Chapter 9 Insect Recording Firefly

1. Its Surgical Instruments Among the various types of insects, there are very few that can emit light.But one of them is known for its glow.This strange little animal looks like a lamp hanging from its tail, which is used to express its good wishes for a happy life.Even if we have never met it, we have never seen it fly over the grass in the dark night, and we have never seen it fall from the full moon.Just like a little Mars, then, at least from its name, we can know something about it.In ancient times, the Greeks used to call it Bright Tail, which is a very vivid name.In modern times, scientists gave it a new name called firefly (Iamqyris).

In fact, Hotaru is not a worm in any way, even from its appearance, it cannot be regarded as a worm.It has six short legs, and it knows how to use them.In a sense, it can really be regarded as a real wanderer.When the male firefly reaches its full development, it develops wing covers, like a real beetle.However, in fact, it is also a kind of beetle.However, the female firefly is not very noticeable, and she knows nothing about the joy of flying.It's really a pity that it can't fully understand that there is such a joy as free flight in the world to enjoy.It spends its life in a larval state, that is to say, in an incomplete shape that never seems to grow.However, even in this state, the use of the term "worm" is very inappropriate and inappropriate.We French often use the expression "pink light like worms" to refer to these animals without any protection and cover, but now, fireflies have clothes.It can be said that the outer skin is its clothes, and it uses its own outer skin to protect itself.Moreover, its skin also has a very rich color.It is dark brown all over, but has some reddish breasts.At the edge of each section of its body, there are also some pink spots.Worms wouldn't wear clothes as colorful as this!

Nevertheless, we continue to refer to it as glowing worms.Because its name has long been known to people all over the world. Firefly has two most interesting features: first, the way it obtains food; second, there is a light on its tail. A famous French food scientist once said: "Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are." The same question should be asked of any insect, and what we want to study is the habits of these insects—for knowledge of the food supply of insects is the most important problem in animal life, and it is what we humans often do. As the saying goes, "Food is the paramount necessity of the people", it has become one of the issues we should focus on.Although, from the appearance of Yingying, it seems to be a pure, kind and cute little animal, but in fact, it is an extremely ferocious carnivore.It is a hunter who is good at hunting wild game, and its hunting method is very vicious.Its appearance, it seems, is somewhat deceiving, like some other insects.Usually, its captive objects are mainly some snails.This fact has long been recognized.But what people don't know, what is little known, is the somewhat weird way of catching food of firefly.I haven't seen the same example of this method in other places, so it can be seen that its uniqueness is not ordinary.

The specific situation of this predation method of firefly is as follows: before it starts to prey on its captive, it always has to give it an injection of anesthesia to make the small prey unconscious and thus lose its defense resistance ability for it to catch and eat.This is like we humans receive anesthesia on the hospital bed before surgery, so that we gradually lose consciousness and do not feel pain.Under normal circumstances, the food that fireflies hunt are some very small snails.Snails larger than cherries are rarely caught.When the climate is very hot, there will be a large group of snails gathered on the withered grass or wheat roots beside the road, like a group enjoying the cool air.Perhaps because of the unbearable heat, they lay motionless in those places.I am afraid that if I move, I will feel hot.This is how they stand still, lazily passing through the hot summer.In these places, I often see some fireflies chewing on their unconscious captives.It was on these wobbly objects that Firefly anesthetized them.

In addition to the above-mentioned hay, wheat roots and other places on the roadside, fireflies often choose other places where food can be obtained to haunt or stay.For example, it often walks around some cool and damp dark ditches. Because in these places, there are often some weeds.Snails can often be found in large numbers there.This is a rare meal!It's okay to have a few full meals.Often in these places Hotaru kills their captives on the ground, what is known as a summary execution, to end the battle cleanly.Then, get great loot.In my own house, I can often create such a place to attract fireflies to hunt here.So, by staying at home, I can create a battlefield and, moreover, watch their every move very carefully.

