of pesticides, money, and toxins going into the atmosphere if we used natural ways of getting rid of pests, such as assassin bugs, then the normal bug-killer.

Written by: Jennifer Viegas
Written on: October 27, 2010
For more information, you can go to: http://news.discovery.com/animals/assassin-bugs-spiders.html

I think that it's very interesting that predators such as spiders can be turned into prey.  It's like lions being eaten by cheetahs!  It would be awesome if we could prevent Chagas disease from spreading - we could save SO MANY lives!  Less families will be torn apart, less children will die early, less people will get chronic illnesses!  As long as we don't hurt the assassin bugs in the process, I think that it's a great idea.
I also think that using termite-eating assassin bugs to get rid of termites instead of some sort of toxic termite-killer, we could really help the environment more!  Factories wouldn't have to make as much termite-killer, which would reduce the amount of pollution produced, and then we wouldn't be putting chemicals out into our backyards by using the termite-killer!  Assassin bugs might even be cheaper than chemicals - it would be very economical.
All in all, I thought that this was a very interesting article and I learned a lot.

Current Events - 30 Great Whites Share One Whale

      Around Cape Town, South Africa, more than thirty great white sharks have been spotted - all sharing one 36 ft long Brydes whale.  According to scientists, this whale had been dead before it had been attacked by these voracious predators, and so it was an easy meal.  Right after the whale had been smelled or seen by sharks, they swam right over to gorge themselves, and that attracted more and more.  It took about a week for the sharks to finish the whale, but most of them ate during the first two days of its death.
     It was recorded that the largest sharks, 4 meters long, had more power over the smaller sharks, and so took advantage of their size to get the best, biggest, and tastiest pieces. Some small sharks were sighted with puncture marks on their bodies from bigger sharks - it is believed that they forgot their place and didn't treat the bigger sharks with the proper respect, and so got bitten as reminder to show them where they belonged. 
     Usually, sharks hunt and eat seals that swim around Cape Island.  I watched Shark Week over the summer, and I noticed that sharks almost swallow their prey whole.  They were super fast at eating, and they weren't the pickiest.  According to scientists, since there was so much food, it gave the sharks opportunity to eat side by side with minimum squabbling, and they could become choosy.
   They preferred the blubber from the whale over the flesh.  It appears that they can tell the difference, and blubber is richer and has more calories than flesh, so all in all, it's a good choice.  Some sharks would make a 'test bite' in places that hadn't had the flesh removed so as to make sure there was some blubber there before eating, and others spit out pieces of muscle they accidentally ate.  This was interesting, because it shows why most sharks won't attack humans again after their first bite.  For more information, go to: http://news.discovery.com/animals/great-white-sharks-photographed-eating-36-foot-whale.html

     I thought that this article was very interesting, because I've always thought of sharks as the kind of predators that will fight for every scrap of food - blubber or not.  I think that this is a good survival skill, because instead of wasting their belly-space on non-fattening, less rich, and less nutritional meat, they're getting the maximum amount of vitamins they can.  It's kind of like humans, white bread, and brown bread.  We grow full on white bread, when there isn't very much nutritional value when we could be eating brown bread and getting all the nutrients we can.  Sharks are very smart that way.