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 Overread wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:

Not Online!!! wrote:
"Purge the Xenos!"

INdeed. How do those even fly?

Dragonflies and the like used to be a lot bigger in the past - WAY bigger

From what I gather what mostly holds insects back from being bigger is their ability to breath. In the past the atmosphere was richer in key air particles that they required (I think its mostly oxygen) so they could grow larger and deliver more to their muscles to let wings and body function. With a more modern atmopshere the air isn't of the sufficient rich mix to allow them to convert enough to energy. Of course there are likely loads of other factors that came around too which contributed to their size reduction over time.

Time to get some extra cases of birdshot then.
I wonder if grackles would do a number on these guys. They are the Spitfires of the insect hunting world here. I saw one literally chase down a big mosquito hog. Galland aint got nothing on those guys.

Are they affected by climate change?

If so torwards extinction?

i sure hope so

Not Online!!! wrote:
Are they affected by climate change?

If so torwards extinction?

i sure hope so

I would imagine that wasps in general are affected by climate change, in that, if it stays warmer, longer, they are around longer before the cold winter kills them off. I think this would affect numbers and colony size more-so than the size of the actual insect. I don't claim to be a scientist, but I would imagine that if the nest is around longer, they have more time to breed more queens. More queens released to start their own nests before they go dormant before winter = more nests the next year, wash/rinse/repeat until we worship our wasp overlords.

I shudder at the thought of it...

IronWarLeg wrote:

Not Online!!! wrote:
Are they affected by climate change?

If so torwards extinction?

i sure hope so

I would imagine that wasps in general are affected by climate change, in that, if it stays warmer, longer, they are around longer before the cold winter kills them off. I think this would affect numbers and colony size more-so than the size of the actual insect. I don't claim to be a scientist, but I would imagine that if the nest is around longer, they have more time to breed more queens. More queens released to start their own nests before they go dormant before winter = more nests the next year, wash/rinse/repeat until we worship our wasp overlords.

I shudder at the thought of it...

Or:
The longer warmer period means that they remain active long beyond when their natural food sources have been exhausted or at least diminished. This might result in them over-consuming and destroying their own food source (at least locally if not at the larger scale). Thus could mean that they enter a boom-bust situation whereby every few years they build into a booming year, consume almost all the food and then bust for a few years as there's simply no food to sustain even normal sized hives for a while.

Or it means that they remain active long past normal and have to move onto other food sources which causes cascade problems for other species as the wasps are now consuming more food from alternative sources.

Or man-made sources can also influence this and the wasps end up relying more heavily on them to sustain their populations. Thus indeed leading to longer term hives, more queens and greater spread whilst at the same time increasing human-wasp interactions and conflict

Or they hibernate as normal, but the milder winters cause them to awaken or never fully enter hibernation. Thus causing them to burn out their food reserves meaning that when they come to try and awaken they simply can't. This is actually happening for many reptiles that hibernate like snakes - the mild winter causes them to awaken early; they burn through their fat reserves but there's no active food to hunt and then the cold comes back around again forcing them to hibernate once more. Thus resulting in them starving to death or, if they do survive, being in a very poor condition upon emerging which can then roll on to hinder survival and breeding.

 Frazzled wrote:

 Overread wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:

Not Online!!! wrote:
"Purge the Xenos!"

INdeed. How do those even fly?

Dragonflies and the like used to be a lot bigger in the past - WAY bigger

From what I gather what mostly holds insects back from being bigger is their ability to breath. In the past the atmosphere was richer in key air particles that they required (I think its mostly oxygen) so they could grow larger and deliver more to their muscles to let wings and body function. With a more modern atmopshere the air isn't of the sufficient rich mix to allow them to convert enough to energy. Of course there are likely loads of other factors that came around too which contributed to their size reduction over time.

Time to get some extra cases of birdshot then.
I wonder if grackles would do a number on these guys. They are the Spitfires of the insect hunting world here. I saw one literally chase down a big mosquito hog. Galland aint got nothing on those guys.

Or send a bigger badder critter like the Japanese Wasp!



TIL: bees can swarm an invaders and "cook" them.

Wedge Tailed Eagle carrying off a fox.

 Overread wrote:


Or:
The longer warmer period means that they remain active long beyond when their natural food sources have been exhausted or at least diminished. This might result in them over-consuming and destroying their own food source (at least locally if not at the larger scale). Thus could mean that they enter a boom-bust situation whereby every few years they build into a booming year, consume almost all the food and then bust for a few years as there's simply no food to sustain even normal sized hives for a while.

Or it means that they remain active long past normal and have to move onto other food sources which causes cascade problems for other species as the wasps are now consuming more food from alternative sources.

Or man-made sources can also influence this and the wasps end up relying more heavily on them to sustain their populations. Thus indeed leading to longer term hives, more queens and greater spread whilst at the same time increasing human-wasp interactions and conflict

Or they hibernate as normal, but the milder winters cause them to awaken or never fully enter hibernation. Thus causing them to burn out their food reserves meaning that when they come to try and awaken they simply can't. This is actually happening for many reptiles that hibernate like snakes - the mild winter causes them to awaken early; they burn through their fat reserves but there's no active food to hunt and then the cold comes back around again forcing them to hibernate once more. Thus resulting in them starving to death or, if they do survive, being in a very poor condition upon emerging which can then roll on to hinder survival and breeding.

