[leps-talk] MALE x FEMALE emergence

Anne Kilmer viceroy at GATE.NET
Sun May 26 07:17:43 EDT 2002


Nigel Venters wrote:

> I thought symbiosis gave benefits to both creatures in the
> relationship...parasitism seems a little out of the frame? I suppose you
> could say that parasitism helps keeps the numbers of any species down to a
> level that the environment is not damaged irreversibly by huge hordes of
> hungry larvae...in effect a benefit to the species in the long run....but is
> this symbiosis?
> Nigel


Nigel Venters wrote:

 > I thought symbiosis gave benefits to both creatures in the
 > relationship...parasitism seems a little out of the frame? I suppose you
 > could say that parasitism helps keeps the numbers of any species down 
to a
 > level that the environment is not damaged irreversibly by huge hordes of
 > hungry larvae...in effect a benefit to the species in the long 
run....but is
 > this symbiosis?
 > Nigel


Sigh. I looked it up. Bob's right, as usual. I gain scant comfort from 
the fact that this means that I was right, all those long years ago, and 
the professors were wrong.
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English language, 1969, God only 
knows why that's my dictionary in this house, but it is:
symbiosis n. Biology. The relationship of two or more different 
organisms in a close association that may be but is not necessarily of 
benefit to each. Compare antibiosis. [New Latin, from Greek sumbiosis, a 
living together ... and so forth.]
That's clear enough, and it does indeed include parasites, just so they 
both are alive during the relationship. The bios sees to that. Not, of 
course, throughout the relationship. And I am reminded of the fable told 
me, and perhaps it is true, that if I were to vanish, blood, bone and 
sinew, the roundworms and alien bacteria that inhabit me would stand up 
strong and perfect in my shape ... it's a fine tale and deserves to be 
true.
But, thinking again about butterflies and symbiosis, my favorites are 
the acacia/caterpillar/ant medley, where the acacia indeed "needs" the 
caterpillar to prune back the growing tips. The ants are paid by the 
acacia, with extra-floral nectaries, and by the caterpillars, with their 
sweet nectar. And, in turn, the ants lead the caterpillars about, 
protect them from extremes of weather, feed them on the finest and 
freshest of leaves, and  keep away predators. In some cases the acacia 
even provides lovely hollow thorns for the ants to live in.

I'll take this to Nature Potpourri, where I can wander on for a bit.


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturepotpourri/

Cheers
Anne Kilmer



 > ----- Original Message -----
 > From: "Bob Parcelles,Jr." <rjparcelles at yahoo.com>
 > To: "Anne Kilmer" <viceroy at GATE.NET>; <drdn at mail.utexas.edu>
 > Cc: <leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
 > Sent: Saturday, May 25, 2002 2:13 PM
 > Subject: Re: [leps-talk] MALE x FEMALE emergence
 >
 >
 >
 >>--- Anne Kilmer <viceroy at GATE.NET> wrote:
 >>
 >>
 >>>The ant/butterfly relationship, incidentally, is mutualism rather
 >>>than
 >>>symbiosis.
 >>>Cheers
 >>>Anne Kilmer
 >>>May all your blues be butterflies
 >>>
 >>
 >>Just would like to point there are several types of symbiosis of
 >>which mutualism is only one . commensalism is another and i guess
 >>technically speaking parasitism is another.  fascinatining subject
 >>but helps if we are all on the same page.
 >>
 >>bob
 >>
 >>=====
 >>Bob Parcelles, Jr
 >>Pinellas Park, FL
 >>RJP Associates & Clean Millennium Movement (C2M)
 >>rjparcelles at yahoo.com
 >>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturepotpourri
 >>"Change your thoughts and you change your world."
 >>- Norman Vincent Peale
 >>



 
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