ENTOMOLOGY: Science About Insects. Volume III - I love insects for twelve reasons.

ENTOMOLOGY: Science About Insects, Volume III

I love insects for twelve reasons

"To have a cricket on the hearth, is the luckiest thing in all the world!" 

- Charles Dickens

Dr Abe V Rotor

22. I Love Insects for 12 Reasons

23. Insects, insects everywhere! Insects in verses

24. Friendly Insects

25. How do you know a True Bug? Are you Bugged?

26. Lighted candles drive flies away.

27. Hantik! (Green Tree Ant)

28. Global Warming Breeds Super Bugs

29. Nature's Disaster Signal - Ants in Exodus

30 - Phosphorescent Caterpillars

                                                          Spodoptera Moth

 

Coconut or rhinoceros beetle; enigmatic firefly

 22. I Love Insects for 12 Reasons

1. I love insects for their honey, the sweetest sugar in the world, elixir, energy-packed, aphrodisiac, therapeutic, the culinary and confectionery arts it makes;

2. I love insects for their silk no human fabric can equal - cool in summer, warm in winter, velvety to the touch, flowing and free, friendly to the wind and sun, lovely in the night, royal on the throne, smooth to the skin, hypoallergenic, dynamic to fashion and casual wear;

3. I love insects for their shellac, the best varnish that lasts for years, unequaled by synthetic substitutes; their wax, the best lubricant and natural polish that makes the dancing floor alive and schoolrooms happy.

 

A pair of golden moth; green beetle

4. I love insects for the resin they produce with certain plants which is used in worships, to bring the faithful to their knees, similarly to calm down fowls on their roost, drive vermin or keep them at bay, pacify and make peace with the unseen spirits.

5. I love insects for the amber, transparent rock originally from resin, which forever entrapped fossils of insects and other organisms, complete with their genes and attendant evidences of natural history, enabling us to read the past, turning back the hands of time in visual imagery;

6. I love insects for their crimson dye produced by certain scale insects that made the robes of kings and emperors, and only they were privileged to wear; likewise for their phosphorescence like the wing scales of butterflies that make the most beautiful and expensive paint for cars today;

7. I love insects for their medicinal substances they produce - antibiotics from fly maggot and soldier ants, cantharidin from blister beetle, formic acid for weak heart, bee sting for rheumatism;

 

Field cricket, green cricket - nature's violinists

8. I love insects as food, high in protein and minerals, elixir and stimulant, not only in times of famine but as exotic food in class restaurants, and on occasions that bring closer bonding among members of communities and cultures;

9. I love insects for all the fruits and vegetables, the multiplication of plants, geographically and seasonally, through their being the world's greatest pollinators; and in effect make the ecosystems wholesome, complete and alive;

10. I love insects for disposing garbage, of bringing back to nature organic compounds into elemental forms ready to be used again by the succeeding generations of living things.

                               
                  Leaf insects resemble the leaves of their host plant

11. I love insects for play, and for lessons in life - how they jump and fly, carry tremendous load which I wish I could, how they practice frugality, patience, fraternity, and how they circle a candle one lonely night and singed into its flame that inspires heroism and martyrdom;

12. I love insects for whatever nature designed them to be, their role in health and sickness, , sorrow and joy, ugliness and beauty, deprivation and abundance, even in life and death, for I have learned that without insects, we humans - so with many other organisms - would not be here on earth.~

 23. Insects, insects everywhere! Insects in verses

"If we were to wipe out insects alone on this planet, the rest of life and humanity with it would mostly disappear from the land. Within a few months." - E. O. Wilson

Dr Abe V Rotor

Precariously perched, oh Dragonfly;

    your doom awaits below;

a leap away or two, and time ticks,

    for there's no tomorrow.

 

Bird droppings, these caterpillars assume;

    to deceive their enemies;

until they emerge - long secret preserved,

    mystery to the scientists.

Anona fruit borers feast in numbers -

    their survival, yet their doom;

when too many, and fruits are few,

    and there's not enough room.

 

Bagworm, turtle in the insect world;

    carries its house as it roams around,

bit by bit builds a beautiful mansion,

    only to abandon it in the final round.

Green like a leaf and slim like snake,

    this caterpillar bold and free;

Pavlov could be wrong to insects,

    and Charles Darwin in mimicry.

 

Cicada, it's the male shrilling in the trees,

    love call to the females on the run;

then a would-be bride or two come close

    to Romeo and Caruso rolled into one.

 

Cotton Stainer - guess what is the first dye,

    but its saliva in the cotton boll;

ever wonder how designs of fabric are made,

    but stains in colors, hues and all.

 

Oriental cockroach - filthiest of all insects,

    yet catholic a cleaning habit it got;

of millions of germs it carries and spreads,

    it too, disposes more through its gut.

 

Termites, how canny, deceitful;

    disguised as coy and shy;

yet could bring a house crushing

    down amidst fear and cry.

 

Nature's executioner - preying mantis;

    killer by instinct, pious in look,

yet friendly to gardens and farms,

    devouring pest in every nook.

 

Psylla lice - the scourge of ipil-ipil trees,

    epidemic to the imported varieties,

wiping out plantations in the seventies,

    save the indigenous lowly species. 

 

A butterfly makes a garden

    with sunrise in union,

plants to bloom to carry on

    the next generation.

 

Wasp pollinator - enigma of procreation

    of a fig by co-evolution;

by rule, one cannot live without the other

    in Nature's strictest order.

 

Stinkbug, how divergent its life is

    with inviting coloration,

repugnant odor, to attract and repel,

    for freedom and admiration.

