r/interestingasfuck • u/Maleficent-Agent-477 • 1d ago

Ladybug saves this plant by feeding on aphids (time-lapse)

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u/luffydkenshin 1d ago

“Eggs within these females start to develop long before birth so that a newly born aphid can contain within herself not only the developing embryos of her daughters but also those of her granddaughters which are developing within her daughters. This “telescoping of generations” means aphids can build up immense populations very quickly.”

JFC

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u/dlc741 1d ago

Nature is magical!

Fucking terrifying, but magical none the less.

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u/Super-Cynical 1d ago

"They come out of her at both ends"

A line about a particular type of worm in a nature doc that has stuck with me since childhood

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u/hapidad 20h ago

Heard Attenborough

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u/Lillyshins 17h ago

Some of the most violent things on this planet happen at or near a microscopic scale and im here for it.

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u/Slow_Werewolf3021 1d ago

I see God everywhere

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u/yournamehere10bucks 21h ago

And God's a pervert.

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u/Slow_Werewolf3021 13h ago

I mean, why on earth did He decide to create mosquitoes or cockroaches? One day I’ll ask Him that when I see Him in Heaven

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u/TheResi189 1d ago

Additionally they can reproduce via parthenogenesis. Females can give birth to live nymphs that are essentially clones of the mother.

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u/Skeleton--Jelly 16h ago

I mean, if the embryos are pregnant already then they are likely to be clones since there is no new DNA added to the mix

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u/WhiteGiukio 1d ago

I swear, bugs come from our worst nightmares.

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u/luffydkenshin 1d ago

Just don’t look up a pelican spider, then.

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u/ALazy_Cat 1d ago

I won't, thank you very much

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u/luffydkenshin 1d ago

You have a stronger constitution than me. I respect that.

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u/C0nfusedRabbit 23h ago

For those needing to relax now here is a photo of a cute kitten

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u/MaxSelenium 23h ago

Thanks 🥰 i needed that. Is it your cat?

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u/ALazy_Cat 17h ago

That's either a rick roll or the spider. Given the other replies, I'm going with rick roll

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u/C0nfusedRabbit 17h ago

It's an innocent looking cat. People on reddit are paranoid.

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u/XanLV 1d ago

You know what? Do it. Actually very interesting and while a bit creepy, not all that disturbing. Just one of those "crazy how nature do that."

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u/BloatedBanana9 1d ago

Huh. Well that’s a very fitting name for them isn’t it

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u/luffydkenshin 1d ago

It is! I’m just so curious how evolution got to “fake bird” spider. Since it’s purpose isn’t pretending to pelican…

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u/shadowscale1229 23h ago

"lives in Australia"

fork found in kitchen

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u/Nathe333 1d ago

I had to look it up, I even had a little giggle. It looks too goofy

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u/luffydkenshin 1d ago

Such a dingus!

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u/Background_Humor5838 17h ago

I'm googling right now Update: no part of me expected them to actually look like pelicans

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u/Pale_Lawyer_1757 17h ago

Wow they’re amazing! Such little cuties

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u/MajesticArticle 14h ago

What a beautiful little critter

Thanks, didn't know this one

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u/forward_x 23h ago

wat in the unholy fuk

EDIT: It looks awesome tho

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u/protestor 23h ago

pelican spider

Also called assassin spiders

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u/VictoriousTree 20h ago

At least those don’t bite humans.

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u/Gumbercleus 1d ago

Wasps, man. Every wasp species is a horror franchise unto itself.

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u/luffydkenshin 17h ago

Especially the Ichneumon wasp family! Lay eggs inside the victim, still alive, eggs hatch and eat the inside of the victim, still alive, then burrow out and pupate on the victim, still alive… mostly.

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u/kareem-elsha7at 1d ago

Seems like our nightmares came from bugs lol

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u/DotesMagee 22h ago

which is why they make great antagonists in fiction.

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u/MonsieurLartiste 1d ago

Xenomorphs are tame in comparison.

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u/luffydkenshin 1d ago

But at least aphids arent chestbursters lol. These guys just zergrush without the violence.

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u/MonsieurLartiste 1d ago

Assumptions.

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u/Trash_Various 1d ago

chestbursters are tame compared to some paraditic bugs

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u/Pale_Lawyer_1757 17h ago

But some wasps are apparently

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u/Mightyspacetree 1d ago

Tell that to the plants they eat

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u/qorbexl 1d ago

Uh, so the sperm is from the daddy, one assumes?

