Drum roll please!
LACEBUGS!
Oh yes, lacebugs. Isn’t it purdy? Why oh why paganhorsegirl? I hear you cry. Well believe it or not, there is a very important lesson we can learn from these little fellas. A lesson in caring about our kids.
First, a little biological background. Lacebugs are from the family Tingidae, characterised by the delicate and intricate network of divided areas that form the forwings and the pronotum (foremost segment of the thorax) of the adult insect. It is these divided areas that look like lace and give the lacebug its common name. The adults are about 3-6 mm long, and these bugs undergo incomplete metamorphis as the nymphs or young are effectively miniatures of the adults but without wings and are darker in colour. Lacebugs are herbivores, and are generally host specific. Their importance to us humans, surprise surprise, is that they are a pest, particularly of oriental plants such as rhododendrons.
So, now for the interesting bit (although if you are a geek like me, the above paragraph fits into this category). So far, the lace bug just sounds like your ordinary bug yes? Eats plants, lays eggs, short lifespan, ticks human beings off.
But no! the lacebug is far more complicated than that!
Last night, as one does, I was engrossed in an episode of David Attenborough’s Trials of Life (fab dvd, go buy). Upon my screen came this unfamiliar little beastie, the lacebug. This tiny little bug had a whole brood of nymphs to take care of, like, 50 of the little critters. Poor thing had to walk the equivalent of a mile just to do a full circuit around them and check they were all ok.
Anyhoo, this insect, with no weaponry to speak of, proceeded to fend off not one but two predators. Said predators included a jumping spider, which has teeth like this:
First, a little biological background. Lacebugs are from the family Tingidae, characterised by the delicate and intricate network of divided areas that form the forwings and the pronotum (foremost segment of the thorax) of the adult insect. It is these divided areas that look like lace and give the lacebug its common name. The adults are about 3-6 mm long, and these bugs undergo incomplete metamorphis as the nymphs or young are effectively miniatures of the adults but without wings and are darker in colour. Lacebugs are herbivores, and are generally host specific. Their importance to us humans, surprise surprise, is that they are a pest, particularly of oriental plants such as rhododendrons.
So, now for the interesting bit (although if you are a geek like me, the above paragraph fits into this category). So far, the lace bug just sounds like your ordinary bug yes? Eats plants, lays eggs, short lifespan, ticks human beings off.
But no! the lacebug is far more complicated than that!
Last night, as one does, I was engrossed in an episode of David Attenborough’s Trials of Life (fab dvd, go buy). Upon my screen came this unfamiliar little beastie, the lacebug. This tiny little bug had a whole brood of nymphs to take care of, like, 50 of the little critters. Poor thing had to walk the equivalent of a mile just to do a full circuit around them and check they were all ok.
Anyhoo, this insect, with no weaponry to speak of, proceeded to fend off not one but two predators. Said predators included a jumping spider, which has teeth like this:
This spider leapt on and stabbed at this poor lacewing mother time and time again. But she was not to be deterred, oh no. She stood her ground, took the beating, saw the mean old spider off, and proceeded to herd her large group of charges to a less dangerous leaf upon which they could chow down in peace.
This little mother, showed more motherly behaviour than a fair number of human mothers (including my own) that I have come across. This tiny insect, way down there when it comes to evolutionary sophistication, has a life strategy that involves potentially sacrificing her own life for that of her children. And she does this actively! With intent! You could almost see the little thought processes whirring away in her insect brain….. “Keep your stinky mitts off my kids!” and “come along now dears, this way”. Now, I’m not suggesting that a lace bug has the intellectual capacity to have such thoughts, but the level of care was extraordinary.
Most insects just lay eggs and that’s that, but this bug invests considerable time and effort in defending her children. Why?
A scientist named Doug Tallamay was among the first to extensively research maternal behaviours in lace bugs. His species of choice was Gargaphia solani, and he reported that such expressive maternal care was closely linked to age, had a genetic basis and significantly increased the survival rate of the offspring by reducing predation. It also, however reduced the fecundity of the female (basically, she could have fewer offspring). Tallamay thought that where the food plant of Gargaphia solani grew was an area subjected to heavy predation, and that this was the selection pressure that maintained the presence of maternal care. He argues that such a hostile environment drives the evolution of specialised parental behaviours to ensure the survival of their offspring, but nonetheless the extent to which this species of lace bug exhibits parental care results in considerable cost to the breeding female. This particular species is known to be the most aggressive. Studies conducted by Kearns et al and Faeth reported herding behaviour only in other species of lace bug, but a level of kin discrimination was highlighted (mums knew which babies were theirs) as was the presence of an alarm delivery and response system through pheromone communication between mother and nypmhs.
Unfortunately, this wonderful capitalist society that we live in decrees that scientific knowledge cannot be open for all to see, even if it was conducted in the 1980s! But there you have it. It would appear that by living in a world surrounded by danger, the lace bug has evolved to watch over its precious brood and defend it to the death regardless of the cost to herself.
