As a twelve year old interested in nature, I really wanted to see a live Polyphemus moth. They are very large and beautiful. I had only seen preserved in specimens in insect collections.
One year, in the Fall, I found a cocoon on a branch in the woods, brought it home, propped it in a vase on my desk. The following Spring, it hatched one night when I was asleep. When I woke, there she was, my long sought Polyphemus.
It was clinging to the screen over my open window. When I went closer, I saw that there were three of them! How? I knew only one could emerge from a cocoon. Then I noticed: One inside the screen and two outside.
A little research gave me the answer. A female Polyphemus releases a pheromone that the males can detect from up to six miles away! They will fly directly to her to mate and she will lay eggs the same day.
The amount of the pheromone is infinitesimal, about one billionth of a gram. Still, that amounts to a few hundred molecules. But six miles!
I had heard on a nature show that flies were the most disgusting creatures on Earth (but I didn’t hear why). This can certainly be one of several reasons!
Templo S.U.D. almost 4 years ago
oh, the stories you’d hear from Indian rats (I think Henry Jones, Sr. would avoid that temple)
eromlig almost 4 years ago
It would have been so appropriate, had Roger Williams been absorbed by a Red Maple…
jimmjonzz Premium Member almost 4 years ago
On remote detection of odors by insects.
As a twelve year old interested in nature, I really wanted to see a live Polyphemus moth. They are very large and beautiful. I had only seen preserved in specimens in insect collections.
One year, in the Fall, I found a cocoon on a branch in the woods, brought it home, propped it in a vase on my desk. The following Spring, it hatched one night when I was asleep. When I woke, there she was, my long sought Polyphemus.
It was clinging to the screen over my open window. When I went closer, I saw that there were three of them! How? I knew only one could emerge from a cocoon. Then I noticed: One inside the screen and two outside.
A little research gave me the answer. A female Polyphemus releases a pheromone that the males can detect from up to six miles away! They will fly directly to her to mate and she will lay eggs the same day.
The amount of the pheromone is infinitesimal, about one billionth of a gram. Still, that amounts to a few hundred molecules. But six miles!
Life will find a way.
[I let her go, of course.]
therese_callahan2002 almost 4 years ago
No wonder the Rolling Stones sang, “Don’t mind the maggots.”
jpayne4040 almost 4 years ago
I guess they were a little too late on that “more suitable” memorial!
jpayne4040 almost 4 years ago
I had heard on a nature show that flies were the most disgusting creatures on Earth (but I didn’t hear why). This can certainly be one of several reasons!
J Short almost 4 years ago
Talk about your family tree.
NeedaChuckle Premium Member almost 4 years ago
Local town green lost an old tree when they removed it they found bones! What kind of trees do they have in PA? I would stay away from them.
Huckleberry Hiroshima almost 4 years ago
I’m surprised there’d be that many stories to tell in a temple.
Take care and gesundheit.
CreeperBoy101 almost 4 years ago
NOBODY TOLD ME!!!
Camiyami Premium Member almost 4 years ago
Ew!!! I didn’t even know that was a thing! Trees absorbing human remains? What the heck??
dv1093 almost 4 years ago
No wonder anyone from India with common sense, brains, and a college degree are tripping over themselves to get to America.
Stephen Gilberg almost 4 years ago
Reminds me of “Inherit the Earth: Quest for the Orb,” in which rats are scholars.
craigwestlake almost 4 years ago
Too slow; a lawyer can be there in less then 10 minutes…
chain gang charlie almost 4 years ago
Reference: ALL OF TODAY’S FEATURES…..
Explains the going’s on in The Capital these days….
ScottHolman almost 4 years ago
I never believe a rat.
dmagoon202ii almost 4 years ago
How could that happen (concerning Roger William’s body)?
CreeperBoy135 almost 4 years ago
Moral: Never bury a corpse near or under a tree.