 

Tiger moth, remote mimicry

    of a dreadful brute;

if threat is preserved this way

    what then is truth?

 

Rhinoceros beetle, fierce looking male,

    all bluff in a dangerous world;

the female coy and naïve her strategy,

    both stronger than the sword.

 

Leafhoppers - minute yet destructive

    in countless number;

sipping the vitality of plants

    turning them green to amber. ~

 24. Friendly Insects

By Dell H. Grecia

Women’s Journal

(In memory of the late journalist for five decades)

Before you grab the fly swatter or reach for the can of Baygon or Raid, think of creepy crawlies as part of Nature’s healing system. Here, read on and learn why some insects are here to stay.

Papillo Swallowtail Butterfly

Like herbal plants, some insects possess their own medicinal value. Or so says our friend, Dr. Abe V. Rotor of the University of Santo Tomas and St. Paul University, Quezon City.

           

Bee sting, for example, cures arthritis and rheumatism. In fact, the number of doctors and clinics that use bee venom as an alternative medicine is increasing in the United States and other parts of the world.

The treatment is as simple as introducing the excited bee over the affected area, say, the knee or elbow. By holding the struggling bee with forceps, its posterior needle is aimed at the infected area. Once the needle is deeply imbedded, the bee is removed. In the process, the sting with the attached poison sac is torn off, resulting in the insect’s death. (This is the same reason a male bee dies after mating with the potential queen during nuptial flight). The poison sac contracts rhythmically, as more poison flows into the affected muscles and nerves.

A. The Mealy Bug

The mealy bug (Dactylopius coccus), which produces cochineal, is another insect that has medicinal value. It is presently cultured commercially in the Honduras, Canary Island, Mexico, Peru and Spain.          

Extensively used as dye, cochineal was later discovered to possess properties that allay pain. It is reported to be effective as well against whooping cough and neuralgia.

B. Fly Maggots vs. Deep-seated Wounds 

During the First-World War, relates Dr. Rotor, a certain Dr. W. S. Baer noticed that wounds of soldiers who had been lying on the battlefield for hours did not develop infections such as osteomyelitis, as compared with wounds treated and dressed promptly after they were inflicted.

The reason: the older wounds were found to be infested with maggots. These maggots are larvae of flies; commonly houseflies and the blue bottle flies. The adult flies can detect the smell of blood. They deposit their eggs around the wound, anticipating that their larvae are assured of food provided by the injured tissues.

This led to the practice of rearing maggots under sterile conditions and introducing these surgically clean maggots into wounds to eat the microscopic particles to putrefied flesh and bone. The practice, however, ended with the introduction of modern drugs and surgery. To show how effective this practice was, a survey revealed that 92 percent of 600 physicians who had used this treatment reported favorably about it.

A renowned researcher, Dr. William Robinson, was able to isolate a substance from the secretion of the maggots which he believed to have a healing effect on infected wounds, acting like antibiotics. This material – allantoin - soon became commercially available, as its importance began to be recognized.

Allantoin is a harmless, odorless, stainless, painless, and inexpensive lotion which, when applied to chronic ulcers, burns, and similar pus-forming wounds, stimulates local- rather than general- granulation. Thus, it is of special value in treating deep wounds such as bone marrow infection, where the internal part of the wound must be healed first.

Allantoin solutions cannot be as efficient as using living maggots in the treatment of bone infections, however. This is because the maggots actually eat out the necrotic tissues and kill the pus-forming bacteria by digesting them. In the process, the maggots continuously secrete minute quantities of allantoin in their excreta to the very depth of the wound, especially where the use of surgical instrument is limited if not dangerous.

With the advent of computers and other gadgets, modern medicine (except, perhaps, in very remote situations) has finally shelved the practice of using maggots on wounds, and it is likely to remain there.

C. Cantharidin*: A Cure-All Drug and Aphrodisiac

Dr. Rotor explains that a professor, discussed in his class, a way to harness and calm down a cow that is in heat so that she can be brought to the corral for breeding. This was in the sixties, when artificial insemination was something new in animal science.

There is an injection that comes from the blister beetle, the so-called Spanish fly or Lytta vasicatoria. This insect occurs in abundance in France and Spain, a relative of the American blister beetle.

The beetle carries in its body cantharidin. It was used as folk medicine during the 19^th century for all sorts of ailments and also much as an aphrodisiac. At present, it is used in treating certain diseases of the urinogenital system and in an animal breeding.

*Cantharidin is an odorless, colorless fatty substance of the terpenoid class, which is secreted by many species of blister beetles. It is a burn agent or a poison in large doses, but preparations containing it were historically used as aphrodisiacs.

D. Ant Secretion

      

With the decline in the effectiveness of antibiotics as a result of increasing resistance of pathogen, says Dr. Rotor, the search for more potent ones has widened into various fields, which today include plants, fungi, and protists - monerans notwithstanding.

One potential source of antibiotics is the green tree ant, a member of the large order of insects Hymenoptera to which bees and wasps belong. Like their relatives, the green tree ants - locally known as hantik - live in colonies. This social behavior enables them to grow in numbers of hundreds or thousands in a single colony, which can remain active for a long time. Other than its reported antibiotic property, the leaf nest of the green tree ant relieves inflammation when bandaged on the affected area.

According to Walter Linsenmaier, the green tree ant is famed as a weaver ant, not on account of its architecture that consists merely of a pile of leaves pulled, but because of their method of working. When fastening two somewhat separated leaves together, these ants line up on the edge of one of them, holding onto it with legs stretched full length behind them and, working together, pull up the other leaf with their mandibles.

