What are the “beetle” and the “blue” in: Beetle kill blue pine?

Sham S. Misri

When the mountain pine beetle attacks a pine tree it’s got an assistant, an accomplice in the blue stain fungus travelling with the beetle inside what silviculturists call “ a special structure in the beetle’s mouthparts.”

That’s how the fungus gets from tree to tree. What does the fungus do for the beetle in this classic example of symbiosis?

When a pine tree is attacked it produces a protective resin. The fungus works to stop that, allowing the beetle to wreak havoc and lay eggs. The fungus also serves the beetle by creating resin free environment for eggs and larvae. If that is not enough, adults and larvae use the fungus as a food source.

Source: Forest Business Network.

How do mother animals know their own babies ?

Sham S. Misri

Hundreds of baby lamb live with their mother in large flocks. Each lamb seems exactly like all the others. But a mother sheep knows the difference. No matter how many lambs there are in the flock, she can always pick out her own baby, because it has its own particular odor. The minute a lamb is born, the mother sniffs at it. From then on, she remembers exactly how it smells. Deer, buffaloes, cats, dogs and many other animal mother know their babies by smell. A mother penguin knows her own chick. Dozens of chicks stay together in a group while the grown- up birds go fishing in the ocean for foods. When a mother gets back , she waddles through the whole hungry crowds of babies and refuses to feed any but her own. people who study penguins are not quite sure, but they think the mother and father both recognize their baby voice and also its particular shape and size. A baby penguin seems to recognise its parents’ voice. When its mother or father calls, it comes running. When a baby chick or duck hatches, it usually sees first of all the big dark shape of its mother. From then on, it recognizes that shape and follows it . But if ducklings happen see a dog’s shape first, they will follow dog around just as if it were their mother. They will even follow a large stout scientist who is experimenting with ducks- if they see him first!

Horses also weep!

Horses also weep!

Sham S. Misri

• ·         U Drona's horses shed tears when he is about to die [Mahabharata 7 T 92.20)
• ·         When the Buddha departs, his horse Kanthaka weeps [Buddha Charita 6.33-35; 8.3-4, 17);
• ·         Achilles' horses weep for the death of Patroclus;
• ·         Briinnhilde's horse Grani hangs his head and weeps over the dead Siegfried.

Kissing bugs

 SS Misri

There are many species of cone nose bugs or kissing bugs .They received their name because they usually bite people near their mouth during the night when they are asleep. Kissing bugs are blood suckers like mosquitoes and ticks. They usually feed just after sunset. They are attracted to the light in our houses, the odours that we exhale, skin odours and to the warmth of our bodies. Kissing bugs that enter a house will feed on household pets as well as humans. The disease transmitting organism, an insect is a bug that carries the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi which causes the disease known as Chagas disease.

The disease is curable if treatment is initiated soon after infection. Some chronically infected people develop heart, digestive, neurological problems. Vector control is the most useful method to prevent Chagas disease. The disease, also known as trypanosomiasis, is a potentially life-threatening illness caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. The disease is transmitted to humans by contact with faeces of triatomine bugs, known as 'kissing bugs'.

Chagas disease is named after Carlos Justiniano Chagas, a Brazilian doctor who discovered the disease in 1909. About 6 million to 7 million people were estimated to be infected worldwide, mostly in Latin America some years back.

Signs and symptoms

Chagas disease presents itself in 2 phases. The initial, acute phase lasts for about 2 months after infection. During the acute phase, a high number of parasites circulate in the blood but in most cases symptoms are absent or mild. In some people bitten by a kissing bug, typical first visible signs can be a skin lesion or a purplish swelling of the lids of one eye, and they can present fever, headache, enlarged lymph glands, and muscle pain, difficulty in breathing, swelling and abdominal or chest pain.

During the chronic phase, the parasites are hidden mainly in the heart and digestive muscles. Some patients suffer from cardiac disorders and some suffer from enlargement of the oesophagus or colon.

