Using Heat in Self-Defense
Using Heat in Self-Defense
Rattlesnakes and some other snakes can find prey by sensing the heat it produces. recently, scientists have found that one kind of prey, the california ground squirrel, uses its body heat to defend itself against these snakes.
An alarmed ground squirrel waves its tail to make itself seem larger. this can help it fend off a snake. if the snake senses heat, however, the squirrel also causes its tail to grow warmer. this makes the squirrel’s “heat image” look larger to the snake. these squirrels do not heat up their tails unless the snake is a species that can sense heat.
Japanese honeybees also use heat as a defense. giant hornets raid the bees’ nests to eat the honey. Then they carry the young, still-growing bees back to their nests to feed to their own young.
The hornets’ attack begins with one “scout” hornet, which marks the bees’ nest with a pheromone.The pheromone lures dozens of other hornets to the nest to carry out the raid.
European honeybees imported to Japan try to fight back by stinging, but the hornets kill them all in just a few hours. Japanese honeybees, however, have evolved a way to kill the hornets. when a scout hornet arrives, up to 500 bees swarm around it. they vibrate their bodies to produce heat. The temperature rises inside the cluster of bees. The bees can stand the heat, but it is too hot for the hornet: it bakes to death before it gets a chance to spread its pheromones on the nest.
Rattlesnakes and some other snakes can find prey by sensing the heat it produces. recently, scientists have found that one kind of prey, the california ground squirrel, uses its body heat to defend itself against these snakes.
An alarmed ground squirrel waves its tail to make itself seem larger. this can help it fend off a snake. if the snake senses heat, however, the squirrel also causes its tail to grow warmer. this makes the squirrel’s “heat image” look larger to the snake. these squirrels do not heat up their tails unless the snake is a species that can sense heat.
Japanese honeybees also use heat as a defense. giant hornets raid the bees’ nests to eat the honey. Then they carry the young, still-growing bees back to their nests to feed to their own young.
The hornets’ attack begins with one “scout” hornet, which marks the bees’ nest with a pheromone.The pheromone lures dozens of other hornets to the nest to carry out the raid.
European honeybees imported to Japan try to fight back by stinging, but the hornets kill them all in just a few hours. Japanese honeybees, however, have evolved a way to kill the hornets. when a scout hornet arrives, up to 500 bees swarm around it. they vibrate their bodies to produce heat. The temperature rises inside the cluster of bees. The bees can stand the heat, but it is too hot for the hornet: it bakes to death before it gets a chance to spread its pheromones on the nest.
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