#apis vespa

[richdadpoor]

Yellow-Legged Hornet, Killer of Honeybees, Found in Georgia

The Georgia Department of Agriculture announced earlier this week that a beekeeper in Savannah found an unusual insect later identified by University of Georgia officials as a yellow-legged hornet. What Did the Actors Bring to Their Back to the Future: The Musical Performances? Yellow-legged hornets (Vespa velutina) are an invasive species that decimate honeybee colonies, which are…

[ciboperlamiamente]

Come distinguere alcuni impollinatori.

Ormai è giunta l'estate. Il sole ed il caldo, grazie anche alle belle giornate, causano il risveglio degli insetti, in particolar modo degli impollinatori. Sempre più spesso mi capita di imbattermi in video e notizie che fanno della disinformazione la propria bandiera e siccome non è raro trovare persone che con la giustificazione del terrore suscitato da questi insetti ne provocano un vero e proprio sterminio l'ultima cosa di cui si ha bisogno è di disinformazione.

Quando si parla di "calabrone" le testate giornalistiche danno sfogo ai più ignoranti e bassi istinti. Oltre a fare terrorismo tendono a racchiudere in quel nome volgare una lunga serie di insetti che spesso non hanno nulla a che fare gli uni con gli altri: Vespa velutina, Vespa orientalis, Xylocopa violacea, Megascolia maculata flavifrons, Bombus terrestris, Vespa mandarinia e via di questo passo. Il primo consiglio che vi do è quello di diffidare sempre e comunque delle notizie che sfoggiano titoli allarmistici come "Calabrone killer", "Calabrone gigante assassino", "Calabrone sterminatore di api" e soprattutto che fanno ricorso ai nomi volgari. L'unico modo valido per non fare confusione è quello di fare uso del nome scientifico delle specie.

Per farla breve (e già breve non è più) m'è balenata l'idea di provare ad insegnarvi a distinguere Vespa crabro dagli insetti che più comunemente, ed erroneamente aggiungerei, vengono designati con il nome volgare di "calabrone".

- Xylocopa violacea: dal greco xýlon («legno») e kóptō («[io] taglio»)

(Foto 1).

Trattasi di grosse api solitarie, di colore bluastro/violaceo. La femmina ha l'abitudine di scavare delle gallerie nel legno, in genere marcio, allo scopo di deporre le uova. Questo colore scuro (e molto bello a mio modesto parere) permette loro di cominciare l'attività prima degli altri impollinatori poiché ha una capacità riflettente più bassa rispetto ai colori chiari e di conseguenza assorbe meglio il calore. Hanno un volo rumoroso, possono incutere timore alla vista, ma non avendo una colonia da difendere è veramente difficile che facciano ricorso alla puntura.

- Megascolia maculata flavifrons.

(Foto 2).

Le femmine di Megascolia maculata sono facilmente riconoscibili dalle grosse dimensioni e dalla fronte gialla (dal latino flavifrons). Si tratta di insetti miti e solitari che si nutrono di nettare. Trattasi del più grande imenottero europeo, è un ottimo impollinatore e non crea colonie. L'individuo adulto caccia le larve di Oryctes nasicornis, un coleottero scarabeide, in cui depone le uova da cui nasceranno le larve che se ne nutriranno. Sono facilmente riconoscibili grazie alle bande gialle sull'addome: Megascolia presenta quattro macchie gialle a guisa di quadrifoglio; Scolia hirta in genere presenta due strisce gialle parallele; Scolia hirta unifasciata una sola banda gialla. Sebbene il maschio di Megascolia maculata somigli molto alla femmina di Scolia hirta è sufficiente far caso a piccoli dettagli per venire a capo della specie di appartenenza: Scolia hirta ha sempre e comunque ali bluastre, Megascolia maculata presenta ali ambrate. Nel caso del maschio la lunghezza delle antenne è ulteriore indicazione.

- Bombus terrestris.

(Foto 3).

La femmina feconda di Bombus terrestris depone le uova in buche sotterranee, da qui il nome terrestris, spesso ricavate da tane abbandonate da altri animali, in particolare roditori, essendo il bombo poco abile nell'atto di scavare. Dà vita a piccole colonie.

- Vespa crabro (maschio).

(Foto 4).