Now, let me describe this strange situation.I took a big glass bottle, then found a little grass, put the grass in the big glass bottle, and put a few fireflies and some snails in it.The snails I took were moderate in size, neither too big nor too small.After all these preparations are in place, all we need to continue is to wait, and we must wait patiently.However, the most important point is that we must be very careful and keep an eye on all the movements in the glass bottle, even if it is the smallest movement, we must not let it go easily.Because, the whole thing happened when it was very inadvertent, and it didn't last long, almost just for a while.Therefore, one must keep a close eye on these creatures in the bottle.

In a short while, something was going to happen in the glass bottle.Firefly had begun to notice its victim.It seems that snails have a strong and irresistible attraction to Firefly.According to the habit of snails under normal circumstances, except for the edge of the mantle, its body will be slightly exposed, and the rest of the body will be hidden in its home—that is, inside the shell on its back. Think this will be safer.So, the hunter was eager to try, ready to launch a general attack.The first thing it did was to quickly draw out the weapons it carried with it.How small is this weapon, that without the aid of a magnifying glass, it is almost impossible to see at all.There are two jaws on Yingying's body, they are bent separately, and then closed together to form a hook, a sharp, thin hook like a hair.If you put it under a microscope, you can see that there is a groove on the hook.That's all, there is nothing more special about this weapon.However, it is a useful weapon, a deadly sword that can kill an opponent.

This little insect uses such a weapon to stab the snail's outer membrane continuously and repeatedly.However, Firefly's attitude is very peaceful, and her expression is very gentle, not as fierce as vicious. At first glance, it seems that it is not a hunter who is hunting food and biting its captive, but two animals. It's like kissing and kissing.When children tease each other together, they often use two fingers to hold each other's skin and rub it gently.This kind of action, under normal circumstances, we often use the word "twisting" to express it.Because, in fact, the action is closer to tickling than hitting hard like that.Now, let's use the word "twisted".When it comes to animals, except for the most simple and plain words, many of the words commonly used in speech are useless.Then, we can say that Firefly is "twisting" the snail, which is probably more appropriate.

Firefly has its own way of twisting the snail.You'll see that it's not in a hurry, it's unhurried, it's methodical.Every time it twists each other, it always stops for a short while.As if to examine what effect this twisting produced.The number of times Firefly twists is not many, at most five or six times are enough.Just a few strokes can make the snail immobilized, lose all consciousness and not wake up.Later, when Hotaru started to eat the spoils, she had to twist a few more times.It seems that these few twists are more crucial.However, as for why Hotaru behaved like this, I can't be sure of the real reason.Indeed, at the beginning, just a few light strokes are enough to make the snail gradually lose its sense of everything.So, why does it come up a few times before eating?I don't know, and it's still a mystery.Because Yingying's movements are very fast and agile, as fast as lightning, the venom has been transferred from the groove to the snail's body.This is only a momentary movement, and it takes very careful observation to perceive it.

Of course, there is no doubt about one thing, that is, when the firefly stabs the snail, the snail does not feel any pain at all.On this point, I once did a small experiment.When a firefly was attacking a snail, after the firefly twisted only four or five times, I quickly removed the snail that had been damaged by the venom.Then, use a very, very small needle to irritate the poor creature's skin.The bit of stabbed flesh showed no sign of contraction at all.This already clearly shows that at this moment, the snail has no vitality at all.It doesn't feel pain.Because it has been immersed in another world.Another time, very by chance, I saw a poor snail being attacked by fireflies.At that time, the snail was crawling forward freely.Its feet squirmed slowly, and its tentacles stretched out very long.Suddenly, due to the sudden stimulation and excitement, the snail moved a few times by itself.However, all this stopped immediately, and its feet no longer crawled forward slowly.The entire front of the body has completely lost the gentle curve it had just had.Its long tentacles have also become soft, no longer stretching upwards, but drooping downwards, like a broken cane, and can no longer feel anything.Judging from these superficial phenomena, the snail is already dead and has really gone to another world.

