Insects on the spectrum.

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dragonsanddemons
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09 Sep 2020, 8:13 pm

Mountain Goat wrote:

Joe90 wrote:

kraftiekortie wrote:

I like butterflies :heart:

They can wait in my house for assessments any time!

Yes, I love butterflies, moths, crane flies, dragonflies, bees, and even flies. Yes flies can spread disease (but most of us are immune to it, right? :wink:

), but have you ever seen how beautiful a bluebottle fly is up close? Very pretty.

I love flies. I am happy to see them when they arrive in spring. I love them!

There are indeed some very pretty flies, some have gorgeous metallic colors. I actually enjoy catching any houseflies that land on windows, I find it pretty easy to corner them there, gently pick them up with my fingers, and let them go outside.

I'm the weirdo who thinks it's adorable to watch an ant clean itself.

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Gentleman Argentum
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10 Sep 2020, 3:01 am

dragonsanddemons wrote:

I get quite startled when I see a house centipede, but I also let them be, for the same reason (and that at this point, there are so many spiders/spiderwebs in the basement that it seems kind of pointless to try to send them all outside). As long as they stay out of sight, I don't mind knowing they're there, but something about the angle of house centipede legs freaks me out a bit.

Agreed... centipedes are no lookers. I prefer spiders in the looks department. I give 'em a pass though, it seems centipedes are really going to town in my house, a bit more populous than I would like. They must be eating something, I hate to think what. Probably find out later with a big ten thousand dollar bill to pay.

dragonsanddemons wrote:

Every little critter that is not a spider or a centipede gets captured and released outside. I have a lidded plastic cup for things like the wasps and stinkbugs that sometimes get in around one of the windows, anything that would be a bad idea to try to catch with my hands. I just can't bring myself to kill them, I feel like they have just as much of a right to live as we do. I accept killing that is necessary (such as a predator killing prey), but don't think it's necessary to kill every insect that comes indoors. If there's just one or a few ants (which are the only insects we have issues with being pests), I'll take them outside, but I semi-accept that if there are more, my mom buys and sets ant traps. Not sure what I'd do if I had a pest problem in my own place, whether I'd eventually resort to deadly traps or not.

I don't pardon the fliers, I either release or whack 'em or one of my cats sees to it. They are great fun for the cats. Stinkbugs get flushed, I have not researched that species yet and not sure how beneficial. I am amoral when it comes to insects, I only tolerate the ones I think are allied with me against the other insects.

I use mainly Ortho clear-fluid sugar traps for the ants, they will swarm one for weeks on end, and I enjoy watching them march furiously back and forth as I brush my teeth, because typically the ants set up shop around my bathroom sink. After a month or so on Ortho sugar-poison, they slow down, start wandering around aimlessly, and one morning I will wake up and find them all gone, even the bodies have been moved, except for the ones stuck in the trap. They apparently have a clean-up crew. I admire and respect ants, but they would take over if we let 'em, and not be nice to us either.

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10 Sep 2020, 3:05 am

Robbie Sallos wrote:

Not insects but judging by my tarantula, they're autistic. Doesn't like the feel of moving air, and ritualistically dabs arse to the ground to web the floor of the tank. Cute. :B

Also not insects but one of my old ferrets obsessively collected socks and stored them - helpfully - under the sock drawer. :mrgreen:

That's hardcore, tarantula. Now that gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Yeah, I really can't think of any animal that isn't ASD, except when you come to primates, maybe our cousins, the lower apes are NT just like we are.

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aquafelix
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10 Sep 2020, 9:01 am

lady bugs

Yellow laybugs is an australian autism support organisation for girls on the spectrum

Mountain Goat
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10 Sep 2020, 10:27 am

aquafelix wrote:

lady bugs

Yellow laybugs is an australian autism support organisation for girls on the spectrum

I assume red is for boys?