Finalmente eccoci giunti al vero "calabrone", Vespa crabro. Attorno a Vespa crabro si è fatta tanta di quella pubblicità negativa al pari di quanta per Apis mellifera se ne sia fatta in positivo. Intendiamoci, sono entrambi insetti fondamentali, ma si è sovente esagerato sia in un senso che nell'altro. Vespa crabro è un buon insetto impollinatore, un ottimo sterminatore di parassiti della frutta ed è meno aggressivo di quanto la stampa voglia far credere. Lo avrete sicuramente sentito descrivere come uno sterminatore di api e come un assassino di incauti, ma le cose non stanno esattamente così. Una colonia di api sana non teme certo quegli sporadici attacchi di Vespa crabro, e rispettando le buone norme del buon senso e della prudenza non è più pericoloso per gli esseri umani di quanto non lo sia un qualsiasi altro insetto aculeato (salvo allergie). Il vero pericolo per Apis mellifera è Vespa velutina in quanto è specie aliena. Gli apicoltori che hanno deciso di dichiarare guerra a Vespa crabro, oltre a fare un grosso danno all'ecosistema, si tirano la zappa sui piedi. Pare infatti che Vespa crabro preferisca cacciare Vespa velutina in volo stazionario attorno alle arnie, prede ben più facili da catturare rispetto alle agili api. Bisogna sempre riflettere sulle azioni che si vuol intraprendere.

Come si distingue una Vespa crabro maschio da un'esemplare femmina? Dalla lunghezza delle antenne (più lunghe ed arricciate nei maschi) e dal numero dei segmenti addominali (sette nei maschi, sei nelle femmine). Come per la quasi totalità degli insetti aculeati il maschio non ha pungiglione, quindi è totalmente inoffensivo.

Torno a precisare, come già fatto in passato, che se si vuole davvero fare qualcosa per l'ambiente e per la biodiversità è d'uopo tutelare qualsiasi specie di insetti, anche quelli che a pelle non appaiono rassicuranti. Non abbiate paura di questi animali, anzi imparate a conoscerli, a riconoscerli e a rispettarli. Una volta fatto ciò non solo avrete meno timore, ma saprete come comportarvi in caso di incontro ravvicinato.

[jupiterswasphouse]

WASP REVIEW - DEEPTORA BOUGH WASPS & DEEPTORA HONEYCOMB BEES (DEEP ROCK GALACTIC)

[Image IDs: Two renders, one of a swarm of Deeptora Bough Wasps, followed by a swarm of Deeptora Honeycomb Bees /End IDs.]

I just started playing Deep Rock Galactic fairly recently, and I'm a big fan! There's a lot in the game for bug fans to enjoy, with the vast majority of wildlife within the rock and stone being bugs, although the bugs are all aliens and aren't very easily comparable to the real thing. Even still, as tends to be the case, we can still allegedly find our Hymenopteran friends amongst this collection of extraterrestrial exoskeletal animals! But how do these bugs from the Hollow Bough and Sandblasted Corridors compare to those of our world?

First off their appearance, and, I'll be honest, there's not a lot here to analyze on the bugs themselves visually. Understandably when there are hundreds of bugs attacking at once, the developers wanted to make these guys more like particles than individual 3D models. Regardless, we can still take in a few details from their silhouettes, in which we can see, in a design choice surprisingly similar to the Mask Hornets from Lethal Company, the Deeptora Bough Wasps are actually more dragonfly-like than any social wasp, with the only wasp I can think of to really compare them to being ichneumon wasps.

[Image Sources: jupiterswasphouse, ie myself, and The Pathless Wood | Image IDs: A photo of a great blue skimmer dragonfly perching on a rusted dark metal garden decoration, followed by an image of a relatively large male ichneumon wasp on a green leaf /End IDs.]

Luckily, they at least appear to have the right number of wings, with a pair of forewings and a pair of hindwings, although there doesn't seem to be any real indication of legs. As for the Bees, meanwhile, are less clear, although they have a similar shape, also don't have any visible legs, they have a slightly wider gaster, and the presence of proper hindwings is unclear.

However, just because the actual insects don't provide us with much visually, doesn't mean that they don't give us a little bit more to go off of in general, as they still, of course, have nests!

[Image IDs: Two renders of the nests, the former belonging to the Deeptora Bough Wasps while the latter belongs to the Deeptora Honeycomb Bees /End IDs.]

... and clearly, these are very alien structures, with the bees' nest not being too easily comparable to the arboreal slabs of wax made by the true honey bees of our world we typically think of, genus Apis. However, it may be easier to compare them to some of the nests of honey bees of a different genus, that being Trigona!

[Image Source: Wikimedia Commons, Sharp Photography | Image ID: A photo of a Trigona bee nest in a tree, the structure being very round with a multitude of holes /End ID.]

Obviously, it's not one-to-one! But, with its more enclosed shape and entry holes, it's a lot closer than those of genus Apis. We'll be returning to Trigona for other reasons later, but in the meantime, we'll move on to the Deeptora Bough Wasp Nest. Now, this nest is perhaps easiest to compare to paper nest making Vespids such as paper wasps, hornets, and yellowjackets. Although it seems to combine elements of the open, umbrella-shaped structures built by the paper wasps and the enclosed structures built by the hornets and yellowjackets.

