Life, Death, and Taxonomy

“…And today we’re walking about a lanky tooth missile that isn’t scared of nobody. But more on that later.”

The Amazon is home to many of the western hemisphere’s most successful predators. But the most surprising apex predator isn’t the piranha, the anaconda, or even the legendary jaguar – it’s the giant otter! Alone, they can take on lots of different opponents. Together, there’s nothing that they can’t handle. You definitely don’t want to put your feet up on this otterman. But being on the top of the food chain definitely has its perks as the Giant Otter knows here in Life, Death, and Taxonomy.

“…and today we’re talking about a chill amphibian with a cool pair of sunglasses. But more on that later.”

Being cold blooded is usually fine, as long as you live in a warm-ish area. But what about the chilly-bloods living in the less-than-warm regions of the world? Some dig into the ground, some just die, and others, like the wood frog, take the cold like a champ. Find out how this frigid frog avoids becoming a permanent frogsicle here in Life, Death, and Taxonomy.

“…and today we’re talking about everyone’s favorite animal! But more on that later…”

You know ‘em, you hate ‘em, you have ‘em – they’re cockroaches. Yes, it’s time for the interesting animal podcast to talk about everyone’s favorite scittering critter. Odds are good that you’ve encountered one of these pleasant house guests within the last month, so maybe your love for roaches is still fresh on the mind. There’s a common understanding that roaches are extremely difficult to kill. Pesticides, floods, and even nuclear holocaust aren’t enough to wipe these guys out. But how much truth is there to that? Let’s find out just how well the roach survives here in Life, Death, and Taxonomy.

Description

• This roach looks like a roach. But it’s slightly more of a round shape than a long oval like other roaches. 
• It’s a light tan with dark brown legs and a dark black spot on the back of its head. 
• Younger roaches are brown with light tan speckles. 

Measure Up

Welcome to the beloved Measure Up segment. The official listener’s favorite part of the show! The part of the show when we present the animal’s size and dimension in relatable terms through a quiz that’s fun for the whole family. It’s also the part of the show that’s introduced by you when you send in audio of yourself saying, singing, or chittering the words Measure Up into ldtaxonomy at gmail dot com. 

1. White goose
2. Swans a swimming
3. Colly bird
4. Partridge 

Length

• 35–45 mm (1.4–1.8 in)
• How many roaches would it take to reach the distance traveled by the first team to row the Atlantic from east to west from Europe to South America? 
• Hint: In 2016, Ross Johnson, Jason Fox, Aldo Kane, Oliver Bailey, and Matt Bennett rowed from Lagos, Portugal to Carupano, Venezuela. 
• 135,097,600 roaches. The trip was 3,335 nautical miles or (6,177 km, 3,838 miles)

Weight

• American Cockroaches are larger and weigh between 0.1 g and 0.12 g (0.0035-0.004 oz). So we’ll call this 0.1 grams (0.003 oz).
• How many discoid roaches go into the largest serving of guacamole ever?
• Hint: The dip was made in 2018 by Junta Local de Sanidad Vegetal de Tancítaro in Mexico. 
• 37,880,000 roaches. The guac weighed 3,788 kilograms (8351.11 pounds).

Fast Facts

Discoids come from Central and South America. 

These roaches make good robots. Let me explain. In 2012, a team of researchers implanted a small fuel cell into a discoid roach. The roach produced a power density of 55 microwatts per square centimeter. It’s enough to power small devices and may be enough to power other devices that they’ve already made that can hijack the roach nervous system. Then, they just slap a tiny camera on it to get a better look at areas harmful to humans. 

They are often sold as food for pet reptiles and they’re considered easy to raise in captivity. But who would want to?

Discoid cockroaches are also a popular food in insect eating competitions. In fact, a man died in a cockroach eating competition in Deerfield Beach, Florida in 2012. He died after winning the contest. His prize as going to be a $850 python.

