RSS Feeds
Science
Spider Attack Simulator: An Excuse For Scientists to Torture Bees
Posted by Sean Fallon at 9:00 AM on September 9, 2008
I don't know what's going on over the pond, but it appears that September is robot spider month in the UK. First we saw the 50 foot robot spider that terrorised Liverpool, and now researchers from Queen Mary, University of London have developed a spider attack simulator that helps determine how bees avoid camouflaged predators. Although, I think its real purpose is to satisfy a juvenile urge to screw with their tiny little minds.
The idea is to simulate a near-death experience for the bee at the hands (or 8 legs) of a crab spider. Bees fly into a room containing 16 floral yellow rectangles complete with a spider relief, sponge-covered pincers and a hole filled with sugar water. Bees that ignore the dangers are punished when the pincers are remotely triggered—immobilising and infuriating them. What results is a form of bee post-traumatic stress. After training, many of the bees became a little paranoid—getting spooked even when they landed on "safe" rectangles with no spider. A video of the device in action is available in the following link, and you can almost hear the researchers laughing their arse off in the background. [Science News via Boing Boing]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Mith
Posted 9:52 AM 9/9/08
Is this a study to help investigate the world shortage of bees? I saw a documentary of it on NOVA a long time ago, stating the implications of the decrease in honey bees due to some genetic disorder as well as the number of natural predators increasing in most areas.
Or perhaps this is some kinda awareness program made specifically for the bees to make turn them into naturally paranoid insects?
Either way fun to watch.. i hate those fuckers
Mith
nerdia314
Posted 9:46 AM 9/9/08
no video... -deeply disappointed-
nerdia314
DustyButt
Posted 10:16 AM 9/9/08
I think you can actually hear the bee cursing when it's in the trap.
*CLANK!*
Who the...
What the... !?!
Aww Hell Naw!
*CLACK!*
ZZzzz....
Bitch!
DustyButt
steveyun
Posted 9:58 AM 9/9/08
There's a video link at the sciencenews.org link. It's hilarious.
steveyun
92BuickLeSabre
Posted 10:39 AM 9/9/08
Have not the bees suffered enough?
92BuickLeSabre
DustyButt
Posted 10:37 AM 9/9/08
@MagnoliaBoy: Lol! Way to resolve things.
DustyButt
MagnoliaBoy
Posted 10:26 AM 9/9/08
Was over by my garage a while ago and watched a medium/largish size garden spider take down a carpenter bee. Wanna know how bees avoid camouflaged predators? They don't.
I felt sorry for the bee so I squished them both :o
MagnoliaBoy
Sam_Zebian
Posted 11:09 AM 9/9/08
lmfao the bee was like "getting my sugar rush on! WTF!! NOOOOZ! OH, freedom! I'm getting the hell out of here!"
Sam_Zebian
Rincewind
Posted 11:47 AM 9/9/08
They had this story over on IO9 the other day. Glad to see it spreading around, although you left out the most important point:
"Of course, there is one practical thing we can learn from this study right now, with no further research. And that is that NEARLY INVISIBLE ROBOT SPIDERS COULD BE LURKING ANYWHERE!"
Rincewind
BiZarRroBALlmeR
Posted 12:14 PM 9/9/08
Isn't the saying "across the pond?".
BiZarRroBALlmeR
Trowble (XBL/PSN)
Posted 12:48 PM 9/9/08
Great, now if they can develop something that'll simulate near-death experiences at the hands of my sneaker (get it) for those damn silverfish that crawl around the house, damn I those things.
Also, too bad those things are cushioned, I would have rather seen Bee-guts come flying out instead of it being alive in that video.
Trowble (XBL/PSN)
madog
Posted 12:29 PM 9/9/08
@nerdia314: I guess reading makes your head hurt? You know if you actually spent a minute to read the article you would have known that there is a video following the link, but that might be too much work for your. You should just post immediately letting everyone know your frustration and ignorance.
I am -deeply disappointed- in humanity.
madog
Cultivar
Posted 1:15 PM 9/9/08
@Trowble (XBL/PSN): I hate people that needlessly kill insects. Even when they invade your space there is nearly always an alternative, thus these individuals do it only because they enjoy it, and that's a character flaw.
PS you really shouldn't mention silverfish in your house. It means you live in an uncleaned home. They live on dust and debris and having enough of them to see them crawling around is... a lot, since they don't like light and movement. You know they're one of the oldest insects around? They'll survive alongside the cockroaches.
Cultivar
Sasquatch
Posted 1:03 PM 9/9/08
Oh shit, I can see it now: LOL BEEZ
Sasquatch
addiktion
Posted 3:59 PM 9/9/08
I hear no laughing in the background of the video.
The only thing I hear is the sound of the "bee" buzzing. I think you need to crank up those speakers a wee bit and listen in closely.
I'm sure it was funny the first couple times but they've probably been having these bees doing this a 100 or more times.
addiktion
DashTheHand
Posted 12:09 AM 10/9/08
Awwww, io9 posted this last week, give your poor sci-fi brother some credit Giz.
[io9.com]
DashTheHand
KylejvT
Posted 6:06 AM 10/9/08
Note that they are using bumble bees in this study, for the simple reason that they are far more timid and stingless then their honey cousins. A honey bee would have stung the foam blocks and in doing so terminated her participation in the study as it requises her to learn.
KylejvT
cbdsteve
Posted 10:15 PM 10/9/08
@KylejvT: Bumblebees do have stings, but they aren't barbed so it doesn't kill them to sting. Also they are less aggressive, and generally more cute.
cbdsteve
Kayonesoft
Posted 2:30 AM 10/9/08
I'm deathly afraid of bees. D: They torture me all the time by doing drive-bys by my ear, it's only fair they get a little bit of payback.
Kayonesoft