[Image Sources: Flickr, Bob Peterson, and ResearchGate, Tshering Nidup | Image IDs: A real world photo of a nest of paper wasps, species Polistes major, subspecies major, followed by a photo of a Vespa mandarinia nest on the underside of a roof /End IDs.]

Although, again, it appears very alien, with a sort of red, angular, and glowing structure within the more paper-nest-like outer side of it. As previously mentioned in the It Takes Two Wasp Colony review, there are paper wasp nests that glow under UV, but these glow green, as opposed to red, and I'm uncertain how much ultraviolet light is found in the caves and mineshafts of Hoxxes IV.

Speaking of those caves, it's also worth noting that these nests are all found underground, which is not true of honey bees, nor paper wasps or hornets, this can be the case in some yellowjackets, which will build nests in holes relatively deep under the ground.

[Image Source: SMCMVCD | Image ID: An illustration of a yellowjacket nest that's been built underground, with a tunnel leading to the nest, a round structure made of paper /End ID.]

Furthermore, with regards to the number of insects within these colonies, it is stated in the bestiary that the Deeptora Honeycomb nest contains "10 million" drones, which is a strangely large number. For one, I'm not sure how that many bees fit inside these small structures, as even large nests in the real world contain "only" up to 80 thousand bees. Perhaps the tunnels extend further underground than they appear, but in game you don't seem to see the extensive tunnels below the nests that they would need to house them. Secondly, bee drones are, in fact, the males, meaning these ones would be incapable of stinging, not leaving the hive often. So how numerous, then, are the swarming workers? The log on the wasps is less specific, stating that they are actually more numerous, which seems to be inaccurate to their real world counterpart, although it's difficult to find proper numbers, as it appears that beehives generally contain more individuals than even the biggest of yellowjacket nests.

But what about their attacking behavior, then? Well, they seem to have the same general defensive behaviors, swarming and stinging players when they get too close to the nest, giving chase until the nest and the swarm are destroyed. They're a bit more aggressive than the eusocial Hymenopterans of our world, with mosts colonies only really attacking when directly disturbed in one way or another, although the dangerous environment of the caves may have made them evolve a more easily spooked demeanor.

The Bough Wasps are also described as being less aggressive than the bees, which is interesting, as it tends to be the case that eusocial bees are less aggressive than eusocial Vespids.

As for their feeding behaviors, the diet of the Bough Wasps is uncertain, as it's seemingly not mentioned, but it can be assumed that these wasps feed on the nectar of some sort of plant life given the surroundings of Hollow Bough. What is mentioned, however, is the feeding behavior of the bees, specifically being described as "flesh-eating".

Now, some of you may be thinking that there's no way there's a real world equivalent, as the eusocial bees of our world feed on pollen and nectar. However! Three examples can be found in the aforementioned genus Trigona! Trigona crassipes, Trigona necrophaga, and Trigona hypogea. These bees feed on carrion in place of pollen (Although, perhaps disappointingly to some, claims they make "meat honey" are inaccurate)! It can be assumed that the bees of Sandblasted Corridors do the same, as it is stated that they are "not particularly harmful towards Dwarves", therefore, likely not feeding on living sources of meat.

All in all, they're an interesting bunch! Clearly accuracy wasn't necessarily on their minds when making these guys, understandably so given that these are, in fact, alien in nature. Can't necessarily dock ti many points for that reason, though some things could have served to be a little more accurate. If I had to give a rating, I would say-

-

Overall: 5.5/10

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Leave your wasp review suggestion in the replies, tags, or askbox!

[vividiste]

Se trovi un riccio "morto" nei mesi più freddi, non seppellirlo, non buttarlo nel cestino...

Nessuno vuole vedere un animale morto nel proprio cortile o sulla strada, ma può essere un riccio in letargo da novembre a marzo.

Di solito scavano buche per stare al sicuro, ma abbiamo sempre meno vegetazione verde, cespugli o foreste, ed è sempre più difficile trovare un posto sicuro dove passare la notte d'inverno.

Alcuni possono venire nel tuo cortile in cerca di sicurezza e calore per andare in letargo, altri sono così stanchi della ricerca che finiscono per dormire in posti strani come strade o marciapiedi.

🦔Durante il letargo, il battito cardiaco e il lavoro generale del corpo rallentano leggermente per risparmiare energia, che può confondere una persona che il riccio è morto.

In ogni caso, se vedete un riccio fermo, assicuratevi che sia in un posto sicuro e caldo e che possa rimanere per 5 mesi.

🦔 Se trovi un riccio nel tuo cortile o da qualche parte per strada, fai un buco in una scatola di cartone e in un posto asciutto, sicuro e tranquillo così che possa trascorrere i mesi freddi lì.

🦔I ricci sono una specie in via di estinzione, completamente innocua e molto importante nel nostro ecosistema.

