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Message no. 1
From: MikeE@******.dragonsys.com
Subject: Re: New Totem/ Bees
Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 16:00:50 -0500
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't
know of any predatory bees. They all consume
nectar to produce honey, even the African (or
Africanized) "Killer" bees, which are
_aggressive_, but not _predatory_. They
fiercely guard their teritory or expand into new
teritory, but don't eat what they kill.

Double-Domed Mike
Message no. 2
From: Kenneth Horner <kwhorner@*******.edu>
Subject: Re: New Totem/ Bees
Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 19:16:45 -0800 (PST)
On Thu, 14 Mar 1996 MikeE@******.dragonsys.com wrote:

> Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't
> know of any predatory bees. They all consume
> nectar to produce honey, even the African (or
> Africanized) "Killer" bees, which are
> _aggressive_, but not _predatory_. They
> fiercely guard their teritory or expand into new
> teritory, but don't eat what they kill.
>
> Double-Domed Mike
>
But the same goes for wasps. They are not predatory either. Most
insects are either scavangers or plant-eaters. There are few predator
insects(such as the preying mantis and the Lady Bug).

Nutracker
Message no. 3
From: "Gurth" <gurth@******.nl>
Subject: Re: New Totem/ Bees
Date: Fri, 15 Mar 1996 11:38:24 +0100
Kenneth Horner said on 14 Mar 96...

> But the same goes for wasps. They are not predatory either. Most
> insects are either scavangers or plant-eaters. There are few predator
> insects(such as the preying mantis and the Lady Bug).

What about ants that kill any insect that comes into their nest, or even
in their way? I'd say they're predators. Then again there's farmer ants
too -- some herd caterpillers up trees at night, and down into their nest
again at dawn, mliking them along the way. Then there's ants that grow
fungi on leaves they cut from trees, and eat only the fungi.
If you want an insect that could have been the model for the invae, look
at some beetles: they bury a dead mouse or other small animal, lay their
eggs into its body, and then the mother eats bits of the mouse, turning it
into food for the newly-hatched beetles.


BTW, for those planning to run an insect spirit campaign, useful research
material may be Alien Empire, a documentary series on BBC 1 on Thursday
nights (20:00 GMT I believe). Most of what I wrote above comes from what I
saw on that show last night :)

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
And it's a problem that we can't mend, because it happened once, it
will happen again.
-> NERPS Project Leader & Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Character Mortuary: http://huizen.dds.nl/~mortuary/mortuary.html <-

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Message no. 4
From: "Meredith L. Patterson" <ST5F2@******.UH.EDU>
Subject: Re: New Totem/ Bees
Date: Fri, 15 Mar 1996 08:39:12 -0600 (CST)
>If you want an insect that could have been the model for the invae, look
>at some beetles: they bury a dead mouse or other small animal, lay their
>eggs into its body, and then the mother eats bits of the mouse, turning it
>into food for the newly-hatched beetles.

There are also wasps, beetles and flies that are perfectly happy laying their
eggs on *living* flesh. Wasps that do this generally prey upon soft-bodied
insects (caterpillars, for example--I think they technically count as
proto-insects, but I'm no biologist), but beetles and flies usually go for
mammalian flesh: cats, dogs, people...

All together now: "Eeeeuwwww...."

Regards,
Meredith L. Patterson
Message no. 5
From: Robert Watkins <robertdw@*******.com.au>
Subject: Re: New Totem/ Bees
Date: Sat, 16 Mar 96 00:37:43 +1030
>But the same goes for wasps. They are not predatory either. Most
>insects are either scavangers or plant-eaters. There are few predator
>insects(such as the preying mantis and the Lady Bug).

Wasps will kill creatures to use as hosts for their young. Flies will do
the same, but won't usually bother killing them first. :) It was from
these two types of insects that the form of possession Insect spirits
have was derived from. :)

Ants are a combination of predator/scavenger. A _lot_ of beetles are
predatory. And so are a heck of a lot of water-dwelling insects.


--
* *
/_\ "A friend is someone who likes the same TV programs you do" /_\
{~._.~} "Eternal nothingness is fine if you happen {~._.~}
( Y ) to be dressed for it." -- Woody Allen ( Y )
()~*~() Robert Watkins robertdw@*******.com.au ()~*~()
(_)-(_) (_)-(_)
Message no. 6
From: acgetchell@*******.edu (Adam Getchell)
Subject: Re: New Totem/ Bees
Date: Fri, 15 Mar 1996 14:05:40 -0800 (PST)
>But the same goes for wasps. They are not predatory either. Most
>insects are either scavangers or plant-eaters. There are few predator
>insects(such as the preying mantis and the Lady Bug).
>
>Nutracker

Perhaps not predatory unless you happen to be a caterpillar ...