In reality, however, the snail didn't really die tragically.I have a way to bring it back to life, I can give it a second chance at life.During the two or three days that this poor, suspended animation snail was neither alive nor dead, I insisted on bathing it every day and cleaning its body, especially its wounds.Just a few days later, a miracle happened.This guy, who was mercilessly injured by Hotaru and almost died, has returned to its previous state, and it has been able to crawl around freely.Moreover, its perception has returned to normal.Because when I prick its flesh with a small needle, it will respond immediately, and its small body will immediately shrink into the back shell to hide, which fully shows that it has regained consciousness, like everything Never happened the same.It was completely able to crawl, and the pair of long tentacles stretched out again, as if nothing special had happened.Moreover, it is also spiritually multiplied.During the days and nights when it was unconscious, it seemed to have entered a state of intoxication without knowing anything, and nothing could disturb it, but now it is quite different.It awoke, and came to life fully, raised from the dead, miraculously out of its clutches, and given a second life. In the science of human society, people have invented and created a method that does not make people feel pain during surgery, and this method has been proved to be very successful in medical practice.However, fireflies, as well as many other kinds of animals, have been practicing it for centuries before humans have discovered this method.The difference is that before the operation, the surgeon asked us to smell ether or other anesthetics.The method used by those insects is to use their natural fangs to inject a very small amount of special poison into other animals to achieve the purpose of making other animals unconscious. When we happen to think that the snail has such a gentle, peaceful and harmless nature, but firefly has to take a special method of injecting venom to anesthetize it to subdue it and use it as food, it always seems strange.However, I think I can see various little-known reasons why Hotaru uses this method to hunt snails. If the snail is only crawling on the ground, or even curled up in its shell, then it is not difficult at all to attack it.The reason is that the shell on the snail's back is not covered by anything to protect it.Moreover, the front part of the snail's body is completely exposed and unobstructed.However, in reality, things are not that simple.The snail does not just crawl on the ground in one gear, it is often placed in a high and unstable place.For example, it likes to lie on the top of the grass pole, or stay on a very smooth stone surface.It fits snugly in these places and needs no other protection.Because these sites themselves provide it with the best natural protection.The reason for this is that these things act as a cover when the snail attaches its body tightly to them.Therefore, it can play a very good protective role.However, as long as you don't pay attention a little bit and don't cover it tightly, once it is discovered by firefly, its hooks will not show affection at all.As long as there is an opportunity to take advantage of it, it must take advantage of it.In short, there is always a way for Hotaru's hook to reach the snail's body.Then, with a snap of the hook, the venom is released and the snail loses consciousness.Firefly can then find a place to sit down safely and enjoy its delicious meal. However, snails live in high places, which is also dangerous.When it climbs on the grass pole, it is easy to fall off.Even the slightest twist, or struggle, will move the snail's body.Once the snail hits the ground, Firefly has to choose a better prey.Therefore, when firefly catches a snail, it must be made to feel no pain, lose consciousness, and make it unable to move, so that it cannot escape easily.Therefore, when firefly attacks a snail, it must be touched very lightly, so as not to disturb the snail and make it fall from the swaying straw.Otherwise, all previous efforts would be in vain, a lot of thought was wasted, and the food in hand would slip away.Therefore, I think, the reason why Yingying has such surgical instruments is nothing more than this!Other than that, I can't think of any other reason. 