5. Beaded Lacewing: Fatal Flatulence

Darwin's Deviations

May lethal be thy squeaky :) In this episode, we delve into the wonderful world of bug farts, and pit beaded lacewings (Lomamyia latipennis), mites (Womersia strandtmanni) and termites against each other, in a battle to determine who is the most fartiest, and deadliest, of them all! These silent ASSassins give Agent 47, and Desmond, a run for their money!

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The House of the Atmospheric Coelenterata want YOU! Seek out your local HAC recruiter today! May eternal be thy Squishy!

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Intro/outro sampled from "Sequence (Mystery and Terror) 3" by Francisco Sánchez (@fanchisanchez) at pixabay.com

Sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com

Image Credit: Katja Schulz from Washington, D. C., USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (Episode image is heavily edited, the image owner reserves all rights to their image, and is not affiliated with our podcast)

SOURCES:

Wikipedia...duuuh

Do Insects Fart? (They Sure Do!)

Insects emit “Silent but Deadly” toxic gases to immobilize prey!

Termites fart methane, but their mounds filter it from the air

Silent and Deadly: Fatal Farts Immobilize Prey

Hackstein, J H, and C K Stumm. “Methane production in terrestrial arthropods.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America vol. 91,12 (1994): 5441-5. doi:10.1073/pnas.91.12.5441

Johnson, J., Hagen, K. A neuropterous larva uses an allomone to attack termites. Nature 289, 506–507 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/289506a0

Huber I. Prey attraction and immobilization by allomone from nymphs of Womersia strandtmanni (Acarina: Trombiculidae). Acarologia. 1979 Jan;20(1):112-5. PMID: 474050.