Transmission

T. cruzi parasites are mainly transmitted by contact with faeces/urine of infected blood-sucking kissing bugs. These bugs, vectors that carry the parasites, typically live in the cracks of poorly-constructed homes in rural or housing areas. Normally they hide during the day and become active at night when they feed on human blood. They usually bite an exposed area of skin such as the face, and the bug defecates close to the bite. The parasites enter the body when the person automatically smears the bug faeces into the bite, the eyes, the mouth, or into any skin break. It is also be transmitted by consumption of food contaminated with T. cruzi through, for example, contact with infected triatomine bug faeces, blood transfusion from infected donors, passage from an infected mother to her newborn during pregnancy or childbirth, organ transplants using organs from infected donors, and laboratory accidents.

There is no vaccine for Chagas disease. Vector control is the most effective method of prevention. Originally, more than 9000 years ago, T. cruzi only affected wild animals. It later spread to domestic animals and people.

 Prevention and control

Spraying of houses and surrounding areas with insecticides, house improvements to prevent vector infestation, personal preventive measures such as bed nets, good hygiene practices in food preparation, transportation, storage and consumption, screening of blood donors, and receivers, and screening of newborns and other children of infected mothers to provide early diagnosis and treatment.

Minibeasts

Sham S. Misri

Animals have not to be big to be beastly. There are many small animals, particularly insects that are killers. Some of them such as ants are predators that hunt to eat. Others, such as locusts, cause destruction that affects humans. 

Ants

Ants are found almost everywhere, except in water. Most ants are harmless to humans, but army ants and driver ants turn tropical forests and woodlands into battlefields. The stings of army ants contain chemicals that dissolve flesh. Once their prey has turned to liquid, the ants can begin to drink it. Millions of army ants live in a single group, or colony. They hunt together, swarming through leaf litter and attacking anything in their way. 

Driver ants have large jaws that can slice easily through food. They hunt in large numbers and swarm through forests hunting for prey. Driver ants can kill large animals, such as cows, by biting them to death. They have also been known to bite to strip a chicken down to its skeleton in less than a day.

Deadly plagues of locusts have been written about for thousands of years. When they search for food, they travel in swarms of millions, eating all the plants they encounter. This can leave humans without any food. 

Killer Bees

Killer bees fiercely protect their hive by swarming around it. They will attack anything that approaches the nest. 

Killer bees are new type of bees that was created by a scientist. He was hoping to breed bees that made lots of honey, but the bees proved to be extremely aggressive. Killer bees swarm in large numbers and huge groups, when one bee stings, the others quickly join in. One sting is not deadly, but lots of bee stings can kill    a human. It is thought that about 1000 people have been killed by these mini beasts.

"Killer bees", are a hybrid of the Western honey bee species, (Apis mellifera), with various European honey bees such as the Italian bee.

The Wonderful Bottlenose Dolphins

SS Misri

The bottlenose dolphins are the most popular of all dolphins. It can be found in tropical and temperate coastal waters. They are grey in color. Bottlenose dolphins, weigh between 150 and 650 kg and its length can range between 2-4 meters. They usually live in groups called ‘PODS’ and feed on small fishes. The bottlenose dolphin is a gentle, friendly mammal. However, like all predators it has an aggressive side too.

When a bottlenose dolphin is trying to leap out of water, or snaps its jaws, or flaps its tail on the surface of water, it conveys these gestures as a message to other dolphins. Dolphins communicate through whistles and squeaks. They also use body language such as butting heads with one another.  The bottleneck dolphin gets its name from its most distinguishing feature –an elongated snout. However, this long snout is not its nose! Like the whales, for the dolphins too, the functional nose is a blowhole on the top of its head.

Do some Snakes wear Glasses?

Sham S. Misri

Snakes are scaly, cold blooded reptiles without limbs. Most of the biggest snakes are pythons-powerful, non venomous reptiles that kill their prey by coiling around it and squeezing until it cannot breathe.