2. The rose flower ornament Firefly not only ends the battle on the branches of plants and makes its captive gradually lose consciousness, but also solves it on the spot where there is a certain danger, that is to say, Eat it up completely.Therefore, obtaining firefly's food is not an easy task! So, what kind of strange method does Yingying use when eating snails?Is it really eating it?Is it necessary to cut the snail into pieces first, or cut into some small pieces or crumbs, and then chew and taste it slowly and carefully?I guess it doesn't eat it in such an ordinary way.Because, I have never found any such small grains of food in these animals.This proves that Yingying's eating does not mean eating in the usual narrow sense, it is just another way to solve the problem.The specific method is this, it needs to make the snail into a very thin meat porridge before drinking it.Like a fly eating a small larva, it is able to liquidize it before eating it, and then enjoy it heartily. More specific situations and practices are as follows.Firefly first renders the snails unconscious, regardless of the snail's body size.In the beginning, it was often only a quarter of the size of a single.The guests also ran over in twos and threes.They have no quarrel with the owner, all gather together, ready to share food with the owner.After two or three days, if you turn the snail's body over and place it face down, then the contents of its body will flow out like soup in a pot.At this time, Firefly's meal was over.What it drinks is nothing more than what some other animal has eaten.Therefore, a snail is shared by many insects at the same time. The truth is obvious.Similar to the "twisting" action we have seen before, after a few light bites, the snail's meat has turned into meat porridge.Then, many guests ran over to enjoy it together.Casually, each guest devoured it bite by bite.And, each guest utilizes one of their own digestins to make it soup.Being able to apply such a method shows that Yingying's mouth is very soft.When firefly injects poison into the snail with its fangs, it will also inject—introduce other substances into the snail’s body, so that the solid meat on the snail’s body can become liquid.In this way, this liquid is very suitable for Hotaru's soft mouth, making it more convenient and comfortable to eat. The snail is closed in my glass bottle. Although sometimes its position is not particularly stable, it is still very careful.Sometimes the snail climbed to the top of the bottle, which was covered with a piece of glass.So, in order to stay there more stable and solid, it uses the viscous liquid it carries with it to stick to the glass piece.In this way, it is indeed very stable and safe.Be sure to use more slime, though; otherwise, even a little less can be dangerous.Even the slightest movement was enough to disengage the shell from the glass and drop it to the bottom of the bottle. Firefly often uses a crawler—in order to make up for the lack of strength of its own legs and feet—to climb to the top of the bottle, first carefully observe the snail's movements, and then make a judgment and a choice. Find a place to come down.Then, just one quick bite is enough to knock the opponent unconscious.All this happens in an instant.So, without any delay, Firefly started to make time to make its delicious delicacy - meat porridge, to be prepared as food within a few days. After a gust of wind swept away the remaining clouds, Yingying was very full.The remaining snail shell is completely empty.However, the empty shell was still stuck to the glass and did not fall off the bottom of the bottle.Moreover, the position of the shell has not changed at all, this is all the result of the action of mucus.The sacrificed hermit didn't resist at all, just quietly and unknowingly allowed himself to be slaughtered, and finally became a nutritious and delicious meal for others.At the spot where it was attacked, it gradually drained the entire body, becoming an empty shell.This detailed situation shows us how effective the anesthetic bite of Firefly is.Therefore, it can be said that Firefly's method of dealing with snails is very ingenious. If fireflies want to successfully complete their tasks and realize their goals, for example, to climb onto a piece of glass suspended in mid-air, or climb onto a grass pole, they must have a special crawling foot or other beneficial features. Organs, so that it will not fall from a high altitude before it touches the prey, thus giving up halfway.Apparently its existing clumsy feet were not enough, which determined that it needed something auxiliary. Put a firefly under a magnifying glass for careful observation and research, and we can easily find that this special organ does grow on the body of the firefly.Nature was fair and careful in her creation, and did not forget to give her the necessary tools.Under Firefly's body, near its tail, there is a white spot, which can be clearly seen through a magnifying glass.This is mainly composed of more than a dozen short thin tubes, or fingers.Sometimes these things close together and form a ball, and sometimes they open up in the shape of a rose flower.It is this fine structure, these protruding fingers, that help the firefly to firmly cling to a very smooth surface, and at the same time help it crawl forward.If the firefly wants to suck itself tightly to the glass or the straw, then it will let go of those fingers and let the rose bloom.On supports, these fingers are spread far and wide.Firefly uses its own natural stickiness to firmly attach to the supporting objects it wants to stay on.And, when Hotaru wants to crawl where it is, it makes those fingers open and contract interlockingly.In this