World’s Deepest Flying Insect Lives in Darkness with No Food or Sex
May 27, 2016 12:11 PM   Subscribe

 
I dunno, maybe they'll illuminating tiny bibles with drawings of violent rabbits.
posted by GuyZero at 12:19 PM on May 27, 2016 [4 favorites]


"I teach English, you?"
"Oh, I follow tiny insects into very deep dark caves to make sure they're not having sex."

Must make cocktail parties amusing.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 12:19 PM on May 27, 2016 [10 favorites]


They probably don't even realize that they're bugs, which is a plus. (I know it helps me get through the day.)
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:21 PM on May 27, 2016 [4 favorites]


Now I'm thinking of The Cave + Metamorphosis. Would being a bug matter if you're just seeing shadows on a cave wall?
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 12:35 PM on May 27, 2016


If they can't eat and don't mate, they must just fly around looking for feeling out places to lay their eggs.
posted by jamjam at 12:41 PM on May 27, 2016


Insects, amirite?

Meanwhile, they're weaving around stalactites in the midst of a game of cave quidditch having a good laugh about those surface fools spending all their time acquiring food and suitable partners. Buzzie nearly crashed when he heard the sad news that only time we get to fly is by spending hours waiting in line and then have to pack ourselves by the hundreds into a tin can.
posted by cmfletcher at 12:43 PM on May 27, 2016 [5 favorites]


The article on PLOS ONE, with some pictures.
posted by porpoise at 12:59 PM on May 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


World’s Deepest Flying Insect Lives in Darkness with No Food or Sex

but they come up with the dankest memes
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:00 PM on May 27, 2016 [8 favorites]


The Flying Troglobionts is my new band's name.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:07 PM on May 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


Obviously Aristotle was right all along, it just took a few millennia for spontaneous parthenogenesis to be proven. Have the explorers found any rotting meat or grain in the area where the flies were found?
posted by ardgedee at 2:00 PM on May 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


parthenogenesis

No one move a muscle!
posted by prize bull octorok at 2:05 PM on May 27, 2016 [4 favorites]


I can see the exploitation movie poster in my head: He Found A Hidden Underground Tribe Of Amazons, Who Never Felt The Thrill Of A Male's Love UNTIL NOW!
posted by King Sky Prawn at 2:16 PM on May 27, 2016


translucent cave snails
posted by rebent at 2:17 PM on May 27, 2016 [3 favorites]


they can't eat and don't mate

Well, not down there - that's what the Whiskey Chamber* is for!

______
* figure 1
posted by moonmilk at 6:25 PM on May 27, 2016


World’s Deepest Flying Insect.

I suppose I'd be rather philosophical without food and sex too.
posted by adept256 at 6:26 PM on May 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


Re: The adults probably do not feed at all.

WTF? Where do they get their energy? Do they live on only water? Sounds like a pretty crappy and very short life.
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 7:53 PM on May 27, 2016


. . . the situation was particularly difficult because only female specimens have been found, and the researchers who described it suggest that this is because the species has no males . . .

The original crone island was a cave?!
posted by [insert clever name here] at 8:04 PM on May 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


« Older Ursine Hammock Hijinks   |   "And the survey says... MY WEENIE" Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments