SAMPLE ONE:
Tiny, Tasty Transformations
(2018)
On the movie screen or in the pages of a horror novel, a human may turn into a wolf, a transformation that involves bone-breaking contortions, manic hair growth, and nerve-wracking howls. But in real life, there is a creature that not only loses all its limbs and sprouts new, giant appendages, but drinks itself in the process. This creature lurks in your backyard, silently darting about its business as you go about yours.
It is the butterfly or moth.
That innocuous splash of color sipping from a flower on your lawn goes through a transformation more horrifying than anything the big screen holds for the furry metamorphs.
Werewolves live for the hunt, the chow, and roaming wide-open spaces. The caterpillar, called a larva, lives for food, too, to fuel rapid growth. But transformation comes after it stops stalking green things and starts seeking privacy, protection, and confinement. Using glue-like secretions or spun silk, the caterpillar creates a chrysalis or cocoon for the next stage of its life.
Once hidden within a mouth-made boudoir, the horror begins. According to Scientific American, the process starts with a meal. Made of itself. With nowhere to run, the insect—now called a pupa—falls victim to enzymes that dissolve all of its bodily tissues, essentially turning it into an entrée of soup. Spicing up the caterpillar chowder are indigestible cell groups called imaginal discs, developed from its last stay in a strange enclosure—the egg.
From the moment it hatches, another being’s body parts lie dormant inside the caterpillar, waiting to emerge as new eyes, antennae, legs, and wings of the forthcoming butterfly once its soupy self is all slurped up in the pupal stage. But if you are imagining floating organs like something out of the infamous monkey-eye scene in Temple of Doom, don’t. These imaginal discs still have a lot of growing to do before they become recognizable, and the protein-rich soup is the fuel behind transforming the formerly earthbound creature into something winged.
But not everything of the caterpillar’s old life is destroyed in the process. Just as a werewolf sometimes holds onto fragments of his human nature, one study published in PLOS ONE suggests that moths remember some of their time as larvae. These memories may influence the emerged butterfly or moth in terms of food and habitat choices.
For most of us, terrible transformations are limited to the realm of fiction. But Mother Nature has an odd streak to her. And this habit shows up big when a certain bug’s buffet line offers up a heaping helping of its own juicy self.
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SAMPLE TWO:
Superhero versus Super-pest: Shining a Spotlight on Ant-Man’s Sidekicks, the Ants
(2018)
Come July 6, 2018, tiny sidekicks are crawling back to the big screen alongside their leader, Ant-Man, in the new movie Ant-Man and the Wasp. Although they don’t get top billing, where would this Marvel superhero be without the ants? Not only were they the inspiration for the original comic-book character’s biggest power—being super strong while super little—ants had the movie-hero Scott Lang’s back from the jail cell to the final showdown in the first movie. Best of all, their antics made us laugh from the moment they freaked out Scott during home-ground, anthill training to when an unusual pet accepted the treat Scott’s daughter sneaked off the table. But off the big screen, are ants a hero, or do they have a dark side you need to watch out for?
Let’s find out by taking a closer look at ants and their powers, both cinematic and real-life.
Strength
Superpower: Let’s face it. In the first movie, the superhero stole the show with this awesome ability. Aside from when they served up a lump of sugar or put the spin on a dime, the main time this power came into play for the ants was when they brought in the Ant-Man suit to help Scott escape from jail. But ants, just like their shrunken leader, are powerful for their size. How much can an ant lift compared to its own weight? Twenty to 100 times over, depending on the species, according to a site that explains the math behind this superpower.
Dark side: Instead of carrying around super suits, real ants carry off heavy objects many times their own size. That’s fine when it’s debris. Not so much when it’s your food.
Speed
Superpower: While they won’t give Flash, a hero from the rival DC universe, a run for his money, the ants move really fast in the Ant-Man movie. That’s useful for making countdowns for a timely escape and for sneaking into the enemy’s fortified lab. But exactly how fast do ants run? According to Curious Meerkat, an ant’s speed reaches about “300 meters an hour, a rate of nearly 800 times its body length a minute.” This is the equivalent of about 30 miles per hour for a human, which is slightly faster than the world’s fastest runner, Usian Bolt, clocking in at nearly 28 miles per hour in the 100-meter sprint. That’s pretty fast.
