Do insects also get cold?

bosaap · Post by **bosaap** » 09 Jun 2009, 22:17

I was wondering with the cold we have.
Standing outside having a smoke today a saw an ant do his thing. I freezing. Do they know or feel the cold?

What do you think?

I would say some do coz you dont see all the insects in the winter

Post by **Stuart** » 09 Jun 2009, 22:21

Congratulations sir! You have just won the coveted PCF Most Random Though of the Year 2009 award. Your title will be changed once the full outcome of the 2009 Forum Awards is known. Which might require us to wait until some of last year's champions are unbanned.

In answer to your question, I have n clue. I've never seen an ant with a jersey, but that might just mean they're all stupid.

bosaap · Post by **bosaap** » 09 Jun 2009, 22:25

Thank you
Hi Stuart.

Not just ants I had a moth in my room last week flying around looking for the light, maybe they get cold flying around the heat?
hehehheh

Yea the stuff you think off when you not thinking about work

Post by **Stuart** » 09 Jun 2009, 22:28

We could always just ask him, but since he's never actually posted here I wouldn't hold my breath about getting a reply.

I think moths are just attraceted to the light, not the heat. I have a heater in front of me and not a single six-legged friend in sight.

Prime · Post by **Prime** » 09 Jun 2009, 22:35

OMG LUL WUT

Maybe you need more oxygen in your lungs

jee · Post by **jee** » 10 Jun 2009, 07:13

Actually, i was wondering the same.... my cats (and some of the dogs) have been heating up my bed... but i have had all kinds of noenoes in the room since the big freeze, and to tell you the truth, the spiders like the blankets as well.....

and the inside of my woolly slippers....

I suppose some like moist dark places (which are mostly warm....)

Where are the scientists when you need them? (no, don't google it... lets get people's opinions...

)

Vampyre_2099 · Post by **Vampyre_2099** » 10 Jun 2009, 08:05

Dogs and cats I can understand because they are mammals, hence warm blooded which means they need to stay warm or they freeze. Bugs I don't think feel the cold as they can be frozen and once they defrost they carry on with life as though nothing has happened

rustypup · Post by **rustypup** » 10 Jun 2009, 08:13

yes... but not the same way we do...

our reaction is far more granular than an insect's for a number of reasons, but mostly because we're warm-blooded and our skin is saturated with nerve endings who's only function in life is to gripe about all the minutiae of their daily suffering - ie, our epidermis responds almost instantly to temperature fluctuations... only once our core temp drops will we begin to experience cold the way bugs do - we start to slow down, get sleepy and, eventually, die when our blood and organs start crystallising.... we're able to stave this off for a while longer through exercise - an option not open to bugs...

bugs, being cold blooded, don't respond as quickly as we do to gradual changes in temperature, (they do react to abrupt changes), and, where we experience an analogy of 'pain' for cold, their carapace isn't peppered with nerve endings - they also have little to no control over their internal temps - this is why gradual freezing works with bugs...

Post by **Stuart** » 10 Jun 2009, 08:19

Vampyre_2099 wrote:Dogs and cats I can understand because they are mammals, hence warm blooded which means they need to stay warm or they freeze. Bugs I don't think feel the cold as they can be frozen and once they defrost they carry on with life as though nothing has happened

have you ever tried this? i've heard it my whole life, but have never actually experimented myself. i've also never tried dropping a frog in water and slowly boiling it. the person who discovered these things probably needed some psychological help at some point.

rustypup · Post by **rustypup** » 10 Jun 2009, 08:27

Stuart wrote: i've heard it my whole life, but have never actually experimented myself.

first off, bugs feel, and respond to, rapid changes in temperature, so you have to do it slowly...

not all bugs can be frozen.... the issue is the same one we suffer from... when tissue or blood freezes, it is irreparably damaged... if the bug is naturally endowed with some chemical that can buffer the internal system against crystalisation, it's on to a winner... if not, it's a bugsicle...

a sweet, delicious, bugsicle... mmmmm....

Website · Post by **hamin_aus** » 10 Jun 2009, 08:47

you like chicken?

Post by **Stuart** » 10 Jun 2009, 09:04

rustypup wrote:a sweet, delicious, bugsicle... mmmmm....

brings to mind a story from yesterday, but it would be too off topic to repeat here.

D3PART3D · Post by **D3PART3D** » 10 Jun 2009, 09:13

Stuart wrote: i've also never tried dropping a frog in water and slowly boiling it. the person who discovered these things probably needed some psychological help at some point.

True, they were probably hallucinating.

A frog will not, in fact, stay in a pot of water as it slowly starts to boil. It will jump out.

Post by **Monty** » 10 Jun 2009, 09:17

D3PART3D wrote:
Stuart wrote: i've also never tried dropping a frog in water and slowly boiling it. the person who discovered these things probably needed some psychological help at some point.
True, they were probably hallucinating.

A frog will not, in fact, stay in a pot of water as it slowly starts to boil. It will jump out.

Thats what lids are for... Duh

D3PART3D · Post by **D3PART3D** » 10 Jun 2009, 09:19

Ahahaha!

Post by **Stuart** » 10 Jun 2009, 09:24

Monty wrote:
D3PART3D wrote:
Stuart wrote: i've also never tried dropping a frog in water and slowly boiling it. the person who discovered these things probably needed some psychological help at some point.
True, they were probably hallucinating.

A frog will not, in fact, stay in a pot of water as it slowly starts to boil. It will jump out.
Thats what lids are for... Duh

rustypup · Post by **rustypup** » 10 Jun 2009, 09:24

frogs... not just for soup...

Cryogenic Bugsicles - still sound like a tasty after-dinner snack...

D3PART3D · Post by **D3PART3D** » 10 Jun 2009, 09:30

rustypup,

I wonder how long they can stay frozen for.

Tribble · Post by **Tribble** » 10 Jun 2009, 09:39

rustypup, between you and mousey - I am feeling decidedly off colour

Post by **Stuart** » 10 Jun 2009, 10:16

Tribble wrote:rustypup, between you and mousey - I am feeling decidedly off colour

We work well in tandom

Tribble · Post by **Tribble** » 10 Jun 2009, 10:30

Sadly it is effective.

@jee thanks for the heads up. Gonna check my slippers before I put them on in future.

Post by **Stuart** » 10 Jun 2009, 10:32

Tribble wrote:@jee thanks for the heads up. Gonna check my slippers before I put them on in future.

I found a Parktown Prawn lurking in one of my shoes a while back. Saw the movement JUST before I put the shoe on. It might have been unpleasant otherwise.

Tribble · Post by **Tribble** » 10 Jun 2009, 10:35

you really are on a "creep the cat out" roll today

That is one reason I would not live anywhere near Jhb, Sandton or Randburg / 4ways. We do not have Parktown prawns here. I wonder if we can arrange to have all of them flash frozen?

Post by **Stuart** » 10 Jun 2009, 10:37

My friend stayed in a house in Brackenhurst that was infested by the things ... that is where I had my experience. Other than that, I think I've only ever seen one--already dead--in Alberton.

Tribble · Post by **Tribble** » 10 Jun 2009, 10:41

I saw a dead one when I lived in Hillbrow. I was so terrified that I couldn't even walk past it. I hope I never see another one again.

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