Mangiano insetti, lumache, rane, lucertole, serpenti, compresi quelli velenosi.

Distruggono anche i nidi di topi.

Non hanno paura delle api o delle vespe. Il riccio può facilmente distruggere un nido di vespa e mangiare i suoi abitanti senza prestare attenzione ai loro morsi.

. Gli scienziati hanno notato da tempo l'immunità dei ricci ai veleni forti, compresi i morsi di vipera.

Questo fenomeno antidoto è ancora sconosciuto agli scienziati.

,State attenti quando vedete i ricci nei mesi freddi. Aiutare un animale così fragile non costa nulla.

[t-u-i-t-c]

17 pls show me a monster before i die (from lack of monster seeing)

17. tell me about a monster of the week you think is neat

i need to talk about some the minor lords/unknown and el lords from kamen rider agito. i won't talk to in depth bc i don't want to spoil too much for people who haven't seen it, but i love their designs so much. here i'm just highlighting standouts but there are a lot of stellar designs.

i also want to note that each minor lord kills their victims in an unnatural way that should not be physically possible, which is how the police know an unknown is responsible, however i won't tell how bc i think it's so much more fun to just watch agito and see.

minor lords:

hydrozoa ignio from episodes 18 and 19

theos speaks through him, warning that humans should not be killing each other. it's very jarring as it's the first time one of the lords speaks in full sentences and it's done in a very eerie way and the way the scenes are filmed feel very surreal like a mirage or an illusion. a very memorable design that gives hints at rising stakes during two episodes where it feels very relevant. i won't spoil anything here but the episodes are very good.

apis vespa from episode 22

though he doesn't have too much screen time he does have moving parts to him and flies. there's also some really interesting shots of the scenery and him during his final fight against agito.

el lords:

el of the water

won't tell the episodes for the sake of not spoiling anything, but this design and character is so impactful. some scenes with some very early 2000's effects but also some iconic moments, such as when he redirected an attack to hit gills.

gills moments before disaster

el of the sky from episodes 47-51

gorgeous bird theme with wings and hands that look like talons. also uses a longbow and arrows as his weapon. he has a very specific energy that i cannot really describe. also he grabbed kamen rider gills by his horns once and i think about it a lot.

grabbing him

20 Pressing Toku Questions

[thewapolls]

ANTLION, SANDSTAG & MYRMECOLEO I bundle together here because the first two are basically identical, and MYRMECOLEO seems like it's just a weird lost part of the SANDSTAG line. Myrmecoleon is both the scientific name for the actual Ant Lion insect, but also the name of the mythic creature, aka ANTLION, from old medieval bestiaries. (I feel like it's super backwards that the original WA design was by far the coolest, WA2 was kinda goofy but accurate to the old bestiary illustrations, but then the later model is just kinda meh?)

SANDCRAB, originally called SAND SCISSORS in Japanese, I'm throwing in here because it's become kind of a companion monster to SAND STAG. And it's the central pillar of a different monster family.

HERMITCRAB & HAMMERTAIL are the other two uses of the original WA1 model, neither of which survive into the rest of the series, so they get to band together here. Funny enough HAMMERTAIL is the name of a D&D monster, basically just an Ankylosaurus, introduced as part of the Eberron setting... but that was introduced in 2004, well after the original WA. (Weirdly the HERMITCRAB never came back in WA2 as a recolor of the OANNES enemy, but we'll get to those later...)

ROCKBUSTER doesn't appear to take its name from anything in particular. (Maybe referencing a Beast Wars transformer with the same name? But he debuted as part of the Beast Wars Neo series, which came out the same year as Wild Arms 2, so I feel like there wasn't time for it to come out first and then still make it into the game in time for release. Is there some kind of Japanese thing about rock busting crabs I'm just not aware of???)

SCORPIUS is a funky little link in the tree. Originally a WA3 recolor of the SANDSCISSORS and ROCKBUSTER, it vanished for a few games and then came back as a totally different arthropod. It feels weird that it becomes a flying insect and not a scorpion but ti could be a play on the SCORPIUS constellation making it "in the sky"?

VESPER, which I'm pretty sure was just meant to be VESPA, as in "wasp", is just a recolor of the SCORPIUS in WA4 and 5. (On the one hand I think it being a big wasp/hornet is sufficient enough, but there is also technically a VESPA constellation; it was an alternate name of the Apis:"bee" or Musca:"fly" constellation which kind of neatly aligns it with SCORPIUS' shtick.)

but notably, even though SCORPIUS in WA4 is where these two trees cross over, this model actually started back in WA3 with GARBUG, another classic D&D monster that has probably fallen pretty thoroughly by the wayside over the years. Understandably large bugs just don't have quite the same sticking power as Goblins and Kobolds, or Dragons and Gelatinous Cubes. (There's also the CHIMERA WING, just another of several elemental CHIMERA mosnters in WA3.)

