cicadakillers
July 12, 2013 • 7:55 am
Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
Extraordinary story! But there is a tiny ambiguity in the text. While relaying details over my shoulder to my wife, she observed. ‘The wasp must go back to sting a different cicada after failing to glide to his nest-site. Of course, the wasp would probably not drag the same cicada back to the tree!’
Here, in France, I have watched spider-hunting wasps pursue their prey, easily spotted by observing a common garden spider running blindly, and tumbling over the leaf debris, followed by a wasp hovering above it like a helicopter. There must have been spiders who survived the attack for evolution to have put such fear in the spider’s escaping run. And, yes, one’s first thought is that this incident puts a lie to the idea of a supernatural creator.