Major Fact: What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stranger

• Cockroaches are well known for their survivability. I remember as a kid believing that they would survive a nuclear bomb. There were even reports that roaches were thriving in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after we politely asked Japan if they wouldn’t mind surrendering in WWII.
  • But I was confused because you can easily kill one by just stepping on it (I had nuclear feet!)
  • Plus Wall-E had a cockroach as the only living animal on Earth after it becomes an unlivable hellscape. Also, that movie probably the only time a cockroach has ever been considered cute.
  • All told, roaches are known for their ability to survive through Earth, Wind, and Fire ‘cause they’re stayin’ alive!
• But how much truth is there to their survivability? Scientists recently sequenced the genome of the American cockroach, so let’s find out:

#1 – Cockroaches survive without their heads

• True. They breathe through holes in the sides of their body and have an open circulatory system, so they don’t actually need their heads to breathe. They still can’t eat or drink so they’ll eventually die of dehydration, but that can take up to a week!

#2 – Cockroaches don’t need to breathe

• Not true, but Papa Roach can survive for up to 40 minutes without oxygen!

#3 – Cockroaches will eat anything

• This is true. They’ll eat starch in books, wallpaper, glue, stamps, your dried skin flakes and hair, plus all of the stuff you already know they eat. Their genes also allow them to break down just about any substance they can get in their mouths – including many pesticides, which contributes to their mythos.

#4 – Roaches can survive nuclear blasts

• Nope. Nothing can survive a direct blast from a nuclear bomb

#5 – Roaches can survive nuclear radiation

• Well, we can all survive some level of radiation, but roaches seem to be more resistant to gamma rays than humans (6-15 times more). But there are other insects that can survive more, like the fruit fly. Everything dies when you use lots of radiation though—which is good because HulkRoach would be terrifying and the Avengers don’t need another arthropod-based hero on their team.

Ending: So stay alive, breathe through your ventral tubes, and don’t get squished like a little cockroach here in LDT

“…and today we’re talking about the Christmas decoration of the sea. More on that later.” 

The ocean can be a dangerous place. There’s always a bigger fish waiting for an unsuspecting creature to become its next meal. One brightly colored eel avoids these threatening open maws by rarely leaving their homes in the crevasse of protecting coral. But when they do they showcase a mesmerizing ribbon-like display of yellow and blue. Sometimes, even content introverts have to make their way out into the world in Life, Death, and Taxonomy.

“…and today we’re talking about a bug that sounds like a pokemon, but looks like a dark souls enemy.”

The insect world is a horrifyingly brutal one. For most, life is hard, stressful, and short. This is due, in part, to the work of players like the Assassin Bug. Many bugs that rely on their tough exoskeletons for defense will find that the assassin bug can turn that advantage against them. Using moves known only to spiders, the assassin springs from the shadows to snag its next meal. But kill or be killed is the law of the jungle here in Life, Death, and Taxonomy.

Description of the Wheel Bug

• We got ourselves an elongated beetle-like body, with a proportionally small oblong head. 
• They have a single segmented proboscis coming out of their face. 
• They have six long, thin legs.
• They are mostly black and brown with some white and tan coloration. 
• The most notable feature is a saw-like dorsal crest on their thorax.

Measure Up

Welcome to the beloved Measure Up segment. The official listener’s favorite part of the show! The part of the show when we present the animal’s size and dimension in relatable terms through a quiz that’s fun for the whole family. It’s also the part of the show that’s introduced by you when you send in audio of yourself saying, singing, or chittering the words Measure Up into ldtaxonomy at gmail dot com. We don’t have a new Measure Up intro but that means we get to hear from an animal and Carlos has to guess what it is.

1. French Hen
2. Turtle Dove
3. Partridge
4. Mute swan

Length

• 1.5 inches (38 mm)
• How many wheel bugs go into the world’s tallest real Christmas tree?
• Hint: The tree was cut and decorated in Seattle in 1950 at the Northgate Shopping Center.
• 1,696 bugs. The tree was 212 feet (64.6 meters)

Egg Clusters

• 40 to 200
• How many wheel bug egg clusters go into the largest collection of dinosaur eggs?
• Hint: The largest collection of dinosaur eggs is located at the Heyuan Museum in China. The collection includes eggs from oviraptors and duck-billed dinosaurs. 
• 50 egg clusters. The collection has 10,008 individual samples.

