From: Karen Kalumuck (karenk@exploratorium.edu)
Date: Sat Jan 08 2005 - 17:14:36 PST
From: "Karen Kalumuck" <karenk@exploratorium.edu> Subject: Re: pinhole ants Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2005 17:14:36 -0800 Message-ID: <web-8869720@exploratorium.edu>
Regarding the info on the website posted by Eugenia -- it
was really informative! Take a look if you haven't,
insects are fascinating! I wanted to expand on the last
sentence of that answer, as it's a great opportunity to
illlustrate adaptation/natural selection. That sentence
is:
"Another special case is the New Zealand weta, a large
flightless cricket relative, which lives at high altitude
and freezes solid every evening, thawing out in the
morning to go about its business. The wonders of
antifreeze."
There's actually 4 varieties of weta, each consisting of
multiple species: Tree Weta, Giant Weta, Cave Weta and
Ground Weta. In my 2 trips to New Zealand, I've seen lots
of wetas, mainly in caves that are near sea level , and in
very warm caves. It seems that the weta has been highly
adaptable, and in fact, has taken over the niche generally
populated by small rodents. There are no native mammals,
except bats, in New Zealand, so this makes sense.
I'm not sure which variety exhibits the antrifreeze
characteristic.
Oh, by the way, for Lord of the Rings fans, Weta Workshop
is indeed named after this beast.
Aren't insects amazing?!!!
---Karen
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