Meanwhile, other ants, with the spinning larvae in their mouths, weave the leaves together. If the distance between leaves is too great for an ant to bridge the gap, the ants form ladders; these not only make it possible to pull the leaves closer together, but also serve as a bridge of the weavers. The larvae secretion may be extended inward to strengthen earlier ties and provide lining to the brood. It is this secretion that reportedly is an effective remedy against wound infection and inflammation.

 E. New Frontiers

Dr. Rotor has listed down some new frontiers in the insect world as cures to various pathogens, to wit:

· Anti-venom and poison antidotes are derived from Hymenopterans. Many victims die of insect bite every year that there is a need to develop a ready source of anti-venom vaccine and antidote. Can insect venom also apply to other kinds of poisoning?

Predatory Crane Fly (Tipula)

·      

   The secret of hibernation among insects can serve as a model for cryonic science in humans. To cross the vast space in future interplanetary travel, man will have to defy time and aging. One means is through planned hibernation. 

· Parthenogenesis is an unusual reproduction of immature insects without the benefit of sexual reproduction. Could this “virgin birth” apply to higher animals and humans? When threatened by lack of food and inclement weather conditions, aphids reproduce even before reaching full maturity and without the involvement of gametes. 

· Insects highly- resistant to putrefaction such as among Dipterans may be the key to cancer prevention and treatment. Blue bottle fly maggots can survive acidity up to 10 percent. Hence, they are found to breed in vinegar and fish sauce substrate without apparent harmful effect to the process and end products. 

· The burning and obnoxious secretions of certain insects, particularly Hemipterans, have yet to be developed as repellant against other pests. 

· In the case fireflies and glow worms, the substance luciferin emits virtually 100-percent light without emission of heat. This substance has many possible uses in industry and medicine as tracer. 

· The high protein content of certain insects like termites, silk worm larvae, and grasshoppers (three to four times higher than beef, milk and eggs) has great promise in the development of high-value food. Protein capsules, for example, can be made convenient for those who lead busy lives. 

· Chitin of insects is the envy of plastic manufacturers. It is much stronger, yet very much lighter. Its many uses include the control of nematodes using chitin preparations. Chinese doctors recommend insect exoskeleton as a remedy for a hundred and one ailments. 

Dr. Rotor concludes that insects, the most numerous and oldest of all animals on earth, have reasons for their existence. Although they are generally regarded as notorious destroyers, the truth is that our well-being hinges much on their presence and persistence. They are part of Nature’s healing system.

Gems in Your Backyard

 Your backyard may be full of “gems,” if it is planted to various vegetable., ornamental and herbal plants. A mini-pond tilapia , catfish (hito), or the so-called pangasius can also add to the riches of your garden. And your joy will surely increase when harvest time comes.

But there are other gems in your backyard, which you may not be even aware of. These are the different insects which live in your garden. 

My friend Dr. Abe V. Rotor, an entomologist by profession, recently shared with me a good lesson on insects, we would certainly miss nature’s sweetest sugar (honey), finest fabric (silk), and mysterious fig (Smyrna fig). 

We would be having less and less of luscious fruits and succulent vegetables. As such, we would not have enough food to eat because insects are the chief pollinators. They also serve as cheap food for fishes and other animals. They are a major link in the food chain, the columns of a biological Parthenon. 

According to Prof. Rotor, without insects, the earth would also be littered with the dead bodies of plants and animals. Insects are the co-workers of decomposition, along with bacteria and fungi, as they prepare for the life of the neat generation by converting dead tissues into organic materials and ultimately into inorganic forms, thus helping bridge the gap between the living and the non- living world. 

Ecologically, Dr. Rotor explains that insects are the barometer of the kind of environment we live in. A pristine environment attracts beneficial insects, while a damaged one breed pests and diseases. 

A. Insects Dominate the Animal World 

Insects are our best friends. They are little helpers in our vegetable gardens- pollinating flowers and preying on pests. 

Prof. Rotor relates that we cannot escape from insects: good or bad, beneficial or harmful. In terms of species, there are seven insects out of ten animal organisms on earth. Insects comprise 800,000 kinds, including their relatives- lobsters, shrimps, spiders, ticks, centipedes, millipedes and scorpions. Phylum Arthropoda would then comprise 80 percent of all animal organisms. To compare, plants make up only half a million species. 

How have these minute insects outlived such giants as dinosaurs and mammoths? What is the secret behind their longevity? 

Ants, termites and bees, according to Prof. Rotor, are the so-called social insects. Their caste system, intact and strict, has long been regarded as a model of man’s quest for a perfect society. It inspired the building of such highly autocratic civilizations as the Egyptian and Roman Empires, and the monarchical Aztecs and Mayans. 

B. Insects are Good Defenders 

Take the case of the butterflies and moths. Prof. Rotor says their active time is not only well defined (diurnal or nocturnal), but their food is highly specific to a plant or group of plants and their parts. Their life cycle allows either accelerated or suspended metamorphosis, depending on the prevailing conditions in the environment. This is a feat no other animal can do more efficiently. The young of a dragonfly called nymph is as fearful a hunter in water as the adult is in the air. Apparently this is this is the reason behind its legendary name. 

The praying mantis, on the other hand, carries a pair of ax-and-vise. A bee brandishes a poisonous dagger, while a white tussock moth is cloaked with stinging barbs. A stink bug, for its part, sprays corrosive acid on eyes or skin. The weevil has an auger snout, the grasshopper grins with shear-like mandibles, and the mosquito pricks with a long, contaminated needle. 

