http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/2000/05/04/timnwsnws01025.html May 4 2000 BRITAIN Bees taken for a ride by beetles BY NIGEL HAWKES TINY beetles in the Mojave Desert of California have evolved an outlandish strategy for survival in the harsh environment. They clump together in groups of several thousand to form the irresistible shape and colour of a female bee. As soon as a male bee lands on the clump in an attempt to mate, they grab his chest hair and are carried off. When the male finds a real female, the beetles are transferred to her back and ride off in triumph to the nest, where they live on pollen provided by the bees. The cunning mimicry of the parasitic blister beetle, Meloe franciscanus, has been studied by Drs John Hafernik and Leslie Saul-Gershenz, biologists from San Francisco State University. They report in Nature that as well as resembling female bees, the clumps of beetle larvae must also smell right, because the male bee is not fooled by painted models that lack smell. The biologists spent the spring of last year watching the beetles successfully fooling the bees. They observed many clumps of larvae - with up to 2,350 in each cluster - and found that bees removed more than 40 per cent of them. The rest died of old age, were killed by bad weather, or, in one case, were eaten by a spider. -- ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- _____________________________________________ NetZero - Defenders of the Free World Click here for FREE Internet Access and Email http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html <A HREF="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
