Posted on 02/06/2007 1:56:12 PM PST by Lorianne
Flitting from flower to flower, the ladybird may seem the most graceful - and innocuous - of creatures.
But, beneath the female ladybird's demure exterior lies a voracious sexual appetite and a cache of bacteria capable of killing any male who crosses her path.
British scientists have shown that the bacteria, which infect many butterflies, ladybirds and wasps, make the females of the species more promiscuous.
As a direct result of this, the males not killed off by the infection become noticeably more lethargic, tired out by constant demands for sex.
The Wolbachia bacterium is so lethal that males, can be outnumbered by 100 to one by females.
And the fewer males there are, the greater the females' desire for sex, the University College London study found.
Knowing somehow that their chances of breeding are limited, the females contrive to make use of every chance they have to mate.
The frenetic activity leads to the males producing less sperm - and becoming tired out, the journal Current Biology reports.
Lead researcher Dr Sylvain Charlat said: "Male-killing bacteria are found in many insect species including the British ladybird.
"We wanted to know what the effect of the bacteria is on the mating system and we've shown that butterfly mating patterns are strongly determined by the killer bacteria.
Transmitted from mother to son, the Wolbachia bug kills the males before they even emerge as caterpillars from the egg.
It is not know how females survive the bug.
Now that is just not fair....
"Well, that explains a lot of things," he said, rolling over and falling asleep.
Heh heh, there is a joke in there aboutLBj's wife, Lady Bird Johnson ... but I am not going to go there.
Nearly unlimited joke potential ping.
Yeah, but what a way to go.....
Knew a gal like this.
I thought they were talking about Paris Hilton at first.
I kew a girl like that, fortunately I managed to escape relative unscathed...
Bacteria Make Female Butterflies Promiscuous, Scientists Say
Livescienc.com via Yahoo.com | 2-6-2007 | Charles Q. Choi
Posted on 02/08/2007 1:59:45 AM EST by grey_whiskers
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1781175/posts
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