Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Ma Nature's aphid bakery?
This fall we've had a full month of aphids instead of the usual week of aphids.
This summer we had a full month of 90s instead of the usual week of 90s.
Silly but tempting hypothesis: Each time a day hits 90, Ma Nature slips a new set of aphids in the "oven", and they "cook" until fall turns off the heat. Each daily batch then pops out of the "oven" and swarms in sequence.
I have no idea what the real "oven" might be; supposedly these aphids develop by asexual cloning inside their unfertilized mothers, but aphid reproduction seems to be largely unexplored and mysterious. Every species of aphid has its own unique and often variable life cycle.
Not quite a rule but pretty general: Simple creatures adapt by altering patterns of reproduction. Complex creatures adapt by altering individual and group behavior.
= = = = =
Later: an even sillier analogy. A retirement account for a generation of aphids. Every time the temp goes over 90, Ma deposits a certain number of degree-days in the account. When fall comes, the account starts paying out those deposits steadily, one per day, as swarmers who lay eggs for the next generation. Aphid-nuity.
¶ 7:02 PM 
I have no idea what the real "oven" might be; supposedly these aphids develop by asexual cloning inside their unfertilized mothers, but aphid reproduction seems to be largely unexplored and mysterious. Every species of aphid has its own unique and often variable life cycle.
Not quite a rule but pretty general: Simple creatures adapt by altering patterns of reproduction. Complex creatures adapt by altering individual and group behavior.
= = = = =
Later: an even sillier analogy. A retirement account for a generation of aphids. Every time the temp goes over 90, Ma deposits a certain number of degree-days in the account. When fall comes, the account starts paying out those deposits steadily, one per day, as swarmers who lay eggs for the next generation. Aphid-nuity.
¶ 7:02 PM
