Sunday,  October 28, 2012 • Vol. 13--No. 103 • 7 of 43 •  Other Editions

Insect Spotlight

• How many legs does Dracula have?
• It turns out that vampires are fairly unique within the animal world. Naturally, their activity patterns come to mind; Dracula and his ilk outwardly forage for prey only one night per year (Halloween). But their diet also puts vampires into a restricted fraternity. Really, the only group of animals that have been successful making a living out of blood feeding are…the insects.
• Drinking blood is really rare within the animal world. Aside from our long-toothed, immortal friends, specialization on blood (termed "haematophagy") has only evolved a few times in animals. One species of world-renowned bat, two birds, and a small handful of fish are the only vertebrates that eat blood. Exceptions lie with insects and their kin; haematophagy has independently evolved around six times in the insects.
• In addition to ticks and leeches (which are NOT insects, and insects are shocked that you would presume so), fleas, mosquitoes and flies (e.g., horse flies, black flies, and stable flies, oh my!), some true bugs (assassin bugs and bed bugs), and two large groups of lice that all feed primarily or exclusively on blood. Oddly, there is also one species of moth in the Amazon that can be added to this list. This vampire moth, which evolved to feed on animal tears,

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