Dark side: Fast is fun in a movie, but fast-moving ants in your kitchen? Not so much. It makes them harder to take care of the old-fashioned way as they skitter away to dark corners, into crevices, and down cracks.
Flight
Superpower: It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s from the wrong comic-book franchise. Flight is a superpower many Marvel and DC heroes love to use to save the day. In Ant-Man, though, this ability comes from his sidekicks, the ants. They zipped Scott away from jail before he could be recaptured, and a squadron led an attack on the helicopter in which the villain Yellowjacket was making his own aerial getaway. Over all, it’s just a speedy mode of transportation for someone the size of a dime.
Dark side: Flying ants by themselves aren’t the problem; it’s what the acrobatics mean. Breeding. Not too much of a problem when your anthills are few and far between in your backyard, but if you notice flying ants in the house, that is probably not the case. That means you have a surplus, and some ants sought out the cozy confines of your home in which to make their nest. Worse, they are likely carpenter ants. Carpenter ants damage homes when they chew through the wood to build nests. And new queens fresh from their mating flights are looking to build just that.
Bite and sting
Superpower: Ant-Man packs a punch when shrunken, but his sidekicks manage quite well with their powerful mandibles and stingers. They defended Scott during his escape from Yellowjacket’s Futures Lab. Most notably, Scott called on one of his six-legged teammates known for the high level of pain they could inflict upon the bad guy’s security. “I’m employing the bullet ants. Hapanera-clamda-mana-merna. I don’t remember what it’s called, but I feel bad for this guy.” And you should.
Dark side: Let’s face it—ants bite, and an ant bite hurts. Some ants also have a painful sting, like the bullet ants. These are powerful defenses in movie and in the real-world insect kingdom, but the problem is ants won’t recognize you as their leader. At best, they will mostly work around you, but if they see you as a threat, they will defend themselves. Some are a pain individually, but it is worse when they bring in their friends, and they all jump in to defend their colony from attack. Speaking of bringing in their friends . . .
Communication
Superpower: Ant-Man is like a funnier, poorer Batman—his abilities come from training and toys. One of the critical gadgets wasn’t flashy. It was Bluetooth for insects, and Scott used it to call upon one the greatest abilities of antkind. Communication. Without it they couldn’t have formed a living raft to navigate water-pipe rapids, deployed a coordinated attack on the electronics of Futures Lab, or provided a swift getaway via wing. This was all possible because of the device Scott’s mentor created to speak with the ants on their own terms. Based off neurotransmitters in the movie, in reality, ant communication comes from combination of things, including the chemical signals called pheromones.
Dark side: In reality, one of the major things ants talk about is the latest scoop on where to find food. That is fine and dandy if it is a crumb dropped outside or some creepy-crawly insect no one wants around. But when they start lining up for something in the house, it’s a problem.
On the screen, Ant-Man wouldn’t get far without his sidekicks. In the real world, ants can use their powers for good, too. According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, we benefit from their tunnels in the ground “that allow air and moisture to get to the roots of plants.” They also bring leaves and insects into the nest that “decay and fertilize the surrounding plants.” They play an important role in pollinating flowers and spreading seeds. Finally, many ants take on the villainous insects that do damage to lawns and gardens. But sometimes the good guys lose their way, and they become destructive to food, homes, and humans. That is when you need to call in a different sort of team to get the job done.
Spring, summer, fall, or winter, Ants Plus Pest Solutions answers the call when your place is under attack—or before the home invasion begins, since their experts monitor the trend of activities in your neighborhood. Armed with the latest methods and materials, they tackle the interior, exterior, or perimeter of your home, but their approach is considerate of your four-legged housemates and Mother Nature camped outside your door. You can start with a free inspection to see exactly what help you will receive. But in the end, just remember, when the ants in your backyard have been seduced to the dark side, you can call in the Ants Plus team to stop the threat to your home before it puts the attack on Futures Lab to shame.