Three fifths of all snake species belong to the colubrid family. Most are harmless, but some have venomous fangs at the backs of their mouths. Snakes shed their outer skin at least once a year, emerging with glossy scales and brighter colours.

The statement- Do some snakes wear glasses?

Of course they do not, but the Indian cobra has sometimes been described as wearing glasses. This is because when it rears up, its head is covered with a sort of hood on which there is a pattern that looks like a pair of glasses.

Cobras are among the deadliest of venomous snakes. They are armed with a nerve poison that paralyzes their victims so they cannot breathe and they die from suffocation. Thus a single cobra bite can be fatal. The black necked variety is common in Africa. This particular variety can shoot its venom as far as two meters into the eyes of an opponent. The venom or poison is powerful enough to blind an enemy temporarily or permanently.

Coral snakes, which live in South America, are also members of the cobra family. They are extremely poisonous. These snakes have a very distinctive appearance. Their shiny skin is coloured by alternating bands of black, yellow and red. Like many animals, coral snakes will not attack unless they are disturbed in some way.

Marvellous Maize

Marvellous Maize

Sham S .Misri

Maize is a native of South America. Nearly seventy years back, it constituted the major diet of Black in America. From South America maize travelled to Asia including India. The maize is now grown in almost every state of India and extensively consumed in rural areas as staple food, , it is also an important feed for the live stock.

Corn is consumed in different forms. Its flour is used for making chapattis. Powdered corn grain flour has a cooling effect on body.

Unbroken maize grains are processed in different ways. They are boiled and used for making many dishes. Most common among them is corn coup. Due to its high protein content it is a good appetizer and has high nourishment value.  Unbroken grains are also roasted over hot sand or burning coal. An average sized corn cob contains 9-10 % proteins, 73% carbohydrates, 4% fat and nearly 1.6% fibre. It also contains micro nutrients like Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Iron. It is also rich in Vitamin A,E, and B1. Maize has tremendous medicinal and nutritional value.

          Present day genetic engineers and scientists have developed genetically engineered maize strain capable of secreting human antibodies against cancer. These human antibodies produced in corn fields are under clinical trial.

          The Silky thread like extensions of corn provides household remedy for scanty and burning urine. It is prepared by boiling silky threads in water. Drinking this water provides an effective remedy for urinary infections corn.

          Eating maize bread and curd once a day, is good for patients suffering from dysentery.

Corn contains lot of fibre which makes the bowel action regular and protects us from constipation, piles, colon diseases and appendicitis.

          Corn is used for producing beer and has replaced barley for this purpose.

          Corn is rich in vitamin A and E hence serves as an antioxidant, which has free radical scavenging property and therefore retards aging process and prolongs healthy life.

Nocturnal Creature –The Bats

Nocturnal Creature –The Bats
Sham S. Misri
Bats are strange creatures sleeping in the lofts. They are seen hanging from the live electric wire in the early mornings. As the sun goes down they take to the air. They come flying out of the windows. They swoop low over the river. They dart under an old bridge. From far away the creatures look like birds. They are the creatures with fur. Bats are mammals.
Bats are not blind. They are mammals with eyes and they can see. Bats spend most of their time in the dark. Bats are different from other mammals. They can fly. Bat wings are not like bird wings. Bats do not have feathers. A bat’s wing is really an arm with a hand. Its long, thin fingers are joined by a flap of skin. Bats even have little thumbs.

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Bats are not blind. The smallest bat is of the size of a bee.  If there are lots of bats around, it means that the air and water are probably clean. That is why it is good luck to see a bat!
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For further reading and more exciting stories please see this book

 

Nocturnal Animals or the Night Creatures

Sham S. Misri

In the old days people were much more scared of the dark. It gave them some strange ideas about the creatures they saw at night.

Everyone knows that cats and owls have magical powers- that is why witches keep them as pets.

Hedgehogs collect apples from orchards by rolling on them and sticking them to their spines. They steal cow’s milk while the cows are sleeping in the field.