way, Hotaru can crawl freely in places that seem dangerous. The rose-shaped fingers that grow on Yingying's body are not long, but each of them can turn freely in different directions.In fact, they are more like thin tubes than fingers.Because this metaphor is more appropriate and appropriate.If they are like fingers, they cannot pick up anything.They can only use their adhesive force to attach to other things.They have a great effect. In addition to the two functions of adhesion and crawling in dangerous places, it also has a third function, that is, they can be used as sponges and brushes.After Yingying has a full meal, when it is resting, it will use this automatic small brush to sweep and clean the head and body, which is convenient and hygienic. The reason why it can be so comfortable The main reason for making full use of this organ of the body is that the thorn has good flexibility and is quite convenient to use.After it has a full meal, take a rest comfortably, and then use the brush little by little, from one end of the body to the other, very carefully and carefully, almost no part will be missed.It can be said that it is a small animal that loves cleanliness and pays attention to civilization and self-cultivation.Judging from its radiant, triumphant, and comfortable expression, this little animal still attaches great importance to the matter of personal hygiene, and is also very interested in doing it.At the beginning, of course, we have some doubts: why is this little thing so focused and careful when it wipes itself?The answer is obvious.Making a snail into a meat porridge, and spending a lot of thought and eating it for many days, will definitely make your body surprisingly dirty. Then, after a full meal, put the It is necessary to cleanse your body well to refresh yourself. 3. Its lamp If, our firefly has no other talents except to use the kind of action similar to kissing--twisting a few times to administer anesthesia, then it Its reputation will not be so great that everyone knows its name.Therefore, it must have some other special abilities to distinguish it from other animals, such as special functions or something.So what kind of unique ability does it have? It is also known to have a lamp on its body.It will light this lamp on itself.Leave a light for yourself in the dark night to illuminate your journey.This is one of the most important reasons for its fame. The light-emitting organ of the female firefly grows in the last three segments of its body.Light shines beneath each of the first two knots, forming broad knots.The luminous part located in the third segment is much smaller than the first two segments, and there are only two small dots, and the light emitted can be transmitted from the back, so the light can be seen on the upper and lower sides of this small insect.From these broad bands and small points, the light emitted is bluish, very bright light. But the male firefly is different. Compared with the female firefly, it has only the small lights of the orpiment, that is to say, only two small spots at the last segment of the tail.And these two small dots are almost all possessed in the whole family of fireflies. Since the time when fireflies were still young grubs, they have already possessed these two small dots for light.Since then, as the fireflies grow, they also continue to grow with the growth of the body.Firefly does not change throughout her life.These two small dots can often be seen no matter on the top or bottom of the body.But the two wide bands unique to the female firefly are different, it can only glow below.This is one of the main differences between males and females. I once observed these two glowing bands under my microscope.On Yingying's skin, there is a kind of white paint, forming very fine granular substances.Thus, light originates from this place.In the vicinity of these substances, there is even a very peculiar organ distributed. They all have short trunks and many twigs grow on them.The branches spread over the glowing objects, and sometimes penetrate into them. I know very well that light is produced by fireflies' respiratory organs.There are some substances in the world, when they are mixed with air, they will immediately emit light, and sometimes even burn to produce flames.Such substances are called "combustibles".And the effect of mixing with air to produce light or flame is usually called "oxidation".The ability of fireflies to emit light is a good example and explanation of this oxidation.Firefly lights are the result of oxidation.The substance that looks like white paint is what remains after oxidation.The air needed for oxidation is provided by thin tubes connected to fireflies' respiratory organs.As for the nature of the luminous substance, no one knows the answer so far. However, there is another problem that we know in more detail.We know well that Firefly is perfectly capable of adjusting the light it carries with it.In other words, it can amplify the light on itself at will, or dim it, or simply turn