The beetle, according to Prof. Rotor, brings us to the medieval age. A knight in full battle gear! Chitin, which makes up its armor called exoskeleton, has yet to be successfully copied in the laboratory. Same with the light of the firefly, which is the most efficient of all lights on earth. 

Imagine that: aphids, scale insects and some dipterans are capable of paedogenesis. That is, the ability of an immature insect to produce young even before reaching maturity! 

Indeed, King Solomon was wise, Prof. Rotor affirms, in halting his army so that another army - an army of ants - can pass. Killer ants and killer bees destroy anything that impede their passage, including livestock and humans. 

C. Insects Are the Best Acrobats 

Because they are small, insects can ride on the wind and current, find easy shelter, and are less subjected to injury when they fall. Also, their small size requires relatively less energy than bigger organisms do. All of these contribute to their persistence and worldwide distribution. Insects can even survive major disasters, Prof. Rotor adds. 

Insects, like the crickets, are “musicians.” While their sounds are music to the many of us, they are actually coded sounds similar to our own communication. Cicadas, beetles, and grasshoppers have their own “languages.” 

Termites and bees, on the other hand also have their own language, which comes in the form of chemical signals known as pheromones. It is because of them that we are now studying pheromones in humans. 

D. Love of Nature, Love of God 

As you work in your backyard, nature invites you to be loving; when loves dwells in you, then you begin to feel the spirit of God. 

My friend Prof. Rotor was so engrossed in his study of insects that he was inspired to compose two verses for a praying mantis.

                                                     Preying mantis (Mantis religiosa)   

      

                                                           Mantis

           

      Praying or preying you’re God sent,

          You pray for rain, you share our peace;

      You prey on the pest that feeds on crops,

           Two lives have you all in one piece.

                      Friendly Killer

     

 Your friendly gaze is for a man’s grim

           Kneeling in the art of the strangler,

      Yet a friend you are to the farmer,

           So welcome, shy, friendly killer.

*  In memory of the late Dell H Grecia, veteran journalist and TV commentator.
** Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid DZRB 738 AM, 8 to 9 Evening Class, 

    Monday to Friday with Dr. Abe V. Rotor and Ms. Melly Tenorio

25. How do you know a True Bug?  Are you Bugged?

Dr Abe V Rotor

Harlequin Bug Nymph

Last instar of Stink Bug nymph. Note pair of wing pads.

Adult Stink Bug

Insects are often called bugs. But the real bugs belong to Hemiptera, the Order of insects to which the Stink Bug, bedbug, rice bug (atagia), black bug and green bug (Nezara viridula) are members.

True bugs emit a characteristic odor, specially when crushed. This is a practical way of telling an insect if it is really a bug. Bugs secrete a caustic substance that is corrosive to the eye and skin. (If affected, wash with warm water and soap.)

Bugs undergo incomplete metamorphosis - egg, nymph, and adult. Both the immature and mature insects have sucking mouth parts. They subsist on the sap of plants, resulting in stunting, defoliation and death of the host plants.

The term "bug" is a spy term. Bugged, means "being secretly monitored", usually with an electronic device, such as a miniature microphone.

Bugged could mean an exaggerated zeal for something (camera bug). It could mean the failing of a machine, or the compactness of a car (buggy). Think of the surreptitious nature and other adaptive ways of the bedbug. ~

26. Lighted candles drive flies away.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Houseflies (Musca domestica) are the most popular uninvited guests during a party, especially if it is one held outdoor. Before they build into a swarm, light some candles and place them strategically where they are most attracted.

Candle smoke drives away houseflies and blue bottle flies (bangaw), keeping them at bay until the party is over. For aesthetic reason, make the setup attractive by using decorative candles and holders, especially one that can withstand a sudden gust of wind. Otherwise, just plant a large candle or two, at the middle of the serving table.

If your guests ask what is this all about, blow the candle out momentarily and they will understand.

Housefly ((Musca domestica); Blue Bottle Flies or bangaw (Calliphora vomitoria) copulating 

Hang a fresh branch of a tree or shrub near lighted bulb or lamp to keep midges (gamu-gamu) away from food and guests. 

Have you ever been pestered by tiny insects that are attracted by light during an outdoor dinner?  These insects make a complex population of leafhoppers, mayflies, and other species of midges. Winged termites and ants often join the swarm. They are most prevalent at the onset of the rainy season in May or June and may last until the rice crop is harvested. In the province this is what you can do to control them and save the dinner party.

Cut a fresh branch or two, complete with leaves that do not easily fall off. The finer the leaves are, the better -  sampaloc, madre de cacao, kamias, - or simply any source that is available, including shrubs and vines (kamote, mungo, corn, etc.) Hang the branch securely at the dim part above or close to the fluorescent bulb or Coleman lamp. Be sure not to obstruct the light. Keep away from the food and guests. Observe how the insects settle on the branch and stop flying around.

Insects are attracted by light, especially when there are only a few in the area.  An outdoor dinner is ideal for them, attracting those even in distant fields. On arriving at the scene they become disoriented, for which reason they keep flying and flying around the light. With a foothold nearby for them to roost, the insects would gladly cease from their aimless search.  

Since the Coleman lamp was invented, more so when Thomas Edison came up with a brilliant idea that led to the manufacture of the incandescent light that soon “lighted the world,” nocturnal insects - from midge to moth – have been disturbed of their natural sense of bearing on celestial lights as they travel in darkness.  Rizal romantically attributed the death of a moth - lost in its path and singed into the lamp - a heroic act.  ~

27. Hantik! (Green Tree Ant)

Dr Abe V Rotor

Nest of Green Tree Ants

“Go to the ant sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.” (Proverbs, Chapter 6, 6-8)

“Hantik!” my friend cried in panic and pain as he hurriedly abandoned the fruit laden mango tree fighting off dozens of golden brown ants clinging on his skin and clothes. He had trespassed into a nest of green tree ants, Oecophylla smaragdina, and now the colony had broken into a swarm. I had my share of the bites and stings as I helped my friend repel the insects. Well, boys are boys, but this gave us a lasting lesson, and for me it opened a door to my career as an entomologist.

