Device simulates spider attack on bee
This sequence of images depicts a bee under attack from a spider simulator. Researchers from Queen Mary, University of London, built the device to better understand how bees learn to avoid camouflaged predators. From Science News:
Spider attack simulator (Science News)In the real world, the big, hard-bodied bumblebees with plenty of flight power represent a considerable challenge for crab spiders. Most of the time, the bee escapes from the attack and has a chance to learn, Ings says.
For simulating a near-death experience with a Misumena vatia crab spider, Ings and engineer consultants took inspiration from the pincers that brake a bicycle wheel. Ings worked out an electric switch with a little pair of arms that he could trigger remotely to close on a visiting bee. He cushioned the jaws with strips of household cleaning sponges, and for the full treatment, positioned a life-size plastic crab spider in a plausible color just above the pincers.
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The bee escapes most of the time?! That experiment is sick and wrong.
Agree with JWB. Exactly what will they learn that is going to help us?
How to escape spider attacks? It's in my top ten fears...
I would hazard a guess that it might help us develop all sorts of new anti-collision software for autos (some already slow down if you get too close to the car ahead of you) or for aircraft.
As for sick and wrong? First, the closed position of those two sponges isn't showing a great deal of compression. In other words, the bee isn't going to get killed by a little bit of sponge. Flat out, bumblebees are tough little buggers.
Secondly, it is an insect. Are we now going to have people espousing how horrible it is that insects are involved in an experiment? Let's get real folks.
@ #1:
To be fair, the blurb is talking about the escape rates of bees from real spiders in the wild. It is unclear if any bees were harmed in the actual experiment (but unlikely, as #4 says).
@#1: I concur - let us stop testing spongiform compression on our apiarian brothers and start using the homeless.
It's more humane...
I wonder what the Half-Life of a Bee with a (Head) Crab Spider is.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/download/id/36226/name/REAL_LIFE
I'd venture that the bee probably only dies if its sting reflex kicks in. I'm not sure the embossed spider on the background is doing anything for the bee, though, as I'm sure their vision is wired differently than a human's. Have they really thought this thing out?
Bumblebees have smooth stingers, making their sting reflex immaterial for their survivability of this experiment.
The video clearly shows a bees subjected to the spongy compression and then flying away once the pincers open again.
I don't know if we should be training bees in how to evade spiders.
I mean seriously, the africanized killer bees are coming. Let the spiders do their jobs.
Gah what's with all the spiders on BB today? It's really creeping me out.
we'll have to do La Machine then.
ok, did anyone else get goatse from the first pic?
i agree with peter. As far as I'm concerned, bees are doing about as well as mosquitoes. And would anyone like to tell me exactly WHAT this accomplishes, besides bee boot camp?
Are bumble bees subject to the same distresses that are killing off domesticated hive bees, threatening the viability of agriculture around the world through lack of pollination? Either way perhaps it's a good idea that we're training them to evade death by invisible spider assassins. Are the next steps in the training program building immunity to poisons and resistance to extremes of heat and cold?
The Africanized bees are here. Those with noisy lawn mowers should beware.
I want to see the follow up experiment where they teach crab spiders how to better ambush bumble bees.