Vampires are men who turn into bats at night and drink other people’s blood.

Most owls rest during the day and only come out when it is dark. Owls are not the only creatures to live this way. All night long fields, parks and gardens are busy with night creatures. It is strange to think how much is going on while we are sleeping.

Nocturnal animals are the animals that prefer to come out during night time. Some nocturnal animals can be seen during the day, others spend the whole day resting or sleeping.

Fox

 Foxes are mainly active during the early night time, when it is dusk and throughout the night. They are reddish brown in colour and usually are seen on their own. They live in woodland and urban areas and scavenge for food wherever they can find it.

Owls

One of the most beautiful birds living in Britain is the brawn owl. It has snowy white feathers and is about 34 cm. tall. Brawn owls got their names because they like to hunt in open fields and grasslands, so they are often found resting on farms.

Tawny owls

Tawny owl is larger than a brawn owl (about 40 Cm.) and has speckled brown fethers. Tawny owls prefer to hunt in woods and hedgerows. The male and female owls call to each other, making a “hoo-hoo” noise.

Sight and sound

Owls have excellent hearing and sight. This helps them to find their food, even when it is dark. Their feathers are very soft.  They are also very quite. Other birds make a noise when they fly but owls fly in silence. This helps them sneak upon their prey without being noticed.

Prey and pellets

Owls eat mice, voles and shrews. They have strong beaks but no teeth, so they can’t chew their food. Instead they swallow their food in one gulp. Later they cough up a pellet of bones and fur.

Blind as a bat

Bats cannot see very well. They have week eyes. Instead they have special trick for finding their way in the dark.

They make high pitched squeaks as they fly along. These echo bounce back, off buildings and trees. The echo helps the bat to understand the shape and position of everything nearby. Bats have large ears to help them hear the echo.

Food on the wing

Bats eat moths and other night insects. They catch them in mid air as they are flying along .Bats have to fly very fast and make quick turns in the air to catch them

There are many different types of bats, with fourteen different types living in Britain. They eat flying insects and use sound waves, rather than eyesight, to locate them. They live in cool dark places, caves.

Moths

Moths are flower feeders. They eat nectar- a sweet juice found inside flowers. The flowers moths eat are only open at night, so this is when moths come out to feed.

Moths use the moon to guide them as they fly around at night. They keep the moon on their left or their right to help them keep track of where they are going. Bright street lights and light bulbs confuse the moths so they end up flying in circles close to the light.

Mouse

The wood mouse lives in tunnels underground and is the main food of tawny owls. It has good eyesight and an incredible sense of smell! Mice are rodents, and many rodents come out to look for food during the night time.

Badger

Badgers live under ground in family groups. They live mainly in the countryside. They sometimes visit gardens looking for food. Badgers mainly eat earthworms. A badger’s home is called sett.

Hedgehog

Hedgehogs are the only British mammal with spines. When threatened they will roll into a tight ball, with the spines providing sharp protection from predators. Young hedgehogs are born with soft spines under the skin to protect mum, with a second set of spines emerging within days. One peculiarity to all hedgehogs is the way they cover their spines in foamy saliva, the reason why they do this remains a mystery although it has been suggested it might be a sexual attractant, or be used to reduce parasites, or as additional protection. Hedgehogs aren't fussy when it comes to food: worms, slugs, frogs and even bird eggs can be taken during two kilometre nightly hunt, a resistance to adder venom can also put this snake on the menu.

            You don’t have to stay up all night to see an owl, a bat or a moth. Try looking for them in the evening, before it gets completely dark. Moths are the easiest to catch a glimpse of. In summer they are drawn towards brightly lit windows, and in autumn you may find them in the house, sheltering from the cold.

            Bats tend to start hunting in early evening. Look out for them near the lakes, rivers and woods where there are plenty of insects for them to hunt. Listen for their high pitched squeaks.

            You will be lucky to see an owl. Look for them in woodland and farmland. The best way to sight of a tawny owl is to listen for its call and then follow the sound.