CRAB BUBBLER blowing bubbles is just a thing crabs do, it shares a model with the enemy GIANT CRAB in WA2, which is also just a thing some crabs are. In fact the GIANT CRAB is actually called RAID SCISSORS in Japanese, although I don't know that that's any sort of reference either.

GRODINE. Fascinatingly, this is the source of what would become the enduring crab enemy design, totally unrelated to the preexisting crab enemies when first introduced in WA2 as a random boss type monster. It appears to be based on a series of "(Flying)Saucer Organism" toys, specifically one named BLACK DOME.

DEATHMASK being a big crab enemy is a reference to the villain, Cancer Deathmask, from Saint Seiya.

[cleverwordsandotherstuffilike]

Imagine if everyone pulled together to handle bullies and other problems like this. Everyone looking out for each other.

[jovemk]

Giant Hornet Attack! Honeybee Counterstrike

[souhachi]

japanesenaturalbeekeeping

A western honey bee (Apis mellifera) bravely faces down a giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia).

Follow us to learn more about Japan’s native honey bee, 𝘈𝘱𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘫𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢!

[nahla-maltija]

New Hornet Threat: Southern Giant Hornet Arrives in Europe

Southern Giant Hornet (Vespa soror) After Malta reported the first sighting of the Red Dwarf Honey Bee (Apis florea) colony in Europe, a species native to Southeast Asia, Europe now faces another new invasive species just months later. The Southern Giant Hornet (Vespa soror) has recently been reported in northern Spain, marking its first appearance in Europe. This hornet poses a new and serious…

[titik-malam]

Hey Ilham Taufiq!

Itulah namamu, kamu ingat kenapa aku bertahan lama menjalin hubungan denganmu? Karena kamu membuatku jatuh cinta, se jatuh2nya! Ya aku jatuh cinta. Aku selalu menantikan pertemuan kita, bagaimana rasanya dada ini berdegup kencang saat melakukan pertemuan. Bagaimana setiap hari aku selalu menantikan pertemuan itu? Setiap bertemu denganmu banyak sekali hal-hal baru yang pertama kali aku lakukan. Salah satu contohnya adalah keluar di malam hari dan makan di pinggir jalan yang katamu biarkan mereka semua iri!

Atau menyusuri malam hingga pagi menggunakan kareta api? Atau bis primajasa menuju tasik? Atau mendorong vespa berdua? Atau makan di dakochan? Haha

Misalnya lagi berdiam di pinggir jalan dan berkenalan dengan tukang pecel lele, kemudian menantikan pagi hari di Manglayang? Oh ya denganmu juga pertama kalinya aku pulang malam sampai harus naik beca dan berjalan berjinjit karena takut teteh Fetty terbangun. Dimanapun tempatnya bersamamu rasanya menjadi spesial bahkan tempat sederhana sekali semacam tangga mall Jatos tempat biasa aku menunggumu itu juga sangat spesial.

Makanan yang pernah kita makan bersama juga menjadi spesial seperti halnya cumi-cumi atau bahkan kerupuk yang hanya kita makan dengan nasi saja. Minuman juga menjadi sangat spesial seperti halnya thaitea yang kamu buat sendiri, atau susu jahe yang aku minum bersamamu. Semuanya rasanya spesial

Kamu mengenalkan bahwa tempat sederhana bisa menjadi sangat indah untuk kita lalui. Kamu juga adalah laki-laki pertama yang memegang tanganku, memeluk tubuku. Pakaianmu dan sepatumu juga adalah bukti bahwa aku pertama kalinya mencuci baju orang lain selain keluargaku.

Kamu juga laki-laki pertama yang mengajaku berlari meninggalkan keluargaku. Hampir saja aku menyetujuinya dan hampir saja aku berlari memegang tanganmu dan mengijinkanmu pergi membawaku ke tempat manapun yang kamu mau!

Tapi keinginan itu berhenti. Saat aku takut, aku tidak bisa melupakam rasanya ditinggal sendirian. Aku takut tiba-tiba kamu pergi menghilang lagi begitu saja dan aku sendirian.

Hey, Ilham Taufiq!!!

Kamu adalah laki-laki yang baik hati, kamu berharga dan kamu layak dicintai kembali! Aku yakin, kamu masih bisa melakukan hal-hal baru lainnya bersama perempuan beruntung itu. Kamu bisa melakukan hal-hal menyenangkan seperti halnya denganku. Aku yakin perempuan itu akan sangat bahagia seperti halnya aku yang bahagia saat denganmu. Aku yakin kamu bisa kembali mencintai seseorang.