Digger's wasps. Had 'em all the time in my back yard. Never messed with
their tunnels. Learned later that the tunnel contained paralyzed
caterpillars, each with a wasp egg implanted within. The young would hatch,
eat their way out, and ...

If any insect resembles the prototype Insect Spirit, it's wasp.

=================================================================
Adam Getchell
acgetchell@*******.edu
http://www.engr.ucdavis.edu/~acgetche/
=================================================================

"Invincibility is in oneself, vulnerability in the opponent."
-- Sun Tzu
Message no. 7
From: Kenneth Horner <kwhorner@*******.edu>
Subject: Re: New Totem/ Bees
Date: Fri, 15 Mar 1996 22:03:43 -0800 (PST)
On Fri, 15 Mar 1996, Gurth wrote:

> Kenneth Horner said on 14 Mar 96...
>
> > But the same goes for wasps. They are not predatory either. Most
> > insects are either scavangers or plant-eaters. There are few predator
> > insects(such as the preying mantis and the Lady Bug).
>
> What about ants that kill any insect that comes into their nest, or even
> in their way? I'd say they're predators. Then again there's farmer ants

Their just protecting their queen and young. A horse will beat the snot
out of you if it thinks your going to hurt it's foal, but that doesn't
make it a preditor.

Someone else made the point that apparently no matter what kind of
insect, they would still need human hosts. That is our big problem with them
not their existance(though people tend to not like 6 foot tall bugs).

Nutcracker

> too -- some herd caterpillers up trees at night, and down into their nest
> again at dawn, mliking them along the way. Then there's ants that grow
> fungi on leaves they cut from trees, and eat only the fungi.
> If you want an insect that could have been the model for the invae, look
> at some beetles: they bury a dead mouse or other small animal, lay their
> eggs into its body, and then the mother eats bits of the mouse, turning it
> into food for the newly-hatched beetles.
>
>
> BTW, for those planning to run an insect spirit campaign, useful research
> material may be Alien Empire, a documentary series on BBC 1 on Thursday
> nights (20:00 GMT I believe). Most of what I wrote above comes from what I
> saw on that show last night :)
>
> --
> Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
> And it's a problem that we can't mend, because it happened once, it
> will happen again.
> -> NERPS Project Leader & Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
> -> The Character Mortuary: http://huizen.dds.nl/~mortuary/mortuary.html <-
>
> -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
> Version 3.1:
> GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+(++)@ U P L E? W(++) N o? K- w+ O V? PS+ PE
> Y PGP- t(+) 5+ X++ R+++>$ tv+(++) b+@ DI? D+ G(++) e h! !r(---) y?
> ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
>
Message no. 8
From: "A Halliwell" <u5a77@**.keele.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: New Totem/ Bees
Date: Sun, 17 Mar 1996 17:02:39 +0000 (GMT)
|
|On Thu, 14 Mar 1996 MikeE@******.dragonsys.com wrote:
|
|> Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't
|> know of any predatory bees. They all consume
|> nectar to produce honey, even the African (or
|> Africanized) "Killer" bees, which are
|> _aggressive_, but not _predatory_. They
|> fiercely guard their teritory or expand into new
|> teritory, but don't eat what they kill.
|>
|> Double-Domed Mike
|>
|But the same goes for wasps. They are not predatory either. Most
|insects are either scavangers or plant-eaters. There are few predator
|insects(such as the preying mantis and the Lady Bug).

Wasps aren't predatory, but I think the way some wasps breed fits in with
insect spirits. (Paralysing prey and laying the eggs in it, to be eaten
alive by the grubs. Some wasps do this to animals, others to plants)
--
______________________________________________________________________________
| |What to do if you find yourself stuck in a crack in |
|u5a77@**.keele.ac.uk |the ground beneath a giant boulder, which you can't |
| |move, with no hope of rescue. |
|Andrew Halliwell |Consider how lucky you are that life has been good |
|Principal subjects in:-|to you so far... |
|Comp Sci & Visual Arts | -The BOOK, Hitch-hiker's guide to the galaxy. |
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