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JustFoundHere
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12 Sep 2020, 3:07 pm

Bees have been studied (LINK) - Any scientific study regarding ants potentially exhibiting Autism-like traits?

(LINK) Antisocial Bees Share Genetic Profile with People with Autism.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/07 ... situations.

Fern
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12 Sep 2020, 4:25 pm

Mountain Goat wrote:

Most ants are NT's but solitary ants will likely be ND.

There's no such thing as a solitary ant.

Last edited by Fern on 12 Sep 2020, 4:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Fern
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12 Sep 2020, 4:27 pm

cyberdad wrote:

Many NTs are preying mantis and WASPS

HAHA! This made me laugh. :lol:

Fern
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12 Sep 2020, 5:15 pm

B.Sisko wrote:

Antisocial bees share genetic profile with people with autism

Quote:

A new study reveals that these antisocial insects share a genetic profile with people who have autism spectrum disorders, which can affect how well they respond to social situations.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/07 ... ple-autism

Yep.

Interestingly, recent evidence suggests that social insect colonies actually function better when they have unresponsive individuals like this in them, for reasons we haven't yet completely figured out. Similarly, a honeybee's latent inhibition (LI) is also heritable. Low LI bees are often likened to people with ADHD, unable to ignore irrelevant information. The same story emerges here too: Honey bee colonies with more low-LI (ADHD-like) bees are better at foraging. Anyway, these ND individuals are not ostracized from their colonies. They aren't made to live apart. Rather, they seem to play a crucial social role within the society. The power of neurodiversity.

#lessons_we_can_learn_from_bugs

Last edited by Fern on 12 Sep 2020, 6:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Mountain Goat
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12 Sep 2020, 5:47 pm

Fern wrote:

Mountain Goat wrote:

Most ants are NT's but solitary ants will likely be ND.

There's no such thing as a solitary ant.

Yes there is. We have them here in our top field. They are different to the ants on our drive.

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Fern
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12 Sep 2020, 6:16 pm

Mountain Goat wrote:

Fern wrote:

Mountain Goat wrote:

Most ants are NT's but solitary ants will likely be ND.

There's no such thing as a solitary ant.

Yes there is. We have them here in our top field. They are different to the ants on our drive.

You can try to argue me on this if you want, but if so you are just going to be wrong. Not only are all ants social, they are all "eusocial", an extreme form of high sociality that meets three specific criteria: 1. overlapping adult generations, 2. collective care of young, 3. reproductive division of labor.

Ants are not the only eusocial insects, but they are all eusocial. So... if they are ants they are not solitary. If they are solitary, they are not ants.

Could you perhaps be mistaking an insect with the common name "velvet ant" for an actual ant? If so, these are in the Family Mutillidae, and are actually wingless solitary wasps, not ants. If this is off the mark, it might be easier to just show me a picture of your insect and I'll tell you what it is.

Mountain Goat
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12 Sep 2020, 6:24 pm

Fern wrote:

Mountain Goat wrote:

Fern wrote:

Mountain Goat wrote:

Most ants are NT's but solitary ants will likely be ND.

There's no such thing as a solitary ant.

Yes there is. We have them here in our top field. They are different to the ants on our drive.

You have me thinking now. I need to follow one to see where it goes! Hehe. I like watching ants so it is going to be fun.

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Wolfram87
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12 Sep 2020, 6:26 pm

I'm curious about these "solitary ants", as well.

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naturalplastic
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12 Sep 2020, 6:41 pm

JustFoundHere wrote:

That could be a rather important discovery.

Mountain Goat
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12 Sep 2020, 6:45 pm

naturalplastic wrote:

JustFoundHere wrote:

That could be a rather important discovery.

Now that will be one of those type of things where one knows it is important but one can't think why. (If that makes sense?)

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B.Sisko
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12 Sep 2020, 6:47 pm

Fern wrote:

#lessons_we_can_learn_from_bugs

^ QFT

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