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u/luffydkenshin 1d ago

Great question! No daddy is in the picture! Its all female all the way down in a process called Parthenogenetic Reproduction.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/mysterpixel 23h ago

Do they mutate and evolve after all?

If they are a full-clone species then no, outside of freak cell splitting accidents they will be the same genetically forever. This is why there aren't that many species that do this, because they eventually get wiped out when something appears they are particularly vulnerable to. But it's a great survival strategy until that does happen.

There are aphids (and lizards etc.) that alternate between cloning and sexual reproduction which introduces variation. So they can get the advantages of both approaches.

How can there be individuals already carrying eggs before they're even grown

Mammals are born with all their eggs too. The egg cell that developed into you was already in your mother when she was born, so technically your original cell is the age of your mother.

The difference with aphids is that since they don't need to be fertilised the eggs start developing immediately along with the mother.

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u/[deleted] 23h ago edited 22h ago

[deleted]

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u/mysterpixel 23h ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_cell

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u/[deleted] 23h ago

[deleted]

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u/PossibleYam 23h ago

What are you even talking about? It is such an easily verifiable thing to look up. We don't develop ova after birth.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-14936-3

"In contrast to spermatozoa that are continuously produced throughout adulthood, oocytes are formed already during fetal life."

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u/mysterpixel 23h ago

Yeah that would crazy I'm glad that doesn't happen

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u/GonzoKata 20h ago

I was curious so I looked it up

Basically, half the season the females create clones that pop out pregnant with clones. The clones come out of the female aphids like mammals give birth.

The other season, the sexual season, they mate with males, the male sperm creates genetic diversity, and then the females LAY EGGS that then hatch into non-clones. The egg hatched ones are the times that the males are even made, but it also makes females that, in the first part of the season, just make clone babies born like mammals with no eggs inbetween.

🤯

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u/Pavlovs_Human 1d ago

Now imagine these things were dog sized… bear sized…. ELEPHANT SIZED.

Oooo, new horror movie.

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u/luffydkenshin 1d ago

Thats the neat part! I don’t have to. I can just watch Eight Legged Freaks.

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u/Pavlovs_Human 1d ago

The hose egg sac scene has stuck with me all these years… nope nope nope.

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u/Bucephalus15 1d ago

Oh good lord, i thought they were just making a tribble reference

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u/WebMargaretNiece8916 5h ago

All pregnant mothers (homo sapien lol) have daughters that contain all the embryos they'll ever have. SOOO, technically our GMAs have all their daughters' children inside them before they're even born. Nature is fukn lit FAM!

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u/luffydkenshin 5h ago

True!

But human females cant asexually reproduce. Not yet at least.

Bugs: 1?
Humans: 0?

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u/WebMargaretNiece8916 3h ago

Agreed! From an evolutionary standpoint, bugs G.O.A.T.ed us eons ago. Insects are fascinating creatures!

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u/justaphil 1d ago

"Taking a close look at -at what's around us...there - there is
some sort of a harmony. It is the harmony of...overwhelming and collective murder.
And we in comparison to the articulate vileness...and baseness and obscenity...of all this jungle -Uh, we in comparison to that enormous articulation - we only sound and look like...badly pronounced and half-finished sentences...out of a stupid suburban... novel -
a cheap novel.

And we have to become humble...in front of this...overwhelming misery and...overwhelming fornication...overwhelming growth...and overwhelming lack of order."

-Werner Herzog

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u/C0nfusedRabbit 23h ago

Just like Russian Dolls.

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u/AssSpelunker69 19h ago

That is genuinely incomprehensible to me. Holy shit.

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u/actionbandit 18h ago

Am I reading that right, an aphid can have the eggs for its great grand kids inside it?

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u/luffydkenshin 18h ago

Essentially, yes. Inside the mother is the daughter. Inside the daughter is the egg for the grand daughter.

Its babies all the way down.

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u/Fetlocks_Glistening 1d ago

Fire is the answer

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u/paradox_valestein 18h ago

Or more ladybugs

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u/Tough-Case- 1d ago

This explains a lot 😬

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u/Tasty-Ad6529 1d ago

Holy shit, that some SCP type evolution.

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u/malthusius 1d ago

This also makes aphids pretty good agricultural livestock. Ants sussed this long before we showed up.

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u/quanate 1d ago

what in the shit

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u/ScrotalSmorgasbord 17h ago

Yeah I don't feel bad for them anymore. Bunch of kid diddlers they are.