Fast Facts about the Wheel Bug

• Wheel bugs are found in Central and North America.
• Their segmented proboscis is folded up normally, but it unfolds forward like an eldritch horror straw.
• Wheel bugs walk and fly very slowly, so it’s brown, black, and tan coloration help keep a low profile.
• It has sent glands from which it can shoot a stinky scent when threatened. It’s not as potent as a stink bug, but humans can detect it.
• They are fairly aggressive and will even cannibalize each other when necessary. 
• They can use their fell beaks to rub their thorax to stridulate, like a cricket. We don’t know why they make those sounds.
• When they hatch, they are black and red in their nymph stage, which kind of looks like a black widow. 
• They will molt five times, with around 18 days between molts. 

Major Fact

• Assassin bugs are so named thanks to their incredibly efficient and brutal hunting style
• They’re predators that grasp their prey with their long legs covered in tiny chitinous hairs that help keep the prey in place. 
  • They then proceed to stab the prey with their long proboscises and inject their saliva into the poor bug’s carapace.
  • The assassin bug’s saliva is filled with digestive enzymes that break down the insides of the prey – essentially turning it into a delicious kinder egg smoothie.
  • Then it just slurps up the good goo with that very same proboscis
  • This predatory strategy is usually reserved for spiders, so it’s rare to find this in an insect.
• Since so many of their prey species are pests, people actually tend to want assassin bugs in their house
  • Some people breed these little guys and keep them in their homes as a natural pest control
  • One species in Australia has large feathery tufts on its hind legs and waits for ants to bite into the tufts before giving them the ol’ stab n’ slurp.
• However, there are other species that are blood-sucking parasites, which people tend to be less fond of. 
  • Kissing bugs, for example, like to crawl onto your face while you’re sleeping and suck the blood out of your lips!
  • These guys also tend to spread disease like other blood-based parasites.
• The wheel bug is particularly aggressive toward basically everyone. It will attack much larger insects than itself and even engage in some tried and true sexual cannibalism. The nymphs also will eat each other.
• Getting bit by one of these guys is painful and takes a long time to subside.

Ending: So pick your target, wield your proboscis well, and make sure your spit is full of enzymes like the assassin bug here in Life, Death, and Taxonomy.

“…and today we’re talking about a lizard that is great at getting out of sticky situations. But more on that later.”

In the outback you need an exit strategy for whenever you get into trouble, especially if you’re a lizard of modest stature. The Golden-tailed gecko is a striking subject to look at, but it’s golden tail is more than an interesting feature. When they get into a sticky situation, they’ve learned to fight it by creating their own stickiness. But fighting fire with fire is one way to beat the heat in Life, Death, and Taxonomy. 

“Today we’re talking about bug spray… in a manner of speaking. But more on that later.”

When you’re a small beetle in a big world, you can easily become someone’s lunch if you’re not careful. So having a secret weapon is vital to survival. When danger rears its ugly head, the bombardier beetle rears its rear to give a nasty chemical surprise to any hungry eyes that might want an easy snack. It just goes to show that paying attention in chemistry class can save your life. But sometimes you just gotta give your enemies the business here in Life, Death, and Taxonomy.

Description of the Bombardier Beetle

• Bombardier beetles come in several varieties, but most have a large abdomen, long thorax, and small head.
• Looking at it, you may assume that it’s mostly abdomen, but it’s wings conceal half of it’s thorax, which is about the same length as it’s abdomen.
• Our friend the crepitans has a shiny dark green elytra and a red orange body. 

Measure up

Welcome to the beloved Measure Up segment. The official listener’s favorite part of the show! The part of the show when we present the animal’s size and dimension in relatable terms through a quiz that’s fun for the whole family. It’s also the part of the show that’s introduced by you when you send in audio of yourself saying, singing, or chittering the words Measure Up into ldtaxonomy at gmail dot com. We do have a new Measure Up from Nora. She also said her favorite animal is the “noble, idiotic dairy cow.”

