Small Worlds: Shepherd and His Cows
What if humans are the size of ants? How would we survive and interact with the world?
In this imaginary scene, a shepherd is bringing his cows- aphids to graze on the stem of some plants. Aphids are known as cow ants, as they are herded by ants in a symbiotic relationship for their sugary secretion. If we become the size of ants, aphids could be utilized by us for similar purposes.
Journal Through a Microscope
I have managed to see the details of an aphid, and compared to just images from online, which often having them depicted in smooth and blurry images due to their small size, they are highly 3 dimensional and detailed under a microscope. The dual eye piece enabled our ability to observe the shell almost like seeing the texture of a mountain from above.
I have seen many aphids before, but simply discarded them as pests. However, they have a lot of evolutionary features that are profound and efficient:
-Aphids can enjoy a symbiotic relationship with ants, giving them the name “ant cows”. They can produce sugar rich byproduct known as honeydew which they filtered out from plants fluid, ant will protect and herd aphids to gain this sugar rich substance, which is 150 times the sweetness of sugar.
-They have multiple methods of giving birth, they can produce asexually in a method known as “telescope reproduction”. Like a Russian doll, an aphid female gives life-birth to a copy of itself, which often already pregnant with another copy of aphid at birth. They switch back to sextual reproduction towards the winter, as they switch to laying eggs for the winter.
– Normally aphids don’t have wings, but when the environment is becoming less desired, they can grow wings to migrate in short distances. Afterward, they use color, smell, and a series of taste tests to make sure the plant is healthy before settling down.
– In danger, aphids can produce triglyceride from the tubes on their back.
– Aphids can also have cells that contain bacteria, known as Bacteriocyte, that help them synthesize amino acids. Some aphids can even use sunlight to help its metabolism, as they gained genes from a certain fungus.