Years after when I put up residence in a middle-class subdivision in Quezon City I came across the world of this enigmatic organism once more. This time it came to live with my family. It built nests on two towering trees, ilang-ilang (Cananga odorata) and talisay (Terminalia catappa) which stand on the front yard and across the fence on the sidewalk, their long and thick branches virtually forming one huge crown. There is no escape from the ants; not the garden, the pond, clotheslines and pathways.

No one likes to live with a pest anyway. So I hired a woodcutter who claimed to have been responsible for cutting down some of the oldest balete trees (Ficus benjamina) on ghostly Balete Drive. (Remember the white lady stories?) Armed with bolo and salt allegedly to drive evil spirits, he climbed the talisay tree. Hardly had he began cutting a main branch when the colony of ants broke loose. It was exactly a repeat performance of that incident which happened forty years ago. My plan was abandoned, and I realized my intention was carrying a residue of revenge.

In the study of insects (entomology), insects are classified into beneficial and destructive species. Honeybees and silkworm are classical examples of the good insects, while the plant-eating and parasitic ones are considered as bad ones. But to ecologists without insects there can be no true balance in the biosphere. What that suggests is the universal idea that every living thing has a place and purpose in this planet. But where does the hantik belong?

It is difficult to pass judgment unless the facts about this insect are presented. Ants are among the most successful evolutionary creatures. They did not only survive millions of years as groups but have, in fact, together with bees, reached the highest evolutionary level - Order Hymenoptera of the largest phylum of animals (Arthropoda). The secret of this success is closely linked with their social life which has fascinated man. Insects inspired autocratic societies, such as those founded on feudalism and dictatorship. Definitely, the caste system where members are categorized according to function, was structured following that of ants, bees and termites.

Social scientists and biologists believe that social behavior among living things have a biological basis. The genes which carry the double helix deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) control social behavior. That is why social life models somehow follow that of other species. To sociobiologists, led by EO Wilson of Harvard, this is also true with humans. A proof of this is that our history is rich with autocratic cultures and civilizations, among which are the great Egyptian civilization, Roman Empire, Chinese Civilization and other civilizations of the Aztecs, Mayans, and American Indians.

In our age of biotechnology, scientists are looking at the possibility of isolating the gene that controls social behavior in insects which can be spliced into the genes of other organisms in order to make them socially cohesive or adaptable to specific cultural conditions. The same gene may be responsible for dictating the sex of individual organisms and even populations. The basis of this thesis is that worker ants and bees are infertile females, predetermined in their immature stage. With this knowledge, genetic engineering may be able to develop techniques of mass extermination of destructive insects by modifying their sex. Already, in the case of tilapia (plapla), sex reversal (hormonal change) has been the key for preventing overpopulation and competition, and in improving weight gain.

On the practical side, ants are natural predators. They kill other insects, even those much bigger than themselves, as food. Their presence in our yard has caused the disappearance of most garden pest: caterpillars, termites and even other kinds of ants like the red fire ants (Solenopsis geminata rufa) which herd and milk aphids and mealybugs. No, the hantik is not a symbiont of destructive insects of any kind. They are nature’s sweepers and janitors. They carry off morsels and leftovers which would otherwise attract flies and other vermin.

What triggers swarming other than perceived assault? I have seen members coming to the rescue of wounded members, or to carry their dead while the rest is alerted for defense or assault. I have observed advance parties exploring new territories, ants that tap the nest to warn the colony of danger, and those which weave nests by clamping the edges of leaves together, and fastened with a sticky secretion of larvae.

When the prey is big, an army is set in place to tear it down in due time. In peaceful times members form a column toward a food source, each carrying a bit to their granary. But always, there is the courteous “kissing”, their antennae tapping and touching, mandible-to-mandible, or head-to-hind, and all in some kind of frenzy and spontaneity. Pheromone, the chemical that binds members and the royalty (queen) together, is transferred and shared this way.

According to Klaus Dumpart of JW Goethe University, several substances work together in raising alarm. One alarm triggering secretion comes from the mandible gland which includes hexanol. Just the scent of this complex substance can be picked up and interpreted by the members. Apart from this secretion, formic acid is secreted by the Dufour gland found at the posterior part of the abdomen. It serves both as pheromone and poison. The ant injects this poison into the victim when it stings. To paralyze a prey or fight an enemy, an ant bites tenaciously with a pair of huge mandibles, while at the same time, injecting poison with a retractable needle at its posterior end.

Extracts from the glands of ants and bees are useful in medicine for the cure of arthritis and rheumatism. Although induced stinging on affected area of the skin and joints of people suffering of acute arthritis is not new, the growing popularity of alternative medicine has even made the practice available in a number of US hospitals and clinics.

It is interesting to know that the eggs and larvae of hantik are gathered for food (it is cooked adobo style), and it is claimed to be an aphrodisiac, according to barrio folks in Abra. This is also a common practice in tropical rainforests in Asia and in the savannahs of Africa where these ants abound.