Namun aku harap kamu tidak akan menghilang. meninggalkan dan menyerah. Aku yakin kamu bisa belajar untuk mengungkapkan keresahanmu dengan bijaksana dan terbuka kepada seseorang itu, aku harap kamu tidak tenggelam dengan rasa sakit, aku harap kamu tidak selalu lari dari masalah yang kamu hadapi, aku harap kamu tidak sembunyi, aku harap kamu kuat. Aku harap seseorang itu bisa menjadikanmu seperti harapanku ini.. karena dulu aku tidak bisa membuatmu sekuat itu. Ternyata dulu sekuat apapun aku berusaha meyakinkan, berusaha menguatkan, memohon-mohon tapi aku tetap tidak bisa mengetuk hatimu untuk menjadi lebih kuat.

Bii.. aku ingin kamu sekarang membuang semua rasa takut, resah dan khawatirmu itu. Kamu harus merasakan rasa tulus san cinta dari seseorang di kelilingmu. Kamu harus fokus bahwa ada seseorang yang menyayangimu. Kamu harus kuat, dan jangan kau lepas lagi. Yakinkan seseorang itu bii..

Seseorang itu bukan aku, kamu tau pasti bahwa sekarang seseorang itu bukan aku. Kamu tidak perlu sakit dan khawatir lagi, karena seseorang itu bukan aku, kamu tidak perlu pergi dan menghilang lagi.

Aku harap kamu membaca tulisan ini meski aku tau kamu tidak akan mungkin membacanya.

[gioapi]

Η Gio Api, μετά από χρόνια λειτουργίας στο χώρο των ανταλλακτικών μοτοσυκλετών, περνά σε μία νέα εποχή ��αρουσιάζοντας και προσφέροντας τα προϊόντα της μέσω του νέου ηλεκτρονικού της καταστήματος (www.gioapi.com). Περιηγηθείτε μέσα στο ηλεκτρονικό μας κατάστημα και στα προϊόντα που διαθέτουμε. Στόχος μας η καλύτερη δυνατή εξυπηρέτηση των πελατών μας και το υψηλό αίσθημα ευθύνης απέναντι τους, που χαρακτηρίζει κάθε μας προσπάθεια.

© Gio Api all rights reserved

#gioapi#gio_api_performance#eshop#piaggio#gilera#vespa#aprilia#honda#yamaha#sym#kymco#peugeot#malossi#polini#stage6#pmtuning#acerbis#motul#castrol#belray#divinol#ngk#hilfo#polytrol#lublan#feg#cnc#ebc#cncbrakes#cncbrakelevels

[jupiterswasphouse]

WASP REVIEW - PARASITICA (TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES 2012)

[Image ID: A screenshot from the 'Parasitica' episode of TMNT 2012, of the parasitic wasp, which is the focus of the episode, mid-flight /End ID.]

Now, for a change of pace, let's have a look at something that isn't from a video game for the first time in this review series! It tends to be harder to find wasps in TV in particular that are notable enough to properly review, which makes it all the more fortunate that I got this suggestion, as this mutant species of wasp is the entire focus of the episode!

Now, I've never been a TMNT enjoyer, I just didn't get into the franchise as a kid and have yet to look into it on a wider scale, however, I did enjoy this enjoy this episode. That's not to say it's without its inaccuracies, though, so let's get into it, starting with the wasp's general appearance!

Looking at it them, they have the shape and eyes of wasps of the family Vespidae, fairly standard fare for wasps in media, likely based on some black and yellow species of paper wasps, or otherwise yellowjackets. The latter would makes sense, given what appears to be an abundance of setae around the mesosoma especially, reminiscent of a fair number of yellowjackets, although of course the glowing lines across the wings, meso- and metasoma, and eyes aren't accurate, but they aren't meant to be. I have to say, props to the modeling crew for making a fairly detailed model with an appropriate amount of wings and legs.

[Image Source: Wikimedia Commons | Image IDs: Two screenshots of the episode, showing one wasp standing and three wasps flying above the Ninja Turtles respectively, followed by a real photo of a common wasp, a type of Yellowjacket, also known as Vespula vulgaris /End IDs.]

They're also notably large, roughly the size of a medium breed of dog, having grown significantly from their mutation. Funnily enough, just before the first appearance of the original wasp, after being asked by Michaelangelo how big the arthropods in a set of photos are Donatello makes a statement I feel the need to comment on, that being "Well, a bee is about four millimeters, and a wasp would be six", which is an odd statement. For one, which species does he mean in particular, he gives an oddly specific measurement when the wall displays images of multiple different types of wasp, including fairyflies (or Mymarids), which can be as small as 0.127 millimeters (Dicopomorpha echmepterygis), and Vespids which can reach up to 45 millimeters (Vespa mandarinia). The western honey bee (Apis mellifera), the most likely candidate for the bee that Donatello is referring to given how common and well loved the species is, itself is 10 millimeters at minimum among the average worker.

