RE: About those Piranha Bugs - LOOOOONG

Here's a short answer...why can't the nests be all from the same
'family'?

OG

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-gzg-l@lists.CSUA.Berkeley.EDU
> [mailto:owner-gzg-l@lists.CSUA.Berkeley.EDU]On Behalf Of Brian
> Bilderback
> Sent: Saturday, 12 January 2002 7:14 AM
> To: gzg-l@csua.berkeley.edu
> Subject: About those Piranha Bugs - LOOOOONG
>
>
> I was lying awake last night thinking about the posts on the Piranha
bugs
> scenario (I know, I know.... I'm shopping for a life this
> weekend).  While I
> have no problem with the idea of the bugs themselves, something about
it
> didn't quite stick right, and I finally put together my
> thoughts/suggestions
> on the subject.
>
> Let me preface them by making a couple of disclaimers.
>
> First I am NOT a biologist.  If anything I say is incorrect, I'm
> sure Beth
> will set me straight in her usual gracious manner.  Heck, I'm not
> an expert
> at ANYTHING  -- but I am familiar with many subjects.  Unfortunately,
the
> downside of being so easily interested is I am also easily distracted.
> Anyone who knows me well but choses not to like me might even
> accuse me of
> being a bit of a dilletante.	But I think I've picked up enough
> to make this
> make sense.
>
> Second, I will be making some comments based on general
> observations.  I in
> NO way claim that ANY of these are hard fast rules.  I will do my best
to
> use phrases like it SEEMS, TENDS, GENERALLY, etc.  I know that
> any time you
> post an opinion about a general trend, many on the list like to
> reply with
> some example of something that bucks the trend.  I'm well aware
> that there
> are exceptions to these general tendencies, but I do NOT think
> that detracts
> from the validity of the observations.
>
> Having said all that, away we go:
>
> I noticed that it was stated that there were numerous mounds of
> these bugs
> within proximity to one another,  While the bugs themselves are quite
> believable, I have a problem with this.  This is why.  Colonizing
insects
> TEND to protect their nests/lairs VERY violently - as the
> scenario attests.
> Predatory animals, particularly social ones, TEND to be very
> territorial.
> Combine the two, as in Colonizing Predatory Insects, and you TEND to
get
> animals that are EXTREMELY turf-conscious.  I've seen footage of
> ants going
> at it with other ants over nests/territory - it ain't pretty.  Makes
many
> human wars seem calm when taken in scale.
>
> So these bugs aren't going to want bugs from another nest in their
> territory.  Fair enough.  But why can't the territory be small
> enough that
> these mounds can be within a couple hundred metres?  Well,
> remember they're
> predatory.  Predator territories AS A GENERAL RULE have a relationship
to
> the amount of food required by the predator and the amount of food
> available.  The more a predator eats, and the more often it has
> to eat, the
> larger the territory it tends to try to defend.  And the frequency
(even
> more than the amount at any one meal) that a predator must eat
> tends to be
> related to it's metabolism.  And small, quick, active, flying animals
(eg
> hummingbirds) tend to need to eat more frequently.  Which means
> these bugs
> probably need to eat pretty frequently.  This means that either
> the country
> around them is carpeted in prey animals, or they must maintain a
fairly
> large territory.  That's why I doubt there'll be many mounds
> close together.
>   I could be wrong.  But if I ran them in a scenario, I'd have a nest
> density of maybe 1-2/Km2....
>
> Brian B2
>
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