I look back at the nest of the hantik ants without culinary desire nor a residue of a past painful experience, and I think of them now as good neighbors. If, for any reason I receive a sting or two, I complain not, for I believe that sting is good for the heart. Hantik ants prove to be very friendly and cooperative. Pavlov is right after all. ~

Hairy caterpillar (higad) writhes as soldier hantik ants drive their razor-sharp mandibles spiked with immobilizing poison. Soon this fleshy Goliath will be reduced into shreds and tidbits which will be carried off to be served as food to the colony's nursery.


Here is a case of poison against poison. The wasp tucks in a dagger that injects bee venom, while the ants have formic acid. Here too, a giant is pitted against Lilliputians, but what spells victory is number - the strategy of ants. An ant colony is made up of thousands of active members working in precise coordination.

28. Global Warming Breeds Super Bugs

Dr Abe V Rotor

Asked if the U.N. climate summit in Paris would mark a turning point in the fight against global warming, the pope said: “I am not sure, but I can say to you ‘now or never’. Every year the problems are getting worse. We are at the limits. If I may use a strong word I would say that we are at the limits of suicide." - POPE FRANCIS

The climate crisis has been hard at work throughout 2023. Wildfires in Argentina and Canada. Flooding in India, Cameroon, and Libya. Extreme heat across the US, Europe, and Asia. A cyclone in Myanmar. A tropical storm hitting Japan, Guam, the Philippines, and Taiwan. The list goes on.

Author explains to guests and students global warming using a model at the former St. Paul University QC Museum (c. 2005)

Leptospirosis, also called infectious jaundice, became known as a disease recently when Manila virtually remained underwater for days as a result of monsoon rains intensified by a series of typhoons. The disease’s symptom is yellow coloration of the skin. The causal organism is a spiral bacterium, hence the name, and is endemic where public sanitation and personal hygiene are neglected. One can contact the disease through infected rodent and other animal urine. According to reports, most of the victims acquire the disease from polluted drinking water or wading in flood streets. The suspected carrier is the Rattus rattus norvigicus or city rat, counterpart of the field rat, Rattus rattus mindanensis.

How do we know if a person has contacted the disease? At first, the symptoms are like those of an ordinary flu, which may last for a few days as the pathogen incubates in the body. If not treated immediately, the infection may lead to hemorrhages of the skin or mucus linings and eye inflammation. Extreme cases may lead to irreversible damage to the liver and kidney.

As floodwaters drive the rats out of their subterranean abode (such as canals, culverts, and sewers), they take refuge in homes, market stalls, restaurants, even high rise buildings and malls, bringing the infectious bacterium directly to its victims. The migratory nature of rats also explains how leptospirosis can reach people living far from the flooded areas.

Bubonic Plague or Black Death
This brings to mind the dreaded scourge of mankind in the Middle Ages, bubonic plague. Rats are the carriers of this bacterium-caused disease also called the Black Death. It was so deadly that it claimed the lives of at least 100 million people with 25 million in Europe alone. It stopped man’s progress that the period was appropriately described Second Dark Ages. It spread around crowded cities and towns, with the pestilence peaking with climatic upheavals, such as what we know today as the El Nino phenomenon. Historical accounts are usually laced with superstitious beliefs. With the arrival of Renaissance (Rebirth of Learning) in the 15th century the whole incident was shelved and filed away in archives. But scientists today are piecing up together evidences which may indicate that climate had something to do with long-term cycle of the disease.

The bubonic plague appeared in the United States at the start of the 1900 and then in India in the late 1970’s, but thanks to modern medicine the disease was effectively controlled even before it reached epidemic stages. Between 1941 and 1945, the Japanese used the plague bacteria in war, by rearing the germs clinically and using flea (Xenopsylla cheopis) as carrier. The idea is to sow pestilence, thereby defeating the enemy both in the battlefield and at home. After successfully testing the bubonic plague bombs on China, Japan aimed the new biological weapon against its number one enemy, the U.S. The attempt failed when the American forces dropped two atomic bombs in 1945 obliterating Hiroshima and Nagasaki, resulting in the end of World War II hostilities.

Aedes egypti transmits dengue or hemorrhagic fever, a disease that can spread into epidemic in many parts of the world, including the Philippines. 

Adverse Weather and Common Ailments
Common ailments are usually tied to adverse weather conditions. Following are same examples:

1. The outbreak of boils for one is more likely to occur under hot, steamy weather. The same is true with many bacterial and fungal skin diseases.

2. Influenza outbreaks coincide with extreme changes in weather conditions, normally, towards the rainy season and start of the Siberian High (cold months).

3. Typhoid cases are higher during the rainy season, particularly when there is a flood.   It is the floodwater, mixed with sewage and other organic waste that carries the pathogenic bacterium, Escherichia coli.

4. Dengue Fever mosquito larvae, Aedes egypti may aestivate in the dry season. But once rains come it starts breeding in empty bottles, old tires, basins and clogged gutters. Rain and flood enhance the population and spread of mosquitoes, which spread not only dengue but malaria, too.

Global Warming Disturbs Our Climate

Here is a background on global warming and its impact on our atmosphere (air), lithosphere (land) and hydrosphere (water).

1. During the 20th century, the average atmospheric temperature went up by at least one degree Fahrenheit. Small as it seems, this rise in temperature is sufficient to activate tornadoes, hurricanes, rains and floods. It also helps widen temperature range to extreme levels, creating abnormalities in weather conditions. Scientists explain why the El Nino phenomenon (which comes every five or ten years) is becoming more and more erratic, causing much destruction, especially when it is too wet on one side of the globe, and too dry on the other.