Well, the biggest ones live in the warmer climates, abd when earth is warmer, the bugs get bigger for some reason.

Look out, Fraz.

I remember that! Hollywood played it as a sci fi movie, but its actually a documentary film from New Mexico...shortly before the radioactive muties started appearing.

 chromedog wrote:


Wedge Tailed Eagle carrying off a fox.

For once, Europe has that beat:

Predation by a golden eagle on a brown bear cub.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-48916923

Yep. Everything wants to kill you. Even the seagulls ae deadly!!!

 Argive wrote:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-48916923

Yep. Everything wants to kill you. Even the seagulls ae deadly!!!

Well feth.

Altough you can thank humanity for it.

Probably someone Feed to much antibiotics to his livestock.

Pffft that's nothing. We're basically all on fire here at the moment, it's delightful

Yes, those fires have all been set by the spiders to make you gather in one place. Hope you're less on fire soon.

 Azreal13 wrote:
Yes, those fires have all been set by the spiders to make you gather in one place. Hope you're less on fire soon.

The spider emu axis hard at work i see.

 Azreal13 wrote:

frag out! Frag out! BOOM

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7806949/Enormous-tarantula-hawk-wasp-carts-dying-huntsman-spider-Bronte-Sydney.html



An incredible photo showing a spider wasp dragging a huntsman spider has gone viral online.

The image, taken in Bronte, Sydney, shows the orange spider wasp carting the paralysed huntsman back to its den.

The species of wasp immobilises their spider prey with a sting and drags it to its nest.
There the female wasp uses the spider's body as a living host.
What is a spider wasp?

Spider wasps or pompilid wasps get their common name from their tendencies to hunt and kill spiders

Spider wasps prey on spiders much larger than themselves but also eat plants and leaves

They have a potentially painful sting, but aren't aggressive and are unlikely to attack humans

There are many varieties of spider wasps around the world, including in Australia, Britain and North America

It lays an egg inside the alive spider which hatches. The larva then eats it alive from inside out.

The wasps are incredibly strong and can drag a spider twice their own weight.

The image was uploaded to Reddit on Wednesday and already has been shared 37,000 times.

It has received around 4,000 comments, many from people in the US and UK shocked at the wildlife that lives in Australia.

One commenter wrote: 'I think the best part is knowing its all the way in Australia.. and it can't hurt us here.'

Another added: 'Best part about this post? We all knew it was Australia without reading the description. We just knew.'

Earlier this year a video went viral showing a spider wasp dragging a similarly-sized huntsman up the netting of a door.

Ye gods. Had a spider wasp attacking a tarantula outside our house early this year and that was scary enough to see.

I'll go you one better. Here in New Mexico I had a tarantula hawk get into the house. The cats thought it was the greatest toy ever to chase around, and here I am trying to make sure none of us got stung... total chaos.

 chromedog wrote:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7806949/Enormous-tarantula-hawk-wasp-carts-dying-huntsman-spider-Bronte-Sydney.html

So, remember, folks, close air support is key in Oz.

It's just coincidence that Sydney is ON FIAH at this particular time.
Nothing to do with ginormous bug season.

That counts, right?

 chromedog wrote:
It's just coincidence that Sydney is ON FIAH at this particular time.
Nothing to do with ginormous bug season.

Honest question, you lots have fauled a war against emus, why would you think setting the country on fire would do anything against those bugs?!?

Thor's aim isn't what it used to be (losing an eye feths your depth perception somewhat).
The big fires were started by lightning strikes in areas that were essentially tinderboxes from a 6 year drought.

Lol in reality there's only a few species of spiders that are dangerous. Most of them just look scary but their bites aren't fatal, just painful. It's really only the Sydney Funnel web which causes fatalities.

I live on a 3 acre block in the North of Brisbane QLD and get all kinds of creepy crawlies. A few years back I had a coastal Taipan slither across my front yard which I believe is the second most venomous land snake in the world. Pretty awesome.

But I also get Koalas, the occasional Wallaby, bandicoots and Sugar Gliders. And Very, very rarely the occasional firefly.

I live in inner-city newcastle.

I've had a kangaroo (eastern grey) hop down the street a few years ago. Oh-my-god-it's-too-early O'clock in the morning.

A few blue-tongue lizards have turned up in the yard, and once we had a falcon drop into the yard to pick up a meal that it had dropped.

I thought the most horrifying thing in Newcastle was the light rail

It's actually the staggering number of people who are somehow unable to *SEE* a bright RED tram on what is mostly a dead straight track run.

They've almost flattened a couple of hundred locals since it opened last year.

.. huh, didn't realise that was why they called them that sort of pipe.

 chromedog wrote:
It's actually the staggering number of people who are somehow unable to *SEE* a bright RED tram on what is mostly a dead straight track run.

They've almost flattened a couple of hundred locals since it opened last year.

Maybe they are color blind and they see a GREEN tram coming their way?