it off. So, how does this clever little animal achieve its goal of adjusting its own light?After observation, I learned that if the amount of air flowing into the thin tube on the firefly increases, the brightness of the light it emits will become stronger; Stop, then the brightness of the light will naturally become very weak, or even extinguished. Some external stimuli will have an impact on the trachea.This delicate little lamp - the two dots on the last segment behind Yingying's back, even if there is only a little bit of intrusion, it will go out immediately.I have a deep understanding of this. Every time I want to catch those very naive and cute little animals, they always love to play hide-and-seek games with me.I clearly saw it glowing in the grass and spinning around just now, but as long as my footsteps are a little careless, making a little noise, or I unconsciously touch some nearby The branch, the light will disappear immediately, and the insect will naturally disappear.I also lost the capture object and wasted another opportunity. However, even if the light band of the female firefly is greatly frightened and disturbed, it will not have much impact.For example, put a female firefly in a cage made of wire, and the air can circulate completely.Then, we put another shot next to the iron cage.It was such an explosive sound, but there was no result.Firefly didn't seem to hear anything, or if she heard it, she ignored it.Its brightness remained the same, without any change.So, I tried another method.I took a branch and sprinkled cold water on them, but all methods failed.All kinds of stimuli didn't work.None of the lights went out, at most the lights were dimmed for a while.However, this is rarely the case.Then I took one of my pipes, and blew a puff of smoke into the cage.With this blow, the light stopped for a longer time.Some even stopped and turned off.However, it lit up again in an instant.After all the smoke cleared, the light was as bright as before.If you hold them in the palm of your hand, then squeeze them gently.As long as you don't pinch them too hard, they won't lose much of their shine.In short, so far, we have no way to make them all go out. In all respects, there can be no doubt that the firefly is absolutely capable of controlling and regulating its own luminous organ, making it brighter, or fainter, or extinguished at will.However, it also loses its ability to self-regulate under certain circumstances that we don't know yet.If we cut a piece of skin from the place where it glows and put it in a glass bottle or tube, although it is not as bright and dazzling as on a living fluorescent body, it can still emit light calmly.Because, for the luminous matter, it does not need any life to support it.The reason is that the skin that can emit light works in direct contact with the air.Therefore, the circulation of oxygen in the trachea is unnecessary.Even in that air-containing water, the light from this skin is as bright as in air.If it is in the kind of water that has been boiled, because the air has been "expelled", the light emitted will gradually go out.There is no better evidence that the fluorescent light is the result of oxidation. The light from the firefly is white and calm.In addition, its light is not irritating to human eyes at all and is soft.After seeing this kind of light, people will naturally think of it, they are just like the cute little white flowers falling from the moon, full of poetic and picturesque warmth.Although this light is very brilliant, at the same time it is very faint.If in the dark, we catch a small firefly and shine its light on a line of mimeographed characters, then we can easily distinguish letters one by one, and even distinguish letters that are not very clear. Long words come.However, beyond the relatively narrow range covered by this light, nothing can be seen clearly.However, such a lamp, such a stingy light, will soon tire the scholar. However, these small animals that can emit light, these small insects that should have a bright heart, are actually a group of guys with a very dark mind.Their affection for the whole family is completely absent.Family is insignificant to them.Tenderness has no practical meaning for them either.They can spawn anywhere.Sometimes, it grows on the ground; sometimes, it grows on grass blades.No matter when and where, it can scatter its own children and grandchildren at will.It can be said that you are wandering around, you are at home everywhere, and you are at ease with whatever happens.Moreover, after they lay their eggs, they no longer pay attention to them, and let them fend for themselves and grow naturally. From birth to death, firefly always shines brightly.Even its eggs are to shine.The same goes for larvae.When cold weather is imminent, the larvae immediately burrow into the ground, but not very deeply.If I gently dig it up from the ground, its little light is still on.Even under the soil, its little lamp is still on, and it will always keep a lamp of hope for itself!