2. The reason why our atmosphere is getting warmer is because of the so-called greenhouse effect, which means that more of the heat of the sun is absorbed and stays longer, causing increasing levels of heat-absorbing gases like carbon dioxide. Our cars and factories are the principal sources of these gases.

3. Rising temperatures cause pronounced atmospheric heating. Hotter air and water along with higher relative humidity altogether stimulate evaporation, cloud formation and eventual precipitation. When there is extreme cold and hot air, a wind system develops, growing into cyclones, hurricanes and tornadoes.

4. Hotter climates cause ice thinning on mountaintops, breaking down of icebergs and floes, melting of the polar ice. The law of displacement explains why our seas are rising, and because all oceans and seas are interconnected, the effect becomes a global one. The first to suffer are those living on low-lying areas. Unfortunately, most cities and town are found on lowlands, near seaports and along major rivers. Thus the next exodus will be ecologically caused. We can call it mass eco-migration. A very disruptive kind of resettlement is needed, dwarfing the kinds of settlement during the era of colonization and conquest. Today’s planners are revolutionizing the concept and design of human habitation that would be decongested and environmentally conserving.

5. There will be a major shift in farming systems where new frontiers will be opened, while others will be abandoned. Adaptation strategies of crops and animals, review of land use policies and programs are back on the drawing boards. Again, environmental conservation will receive special attention.

6. Wildlife migration patterns, niches and distribution, will be greatly affected as their natural habitats are destroyed or modified by changing climate. All living things, without exception, are affected by the man-induced phenomenon of global warming.

The Making of Superbugs

Global warming affects even the lowly and microscopic organisms. They are called gamu-gamu or simut-simut. These are the winged termites. These ordinarily shy, tunnel-dwelling insect suddenly take into the air at night in a swarm, attracted by light in our homes and towns. There is a new breed of super termite that has destroyed thousands of homes in Southern United States since the 1950’s after it was accidentally introduced from China. The insect continued to develop resistance to eradication despite U.S. advances in biology and chemistry.

We trace this superb resistance on two views. First, this super termite is the survivor of chemical spraying. Pesticides may have eradicated the weaker members of its population, but the survivors carry the acquired resistance. After several generations, and the super termite was formed. This genetic advantage may explain the species’ survival, but what about its successful geographic adaptation and distribution? This brings us to my second observation.

Frequent rains and floods predispose wood to soften or even rot, making it more palatable to the cellulose-eating insect. It prefers old wood and the southern states have houses as old as the Mayflower expedition. These conditions provide a perfect termite abode, and together with its symbionts, protozoa in its stomach and wood fungus as pre-digester, termite empires continue to spread from one house after another.

Then at swarming time (which now occurs more frequently than once a year), it is easy for a new termite swarm to start new colonies, which today can be as convenient in book shelves, wooden appliances, apparadors, and office files, as well as posts, beams, floors and walls. And by the way, according to Discovery TV channel, termites strangely eat twice as fast, given an ambiance of loud metallic music (or noise). Watch out for the floor!

The Case of the Fire Ant
We encounter red ants, Solenopsis geminata, in the kitchen, picnic grounds, and garden. According to old folks, when they emerge from their nest to seek shelter on higher grounds, carrying their young and food, they proclaim the arrival of heavy rain.

But it is not this kind of ant of which we are more concerned now. In Florida, a super red ant has spread all over the state and is still moving via floodwaters. A mass of ants, by the thousands, would simply float on water currents landing on a new territory, and then break into several colonies. That is how efficiently the ant is spread, a new adaptation that other ants do not possess.

The sting of this super ant contains a poisonous formic acid. A person who is allergic to it could die from just a single sting. While this ant may be beneficial in one way by devouring destructive insects on the farm, the very sign of its presence in such magnitude is alarming. The US Department of Agriculture even uses GP (Global Positioning) Satellite to monitor and identify the foragers’ locations and sizes of their colonies to assist in their eradication.

The Case of the Super Bacteria
In 1993, tens of thousands of people in Milwaukee suddenly got sick and the suspected culprit is a bacterium that lives in the cloudy waters of Lake Michigan which supplies the areas’ potable water. But Lake Michigan has long been polluted. From the view deck on Sears Tower, one can smell the foul odor of the lake.  I was among the visitors who witnessed this deteriorating condition of this huge lake as early as 1976.  What is surprising is that the pathogen has found a way to defy ordinary water treatment methods.

Such is how the Milwaukee pathogen has proliferated. During the El Nino of 1993, melting snow joined the floodwaters, washing down animal manure and other organic wastes from upland farms and homes, and dumping them into the lake. This has the effect of fertilizing the bacterium. Ecologists call this sudden bacterial upsurge “bloom”, which is similar to the algal bloom phenomenon.

To control the epidemic, drinking water had to be boiled, and water treatment methods intensified until the bacterium is eliminated. These procedures are necessarily very costly operations.

Deadly Dinoflagellates
On the estuaries of Maryland and North Carolina a strange disease has been harming humans and was only first observed 1993. For a time it baffled doctors and scientists until it was traced to Plasteria, a dinoflagellate - a microscopic unicellular organism that behaves like both a plant and an animal. It carries chlorophyll to enable it to manufacture food by photosynthesis, and being equipped with flagella and amoeboid form, it could live freely on the estuaries in huge numbers or as a parasite of fish and other organisms.

It attacks fish by ambushing it with neurotoxin. Once inside the fish body the amoeba-like creature enters the blood stream, and secretes an acid that dissolves tissues and internal organs, killing the fish. This explains the massive fish kill that occurred in these estuaries in 1991.