Length

• 7–10.2 millimetres (0.28–0.40 in)
• How many bombardier beetles go into the length of Optymistychna Cave, the longest gypsum cave in the world?
• Hint: The cave is in Korolivka, Ukraine and it was discovered in 1966. It’s situated between layers of 20 meter thick gypsum. 
• 23,126,400 beetles.
• So far, the cave has been mapped to be 236 km (146 miles).

Weight

• 7 milligrams (estimated)
• How many bombardier beetles go into a large male hucul pony?
• Hint: A hucul pony is also called a Hutsul or carpathian pony that was first bred by the Hutsul people of Ukraine. The first domestic horses were probably domesticated in Ukraine 6,000 years ago.
• 65,576,496 beetles.
• The hucul pony is between 880 to 1210 pounds with stallions being on the upper end of average.

Fast Facts Bombardier Beetle

Bombardier Beetles are a group that’s also called ground beetles, of which there are more than 500 species. 

The bombardier beetle lives in the steppes of the Podolian Province of Ukraine. It’s also found in the UK, especially in southern England and Wales. It’s also dispersed throughout Europe. They prefer dry sunny areas of grasslands and plains. But they may be found under rocks, in train yards, farmland, and rock quarries. 

The species goes through several instars, but it’s lifecycle isn’t completely understood. Larvae are believed to be parasites that attach to other beetle larvae and consume it over several instars. 

The bombardier beetle is something called irreducible complexity, and we’ll talk about why in a minute. But irreducible complexity is a term that’s debated between naturalists and the theory of intelligent design. It’s offered as a counterpoint to slow, gradual evolution. 

Irreducible complexity is a concept that says a system cannot be made any less complex and still be functional. The primary example that’s usually pointed to is the bacterial flagellum. Apparently bacterial flagellum has what is essentially a little motor that would not work if a part was reduced or removed. 

If something is irreducibly complex, then it poses a threat to the concept of unguided, gradual evolution. The big point of contention is usually whether or not something can or can’t be reduced and still function. 

Major Fact: Acid Bombs

The bombardier beetle has a pretty unique defense mechanism that is anything but basic.

When predators like ants, spiders, praying mantises, or frogs threaten the bombardier, it hikes up its glands and gives it a nice and potentially fatal spritzing of a different kind of chemotherapy.

The beetle has two acid glands at the end of its bum that are lined with special cells that secrete a special mixture of enzymes. This is connected to a compressible chamber containing chemicals including hydrogen peroxide.

When it’s threatened, the beetle turns the not-so-cold shoulder to the predator and compresses the chemical chamber to squeeze those good chems into the enzyme glands.

The enzymes immediately break down the hydrogen peroxide and other chemicals into a substance called benzoquinone.

This chemical reaction releases a lot of energy and heat – getting up to 212 degrees Fahrenheit and turns it into a not nice-smelling vapor.

Then, with a loud pop, out comes a bunch of superheated vaporized benzoquinone that irritates the eyes and respiratory systems of the predators – sometimes enough to kill them.

The spray is made possible by 70 compressions of the reservoir in a fraction of a second. The pressure on the reservoir creates “microexplosions” that open and close the valve between the reservoir with the hydrogen peroxide and the glands with the enzymes.

Some beetles can swivel their glands 270 degrees to spray in most directions.

Ending: So know your chemistry, keep your glands on a swivel, and use superheated acid to your advantage like the bombardier beetle here in Life, Death, and Taxonomy.

“…and today, on our 200th episode, we’re talking about an adorable video game character.”

For a true generalist, nothing is off the menu. Sometimes survival is all about versatility, and if you have an adventurous palate, there are more resources at your disposal. For one Japanese canine, finding enough food to last through the winter is a matter of life and death, so being picky isn’t an option. But what happens when the tanuki comes across a food that may threaten his Life, Death, and Taxonomy.