[Image ID: Another screenshot, showing the wall in question, which has 4 different papers pinned to it with multiple different species of wasp /End IDs.]

But anyway, with that side-tangent out of the way, let's get into the behavior of the wasps, starting with the first things we see. When the initial wasp appears, we hear vocalizations from it, which isn't necessarily unheard of, although these noises aren't quite the same as the vocalizations of some other types of animals, such as mammals or birds, as these aren't produced through complex vocal cords and structures, but they are created by vibrations in the wasp's body by stridulatory organs or other muscular structures. These are called stridulations, you may have heard of them in cicadas and Orthopterans, but they can also be observed in mud collecting and digging wasps such as potter wasps and Sphecids, as well as velvet ants, and sounds like a charming little squeak! The vocalizations in the wasps in this episode sound like processed sounds produced by birds like corvids or vultures, reminiscent of sounds associated with prehistoric dinosaurs in movies.

After this, we see the wasp start hunting the turtles. One could make the argument that the wasp is simy protecting its egg rather than hunting, but the events of this episode make it very clear that the wasp is hunting the turtles. While there are many social wasps that may forage for carrion or pieces of your barbeque dinner in order to feed their larvae, the specific targeting of a vertebrate species is highly unusual for a parasitic wasp, as they tend to only target other arthropods like their fellow insects or spiders. But it's likely that this particular behavior was onset by its implied genetic modification by Kraang, known enemy of the Ninja Turtles.

After a short chase around the room, the wasp stings Leonardo in the arm and promptly falls to the ground, dying immediately. This is most reminiscent of the worker honey bees, which have a barbed stinger that cannot be removed from a thick-skinned animal such as a mammal, thus taking parts of the abdomen and internal organs with it (including the still-pumping venom gland), killing the bee within minutes. It's a bit longer than the near instantaneous death we see in this wasp, but it is rather quick! The wasp in this episode appears to have a similarly barbed stinger, although it has only one barb, rather than the row of barbs honey bees have, being shaped almost like a fish hook. Other wasps, including parasitic wasps, have smooth stingers, and thus, can sting multiple times. Notably, worker honey bees are infertile females, as opposed to the stinging parasitic wasps, which are, of course, fertile, the stinger being a modified ovipositor in all wasps that have them (including bees and ants), only being found in females.

[Image Source: PBS, Rose-Lynn Fisher | Image IDs: A screenshot of Donatello holding the stinger of the mutated wasp, and an extremely close up, colorless photo of a worker honey bee stinger /End IDs.]

We know that this wasp is a female due to its possession of a stinger, as well as being fertile due to the egg we see just a moment later. The sting does not kill, nor paralyze Leonardo, despite the size of the wasp, instead having a different, immediate effect in that Leonardo becomes extremely protective of the egg. Over the course of the episode we see that Leonardo appears, in a way, brainwashed to protect the egg, the eventual intention being that the egg would hatch safely and he would be consumed by the young wasp inside.

Shockingly, this does have parallels in the real world, first, and in possibly the more well known example, a form of direct brain change is induced by the emerald cockroach wasp (Ampulex compressa). It first delivers a sting to a thoracic ganglion of a cockroach, causing temporary paralysis in the forelegs, allowing the wasp to deliver a second sting to the head ganglia, inducing a zombie-like state, inhibiting its escape response and allowing the wasp to lead the roach by its antennae back to the wasp's burrow, where it lays an egg upon the roach, allowing its larvae to feed.

[Image Source: iNaturalist, ravinaidu | Image ID: A photo of an emerald cockroach wasp leading a 'zombified' cockroach back to its burrow across dirt and rocks /End IDs.]

However, there's another genus of wasps that I believe is the one they took inspiration from here, that being Glyptapanteles, a genus of Braconid wasps that deposit their eggs directly into Lepidopteran hosts, specifically caterpillars. The eggs hatch, and the larvae of the wasps feed on the caterpillar's bodily fluids from the inside, specifically avoiding the vital organs as the caterpillar appears to continue to behave and grow normally despite the parasite inside them. Then, they emerge and pupate, spinning a silk cocoon for themselves, at which point the caterpillar stops moving much or feeding. It only moves then to add its own silk to the pile of pupal cocoons, and, should it be disturbed, thrash around in order to protect the pupae, serving as a bodyguard until it eventually starves to death.

[Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons, José Lino-Neto, and ResearchGate | Image IDs: A photo of a brown Geometrid moth caterpillar looking over Glyptapanteles wasp papae, followed by an image containing several photos of a brown and black Glyptapanteles wasp adult /End IDs.]

There are a few differences, however, evident in the fact that the egg has already been oviposited externally a considerable amount of time before even having a host. This is, of course, understandable given the fact that, if they were to make it more accurate, then this episode would look less like a PG iteration of zombie media and more like an Alien film.