In turn, the toxin as well as the immature form of the dinoflagellate, enter the human body through infected fish. Even if a person recovers, he suffers permanent loss of memory, and adversely affected speech and coordination, as discovered by scientists from the University of Maryland.

Where did the dinoflagellate come from and how did it spread into the estuaries? From nearby pig farms, with the slurry flowing downward to the estuaries. Fertilizers, farm chemicals, and organic wastes, follow the same process. Flooding and poor drainage controls exacerbate the situation, favoring the growth of the dinoflagellates.

The culprit in Red Tide is another algal bloom, but is located at coves and harbors. Organic materials and wastes flow down the river during floods and onto the sea where they fertilize the red tide dinoflagellates. In the Philippines the red tide species is Pyrodinium bahamense compressa. (PHOTOS)  This happens when the water is warm and there is plenty of sunlight. The organisms multiply very rapidly that due to their enormous numbers, the water appears red, hence the term Red Tide.

Red Tide is caused by dinoflagellates in bloom. Pyrodinium bahamemnse var compressa as seen under light and electron 

microscope, respectively.  

The biblical story of the Nile turning red, as in one of the plagues of Egypt during the time of Moses, was a case of the Red Tide phenomenon. One would appreciate this better on entering Cairo coming from Sinai desert across the Suez Canal. From there one can see how near the Nile is to the Mediterranean Sea. During flood seasons the Nile deposits its load of silt and organic delta-building materials, consequently obstructing water flow. The area has become as a cradle of the Red Tide.

Hantavirus from Mice
In New Mexico that is a desert country, a strange kind of disease was discovered that affects the heart, kidney and liver. Dr. Ben Moneta, a descendant of Navajo Indians, and a graduate of Stanford University, came up with the answer. His findings may also re-open the puzzle of how the Navajo civilization suddenly perished.

Whenever the desert begins to get more rains, vegetation is increased, and so is the number of animals living in the area. The once barren area becomes suddenly fertile, causing the mice population to rapidly increase. Mice are carriers of a deadly hantavirus that adversely infect humans. Dr. Moneta found out that as early as in 1923 a medicine woman warned that if a mouse gets in contact with clothes or anything worn, these apparel should be immediately burned to prevent infection. This led him to believe that the hantavirus is not new. It must have existed for millions of years, but its resurgence is becoming clear.

Delphi Project
In the idle Los Alamos desert is a new center. Its Mission code name is Delphi Project. Here, scientists are studying killer bugs (organisms which can launch an attack and destroy many lives and properties). It is a race with time and as the clock ticks, man should be able to prevent any catastrophe reminiscent of the Bubonic Plague. AIDS (Acute Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome) is already prodding us to move fast.

The message is clear. Let us restrict careless activities that favor the making of super bugs.~

Author’s Note on SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)
According to Time Magazine, a more likely, and frightening, possibility is the unstable SARS coronavirus which has mutated since it left its origin in Guangdong, China. Now it has become a more virulent and contagious virus as evidenced by samples taken in Beijing and Hongkong. The spread in China and other countries is expected to rise, causing untold numbers of deaths. While there is no specific connection between global warming and SARS, it is established that unstable and unfavorable climatic conditions expose millions of people to health problems.

 
Left:  Water contaminated with microscopic algae, such as Euglena, may render a whole reservoir unfit for human consumption. Right: Green algae may “bloom” under intense sunlight and nutrient-rich water, the cause of fish kill. (Internet)

Algal bloom of the poisonous Caulerpa taxifolia on the Mediterranean seafloor is thought to be a result of global warming. Jellyfish outbreak is spurred by global warming.

“The world is headed for a post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and minor injuries which have been treatable for decades can once again kill. ”- Keiji Fukuda, Assistant director-general, World Health Organization.

             29. Nature's Disaster Signal - Ants in Exodus

Dr Abe V Rotor

Ants as a colony move to higher and safe ground at an impending typhoon or flood.  They can sense the coming of a disaster which old folks relied on since very early times. The workers carry the larvae and pupae, and food store, to the new place where the colony is re-established.  Mass evacuation is often mistaken for swarming. Swarming is a seasonal phenomenon when soldier and worker ants become sexually active, grow wings and take off into the air on one summer evening at the onset of the rainy season or monsoon, and mate with other members of other colonies, in a sort of orgy.  Pairing results, and new pairs move to new places where they start their own colonies.  

Ants on the run carrying their eggs and young to seek shelter in a safe place is one of the biological warnings which helped our ancestors prepare for an incoming disaster like flood and typhoon. (Photos by the author on his backyard, QC) 

Ants in Exodus

I stand between bible and history,

fiction and true story;

satellite and pheromone, 

under the sun and the moon;

man's kingdom and nature's wisdom;

Solomon's army and column of ants,

in prosperity and many wants,

ignorance and knowledge

learned from field and college. ~

 30 - Phosphorescent Caterpillars

                                                             Dr Abe V Rotor

Caterpillars eating the leaves of ilang-ilang (Cananga odorata), 

at home near La Mesa watershed.

They came - an army of hungry glowing worms,

on a sunset on a tall ilang-ilang tree;

there they hang like lanterns or neon far away,

and in crepuscular light there I could see

a familiar tree traced by its essence in the air,

and now by the phosphorescence from this tree -

Christmas ahead and beyond yet here at hand,

by the glow of these worms reminds of Thee;

through nature's ways to guard the frail and lowly

through the secret of ephemeral beauty. ~

LESSON on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio 
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday.

Lesson on TATAKalikasan Ateneo de Manila University 87.9FM Radyo Katipunan 11 to 12 am, every Thursday with Fr JM Manzano and Prof Emoy Rodolfo