Haptosquilla fights 3

[Gonodactylus]

Haptosquilla glyptocercus adopts a different tactic to evict residents from their cavities. They repeatedly attack the entrance until the resident withdraws deep into the cavity. Then the H. glytpocercus inserts and wedges its heavily armored telson into the cavity where it remains for several minutes. You can often hear the resident striking the H.g's telson. It will periodically remove itself from the cavity entrance, often attacking again by lunging and striking into the cavity. Usually the resident eventually gives up and flees. In this case the H.g. female intruder blocked the entrance for over two hours. I eventually gave up left. When I returned, the H. trispinosa resident was outside the cavity dead and the H.g was inside. Why the resident died is not clear, but I suspect it suffocated because the cavity was blocked. I have also seen several cases where an H.g. blocking a cavity entrance defecates into the cavity fouling the water and driving out the intruder.

Roy

p.s. You can tell that this H.g. is a female by the red fifth intersegmental stripe which is linearly polarized. Only females have it.

 

[lionbacker54]

that... is brutal.

 

[Kharn]

I knew there would be a form of chemical warfare! How can a creature that posses so much already skip out on the chemical side of it, as disgusting as it sounds, it makes a LOT of sense!

 

[TundraGuy]

This is amazing. Thank you for sharing your studies and findings with us doc.

Got some pix of my mantis carcase for you Doc. A couple with a ruler so you can see my Smithii was almost five inches long. I found him dead today. I have had him from early 2006. That's 5 - 6 years I think that's vary good for a G. Smithii. I will get the pix up Monday for you.

 

[gnasher]

Hmm, I wouldn't have thought you could suffocate the resident by blocking the burrow entrance for just two hours. Isn't the burrow entrance just as blocked when the resident closes its burrow at night?

Is it well understood how stomatopod body parts polarize light? Is it the same as how a piece of Polaroid plastic works?

 

[OoNickoC]

Please...if any graduate students are reading these words realize this contains thesis worthy material. Biological warfare observed in inverts. Epic!