Now, correct me if I am wrong, but I am fairly certain that humans are missing a trick here. We, top of the food chain, the most intellectually sophisticated of all species on this planet (apparently), who have the power to destroy, conquer, and love with all our hearts, pale in comparison to the little lace wing when it comes to maternal care. Now, don’t get me wrong, I know that the vast majority of parents are loving and do a great job of bringing up their kids. But, how many horrific scenes of cruelty have we seen in the media? The poor little children being branded as witches in Nigeria, and suffering so much abuse at the hands of superstition and cruelty! In England, we have the dire case of Shannon Matthews. I’m sorry but her mother has no right to claim that title, she is NO mother. BBC news today reports that 1000 sex crimes against children are reported every year. How can anyone commit such an atrocity to a child, and how can you not know if your child is suffering like that! Finally, there are the thousands of children who live with untold levels of mental abuse from their families, abuse that destroys their sense of self to an extent that some cannot ever recover and hope to lead normal lives.
So, please join me in thanking our Mother Gaia for the caring nature of the lace bug. At least something in this world gives a s**t.
References:
Stanley H. Faeth.
Maternal care in a lace bug, Corythucha hewitti (Hemiptera: Tingidae).
Psyche 96:101-110, 1989.
Kearns R.S & Yamamoto R.T
Maternal behavious & alarm response in the Eggplant lace bug Gargaphia Solanz
Psyche 88: 215-230, 1981
Douglas W Tallamay
Insect Paternal Care
Bioscience Vol 4 pg 20
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lace_bug
This little mother, showed more motherly behaviour than a fair number of human mothers (including my own) that I have come across. This tiny insect, way down there when it comes to evolutionary sophistication, has a life strategy that involves potentially sacrificing her own life for that of her children. And she does this actively! With intent! You could almost see the little thought processes whirring away in her insect brain….. “Keep your stinky mitts off my kids!” and “come along now dears, this way”. Now, I’m not suggesting that a lace bug has the intellectual capacity to have such thoughts, but the level of care was extraordinary.
Most insects just lay eggs and that’s that, but this bug invests considerable time and effort in defending her children. Why?
A scientist named Doug Tallamay was among the first to extensively research maternal behaviours in lace bugs. His species of choice was Gargaphia solani, and he reported that such expressive maternal care was closely linked to age, had a genetic basis and significantly increased the survival rate of the offspring by reducing predation. It also, however reduced the fecundity of the female (basically, she could have fewer offspring). Tallamay thought that where the food plant of Gargaphia solani grew was an area subjected to heavy predation, and that this was the selection pressure that maintained the presence of maternal care. He argues that such a hostile environment drives the evolution of specialised parental behaviours to ensure the survival of their offspring, but nonetheless the extent to which this species of lace bug exhibits parental care results in considerable cost to the breeding female. This particular species is known to be the most aggressive. Studies conducted by Kearns et al and Faeth reported herding behaviour only in other species of lace bug, but a level of kin discrimination was highlighted (mums knew which babies were theirs) as was the presence of an alarm delivery and response system through pheromone communication between mother and nypmhs.
Unfortunately, this wonderful capitalist society that we live in decrees that scientific knowledge cannot be open for all to see, even if it was conducted in the 1980s! But there you have it. It would appear that by living in a world surrounded by danger, the lace bug has evolved to watch over its precious brood and defend it to the death regardless of the cost to herself.
Now, correct me if I am wrong, but I am fairly certain that humans are missing a trick here. We, top of the food chain, the most intellectually sophisticated of all species on this planet (apparently), who have the power to destroy, conquer, and love with all our hearts, pale in comparison to the little lace wing when it comes to maternal care. Now, don’t get me wrong, I know that the vast majority of parents are loving and do a great job of bringing up their kids. But, how many horrific scenes of cruelty have we seen in the media? The poor little children being branded as witches in Nigeria, and suffering so much abuse at the hands of superstition and cruelty! In England, we have the dire case of Shannon Matthews. I’m sorry but her mother has no right to claim that title, she is NO mother. BBC news today reports that 1000 sex crimes against children are reported every year. How can anyone commit such an atrocity to a child, and how can you not know if your child is suffering like that! Finally, there are the thousands of children who live with untold levels of mental abuse from their families, abuse that destroys their sense of self to an extent that some cannot ever recover and hope to lead normal lives.
So, please join me in thanking our Mother Gaia for the caring nature of the lace bug. At least something in this world gives a s**t.
References:
Stanley H. Faeth.
Maternal care in a lace bug, Corythucha hewitti (Hemiptera: Tingidae).
Psyche 96:101-110, 1989.
Kearns R.S & Yamamoto R.T
Maternal behavious & alarm response in the Eggplant lace bug Gargaphia Solanz
Psyche 88: 215-230, 1981
Douglas W Tallamay
Insect Paternal Care
Bioscience Vol 4 pg 20
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lace_bug
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