Speaking of the zombie media comparisons, while the change in behavior is down to a direct sting to the brain in the case of emerald cockroach wasps or a chemical concoction in the case of Glyptapanteles wasps, it's described in the episode as being a virus. This virus takes hold and darkens Leonardo's eyes, his mouth producing a viscous fluid, which is eventually spread to all of the other turtles via bite, until Michaelangelo creates an antidote by Donatello's instructions. Obviously, this part is not true of real parasitic wasps.

While Donatello and Michaelangelo are researching the wasp, looking at an article describing its non-mutated equivalent, several photos are shown, and it's here we start to see a couple more inconsistencies and inaccuracies. For one, Donatello refers to a single species as "The Parasitic Wasp", but in reality, there are estimated to be hundreds of thousands of different parasitic wasps, none specifically referred to as being the parasitic wasp. Secondly, at the start of the article, we see an adult of the species, which appears to resemble some form of black and yellow ichneumon wasp, much different from what we've seen thus far.

[Image Source: BugGuide.net, James Reben | Image IDs: A screenshot showing the image of the supposed species, followed by a photo of a real black and yellow species of ichneumon wasp /End IDs.]

After this, we see images of the species emerging from the egg, coming out as a full-fledged, winged adult, more like the wasps we've seen thus far, oddly skipping the larval and pupal stage entirely. This is especially odd considering the fact that adult wasps cannot eat meat, only the larvae, and, as mentioned, the wasps feed on their host after hatc

[Image IDs: Two screenshots of the aforementioned images, showing the wasp emerging and then crawling over its host caterpillar to consume it /End IDs.]

This is later confirmed to be the case in the mutated wasps, which not only emerge from their eggs as adults, but also emerge in a group of three. It is seemingly not unheard if that one single insect egg could produce multiple offspring, but it is exceedingly rare and hard to find information on. In any case, wasp eggs, more often than not, only hatch singular individuals.

[Image ID: A screenshot of the three hatchling wasps above the unconscious Leonardo and Donatello /End IDs.]

As a final note on these wasps, as they go straight for the Ninja Turtles before promptly being taken out by Michaelangelo (with a cannon no less), it seems as though these wasps are all females. It can be inferred from this that this egg was fertilized, as opposed to the males that would come from unfertilized eggs, implying that there was either already more than one of these flying around, or that the female had already mated before becoming mutated, potentially by Mutagen.

All in all, there are many inaccuracies throughout this episode, though I do have to give points for the interesting choice of inspiration! In terms of rating, the episode itself was entertaining and interesting, but it doesn't have much in the way of accuracy to any one specific wasp species.

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Overall: 4 or 5/10

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This wasp review was suggested by @kernelbastard ! Leave your wasp review suggestion in the replies, tags, or askbox!

[vividiste]

Se trovi un riccio "morto" nei mesi più freddi, non seppellirlo, non buttarlo nel cestino...

Nessuno vuole vedere un animale morto nel proprio cortile o sulla strada, ma può essere un riccio in letargo da novembre a marzo.

зи Di solito scavano buche per stare al sicuro, ma abbiamo sempre meno vegetazione verde, cespugli o foreste, ed è sempre più difficile trovare un posto sicuro dove passare la notte d'inverno.

Alcuni possono venire nel tuo cortile in cerca di sicurezza e calore per andare in letargo, altri sono così stanchi della ricerca che finiscono per dormire in posti strani come strade o marciapiedi.

🦔Durante il letargo, il battito cardiaco e il lavoro generale del corpo rallentano leggermente per risparmiare energia, che può confondere una persona che il riccio è morto.

In ogni caso, se vedete un riccio fermo, assicuratevi che sia in un posto sicuro e caldo e che possa rimanere per 5 mesi.

🦔 Se trovi un riccio nel tuo cortile o da qualche parte per strada, fai un buco in una scatola di cartone e in un posto asciutto, sicuro e tranquillo così che possa trascorrere i mesi freddi lì.

🦔I ricci sono una specie in via di estinzione, completamente innocua e molto importante nel nostro ecosistema.

Mangiano insetti, lumache, rane, lucertole, serpenti, compresi quelli velenosi.

Distruggono anche i nidi di topi.

Non hanno paura delle api o delle vespe. Il riccio può facilmente distruggere un nido di vespa e mangiare i suoi abitanti senza prestare attenzione ai loro morsi.

. Gli scienziati hanno notato da tempo l'immunità dei ricci ai veleni forti, compresi i morsi di vipera.

Questo fenomeno antidoto è ancora sconosciuto agli scienziati.

,State attenti quando vedete i ricci nei mesi freddi. Aiutare un animale così fragile non costa nulla.

Fonte Fb Romano Quattropanetti

[delectablywaywardbeard-blog]

Liguria sperimenta arpe elettriche contro la vespa velutina

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