This Amazing Fruit Fly Evolved to Have Pictures of Ants on its Wings

That is amazing... reminds me of a spider that I had seen when I was a kid with what looked like a lady bug on it's back, but after close inspection it was part of the spider back design!!! I have no ideal if spiders eat lady bugs, but wonder if anyone has seen that type of spider too?

This reminds me of a question I have asked myself over the years, but have never found something that satisfies my curiousity. It may also add more mystery to the topic... maybe... maybe not

I've wondered how trees know what's best for them, in order to properly evolve into a successful life form.

A tree in my front yard, one I have no doubt you've seen, sheds it's seeds. There is an unmistaken familiarity realized as I see the seed pods slowly fall to the ground, rotating much like a helicopter's blade. The pod itself looks like an insect wing and it is apparently designed to provide the seeds with a greater chance to sprout and claim it's own place in the circle of life.

I am puzzled by this, maybe becaue I don't fully understand. I can not comprehend how a tree could know whether it's current stage of evolution provides the highest likelihood for reproduction in comparison to it's previous levels of evolution.

How does it know whether it needs to modify itself and what the details of the modifications should be?

I can understand that some plants may be able to identify their seedlings based on any scents the new trees may produce, but that doesn't really apply to the tree in my front yard and it's seedlings, does it?

If the seed pods have developed in such a manner that they can literally fly a relatively long distance from their parent tree, how could any scents released by the seedlings signal their successful growth?

The tree can not follow it's seedlings around and observe any changes that may be needed. Obviously they are unable to see - as we understand seeing and I find no other way to reconcile this with my curiosity.

Changes in plants & animals are undoubtedly occurring, but how are the more puzzling species explained?

Maybe, like us - only smaller, they are a biological supercomputer with the ability to experience their world in an entirely different and unknown way. Maybe some of us do not understand this because we are not equipped to, maybe we do not have the required senses to realize how they interact with the world around them.

Plants are ingenious, as seen by the plant that releases an irresistable pheromone that attracts hornets to their area. They do this as a security system. When they detect an insect devouring them, they release this pheromone and summon the viscious hornets... who just-so-happen to love munching on the plant eating insect that triggered the plant's alarm mechanism.

The potency of the scent is reduced as it moves away from the original plant. It also triggers other plants to release their pheromones in smaller quantities, dependant on the scents potency upon arrival.

Thankfully I am no expert on the subject, I'd really hate to lose this sense of wonder and any innocence that may still live in me.

Scientists always overlook the obvious explanation: Fruit flys love tattoos!

reply to post by SonOfTheLawOfOne


I have seen butterflies that are bred and raised in captivity emerge from their cocoons and have brown deposits on their wings caused by the liquid in the cocoon. for a few minutes the images of them has stained their wings but eventually it goes away. However some will keep the stained image.

When a fruit fly comes out of its cocoon the wings are not straight they are folded. this allows the end of the wing to lay on the fly's head hence the brown cocoonac fluid stains the clear wings with an image of the fly itself and when they unfold the image is backwards like you see in the picture then dries on the clear wing it is a type of photographic process. It is natures type of "fish painting" or in this case fly painting, you know those artist in Japan and Hawaii who will put paint on a fish then place a cloth over it press the cloth so it takes the pigments of paint on it and show an image of the fish. they pull the cloth from left to right and lay it at the tail in of the fish and you have an image pointed the other direction.

Now in butterflies this happens because they are being bred in captivity however these flies have been known for centuries and the pattern is just a Photo-active design that occurred during maturation in the cocoon.

charlyv

FlySolo
reply to post by SonOfTheLawOfOne

 

Nature never ceases to amaze me. So did this fly just evolve or something? How does the DNA know to do this is just beyond me.

That is what truly amazes me! How could DNA get feedback like that? Wouldn't it require a third person (entity) viewpoint of the world? and how would the information be transmitted back to the cell as well as the logic process taking place that introducing models of ants would make an effective camo ? Absolutely astounding and goes to show that we know so little about the evolution process.

The flies that adopted a pattern that resembled an ant would survive, while those that didn't would get eaten.

Similar thing happened with crabs and fish around the Japanese islands. Those critters which had patterns than resembled human faces (believed to be lost souls) would be returned to the sea, while those that didn't would be collected and eaten. Eventually all crabs and fish end up having human faces:

www.frogview.com...

reply to post by stormcell

Similar thing happened with crabs and fish around the Japanese islands. Those critters which had patterns than resembled human faces (believed to be lost souls) would be returned to the sea, while those that didn't would be collected and eaten. Eventually all crabs and fish end up having human faces:

www.frogview.com...

Wow, that is fantastically interesting, and on par with the original post. It is hard to believe that natural selection is the only thing at work here, but this certainly lends a great deal of credence to it.

Reminds me of that moth that mimics a spider. www.dailymail.co.uk...

In the second pic; What's that black thing on it's back? An antennae?

I find it fascinating. I have a photo of butterflies with the alphabet on their wings, starting from A-Z. Single letter per insect, of course.