A peculiar insect has been named as ‘Water boatman.’ (Sigara striata). It does not row a boat for carrying others; but itself moves like a ‘living boat’ that has automated oars! I have seen it lying still on water surface. It floats on water. It also swims on the water surface or dives into the pond, using its legs like oars. Its hind legs are shaped like oars – specially adapted! It is purely a vegetarian that feeds only on aquatic plants and algae. It is really a ‘wonder live boat’!
At my younger age the most attractive fly was the Dragonfly. The darting fly will be flying low at a level with my height then, inducing me to catch it. The gang of my friends attempted to catch them live by their wings pierced in the thorns of the Prosopis juliflora tree twig, by using it like a swatter! While flying the dragonfly hovers in a fixed spot and then darts out to fly away. These movements attract the attention of all towards it. We believed as young that its head having the large eyes will be turned into sapphire when buried inside the earth! I have seen them fly over and near the water bodies, occasionally touching the water surface with their tail ends.
I had wondered earlier in my childhood about the shabby thin and fragile ‘skeletons’ of some insects that were standing upright like Sphinx on the banks of water tanks of Rice Mill (tanks used for soaking the paddy before parboiling it over fire). As I grew up academically, I understood what it is: these structures were that of the nymphs of Dragonfly! The undrained water in the tank after its use had served as the breeding place for the dragonflies. After hatching out from the eggs that are laid in the water, these aquatic nymphs feed voraciously on tadpoles and fish. When they have grown up, they climb to the bank and moult into adults, that fly away leaving these ‘skeletons’ near the water line.
Each year the arrival of North East monsoon is heralded by the dragonflies darting low here and there. I have seen many beautiful varieties of dragonflies too: reddish slender ones having membranous wings sitting on weeds and those slimmer than a needle moving like a ‘flying line’!
Now I feel that I could not stop writing about this wonder fly. So, I stop here with this and I shall write more wonders about it in my newer posts!
I found heaps of moist sand in front of a building site. A fly came to the sand and began to excavate it with its legs, and then entered into the burrow and returned out in a minute to fly away. I presumed that it might be a wasp with its name connected to sand – Sand Wasp. I searched for ‘Sand wasp’ in search engine. The results showed its name as ‘Sand wasp’ only!
These sand wasps (Bambicini) prey upon other insects. The females excavate the sand and form nests. They bring preys into the nest for the developing larvae.
To my astonishment I had a close encounter with another sand wasp on the very night of the day of my reference to the search results! It came into my house and was being attracted towards the UV rays of the tube light. It had a whitish grey back and three orange ring-like first divisions on the dorsum of its abdomen, and the rest of the divisions were black, each one of them ending in a white ring at its ending part!
Wonder encounters with this wonder wasp!
There are about four chemicals the names of which have to be spelt carefully while reading. They are Acrylamide, Acetalamide, Acetanilide and Acetazolamide! Each one of these is different from the other.
Acrylamide is used as a thickening agent, and in the dye manufacture. It is naturally found formed in starchy fried foods like potato chips, French fries, and bread. In over-fried items its content rises and can damage male reproductive glands, if consumed a lot. It is also found to be a cancer producing agent.
Acetalamide is a solvent that is used in the synthesis of organic compounds.
Acetanilide is now used as a stabilizer in varnishes and in the syntheses of dyes and camphor. In the past it was used as a fever reducing medicine (antipyretic). Later it was discontinued as it had toxic effects on liver and kidneys.
Acetazolamide is a well known medicine (Diamox). It is used as a diuretic and is also prescribed in diseases, Glaucoma and Epileptic seizures.
So, be aware of these wonder resemblances in chemical names!
Toasted bread will be tempting with its aroma and flavors, isn’t it? These aroma and flavors are released by the heat of the toaster as the bread browns. There is an underlying chemical reaction for this: an aminoacid and a reducing sugar present in the bread react with each other wonderfully here. This reaction is called ‘Maillard Reaction’. This wonder reaction contributes to our tasting a variety of delicious food items!
Energy is the need of the hour. Electric energy has to be obtained from thermal, nuclear, hydro and wind energies. There is always a demand for it. Actually its demand itself is increasing day by day. Imagine that we have periodically one billion volts of electric energy. What could it be? It is nothing but the wonderful ‘Lightning electric energy.’ It is not yet tapped for our increasing needs. But we fear about it that we may lose our life when it strikes, and so, we hesitate to tap its energy.
Lightning Injuries:
The lightning inflicts injuries on the victim’s body at the sites of its entry and exit. Ulcers are formed there. The major injuries are by its mechanical energy that is produced by the rapidly expanding heated air.
Ball Lightning Wonder:
Another wonder in Nature associated with the thunderstorm is reported. In May 2003, when a thunderstorm was here, I and my family members noticed a bright ball. It was about the size of a small orange. It arrived with a cracking sound that alerted us to note it. It cruised smoothly along the inner walls of the house. We all followed it from room to room till it exited out near a window! We are not sure whether it went out through the window or disappeared near the window wall itself! All these happened within a minute. Later on we came to know about it in one of TV channel programs that it is a ‘Ball Lightning’!
Winter and the spring are enchanting to both animals and plants. Birds sing their songs. Plants grow in luxuriance. They are green all over, and their flowers bloom in beautiful colors. These all the exhibits of the seasons enchant all of us. Here are some of their images:
