1. 1st Person Bug Paper
You need to write this blog from the 1st person perspective of the insect, for example,
imagine you are an individual of that species and describe what you would experience and
interact with at each life stage. Be specific and provide details. Here is an example: It is not
perfect, this would earn a 62 out of 70 points. To earn full credit you should credit
photographers and have a works cited/reference section at the end of your blog for all of
your references (see FAQ guide for reference format).
check mark pictureThings to consider including in your blog. BE SPECIFIC! The more details
you provide the better!
Where are you geographically?
Where is your home? (be specific- if you live on the underside of a leaf, tell your audience
what kind of plant you are on, and why you are there)
What do you eat? How do you find your food?
How long does it take for you to complete your life stage(s)?
Are there any predators that will eat you, or will you eat another insect?
Share details about your siblings, parents, colony, any interactions you have with them at
each stage.
You can add dialog. Be creative!
check mark pictureYour blog should include 5 posts in 5 different sections. You will type
your blog in a Word document and then upload it here.
check mark pictureThe 5 posts should cover the following life stages:
My time as an egg
My time as a larvae (or nymph)
My time as an pupae (or transition from nymph to adult)
My time as an adult
My time mating and laying eggs
check mark pictureIf your insect does not have a larval/pupal stage, then do two posts on
the nymphal stage, one early one late.
check mark pictureNeed to learn more about your bug? Use the library! Off-Campus Access
2. to the TAMU Library: https://library.tamu.edu/services/tech_troubleshooting.html
Additional Tips:
We expect between 1,650 and 2,000 words including references and photo captions/credits
for this assignment. If you go a bit longer on some sections or a bit over 2,000 words that is
understandable.
For some sections where you do not have much detail on the stage (like the egg) can you tell
us more about the environment around the egg, or the surface the egg is on, or how does the
egg develop internally? What time of year is it, is it a rainy or dry season, is it cold or warm
outside? Are there any dangers around? Are there any other insects or animals that might
eat them, angry farmers on their way with pesticides?
You can be creative with your blogs just try and be factual as well. We will not be happy if
you have an insect living in a region where they do not live, or feeding on a plant they do not
eat, or if you have a farmer trying to kill off the bees they know are pollinating their crops!
Example paper attached
Human Bot Fly Dermatobia hominis BLOG POST #1 – THE EGG We are in the jungles of
Belize, which is located in Central America, about halfway between Texas and South
America. This stretch of land is where my extended family can be found. It rains a lot here,
and the air is humid, which seems to help my family survive. My official name is Dermatobia
Hominis, but I usually go by the name of Human Bot Fly. Recently, my mother captured a
female mosquito and attached me and a few other eggs onto the bottom side of it. Somehow
we are glued onto this mosquito. My shape is oval, and I am creamy colored. After
transferring me, my mother released the mosquito. Wherever the mosquito flies, we travel
with it. The term for this occurrence is called phoresis, which is a bit like hitch-hiking. There
are many other mosquitoes flying around too, and we always seem to fly at night when it is
cooler. Our flying around at night also helps us stay away from birds and some other
predators looking for a nice meal. During the day, the mosquito finds a damp place to hide
away from the sunlight. My host mosquito has been trying to find food. It has tried landing
on a few furry animals, but has not been successful. Once, we were almost eaten by a bat.
Luckily, the bat made a meal of other mosquitoes flying nearby which allowed us to get
away. Tonight, my host mosquito has spotted some humans who look like they have been
hiking. As we get close to the humans, I feel the warmth radiating from their skin. It seems
there is a chemical spray on the humans’ legs, which is repelling the mosquito, so the
mosquito focuses its attention on the head of one of the humans. As it does so, the mosquito
barely misses a waiving hand from one of the humans. Finally, the mosquito successfully
goes in for a landing. I notice how warm it has gotten on the skin of this human as the
mosquito enjoys a bloody meal. With all of the heat coming from the human, I felt a funny
sensation come over me. I was beginning to hatch. In very little time, I slip out of my egg
housing and off of my host mosquito. Now I am travelling on the back of the neck of this
human. Wow, my days as an egg are over. To see some interesting pictures or to learn
more about my early lifecycle, check out this article:
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2539025/ BLOG POST #2 – LARVAE Hi
again. It’s me, the Human Bot Fly or more formally a Dermatobia Hominis. If you remember,
it wasn’t long ago that a mosquito bit its human victim, and that is when the warmth of the
human allowed me to hatch from an egg attached to the underside of the mosquito. As a
larva, I popped out of my egg and fell onto the human’s neck. It is by chance that I ended up
on a human because some of my cousins landed on other animals such as dogs, cats,
monkeys, pigs, cattle, etc. When I landed on the skin, within minutes I began to burrow by a
hair follicle. After burrowing in a little deeper, I use my two anal hooks to latch on. If
nothing bothers me, this is where I will hang out for the next 6 to 12 weeks and feed on
human tissue and pus. I will grow from 2-3
millimeters to possibly 3 centimeters long. This behavior is called myiasis, or when
someone like me (a larval form of an insect) invades the flesh of another. I am basically a
maggot. I breathe through two posterior spiracles, which I keep even with the outer layer of
the human’s skin. If the human were to apply a thick substance such as glue or Vaseline over
the skin opening, I will have to crawl out in order to breathe. If the human were to cover up
the hole with tape, then I would be unable to escape and die. If the human covers the hole
with white sap from the matatorsalo tree, then I would die right here in my burrow. This
sap is known as bot killer, but the tree is found in Costa Rica so I should be safe since we are
currently in Belize. I have formed concentric rows of black spicules or spikes, which allow
me to stay firmly gripped in my burrow. I grow bigger here, and after about 7 days, I molt
into a second instar, followed by a third instar about 10 days later. Do you want to see a
picture of me? Well, this is a sample picture of what I look like as a larva. As a full-grown
larva, I will probably grow more than twice as big as this. As I grow, it seems that I am
bothering my human host, especially when I eat on his tissue. He has been washing the
outer skin a lot, and I can feel a little pressure as he scratches nearby. One day, he went
swimming under water for a long time. This had me worried because I could not breathe. I
squirmed quite a bit as I tried to find air. I may have even pooped out some feces through
the skin opening where I normally breathe, but I hear this is normal. If the human does not
seek medical help, then I might actually survive this stage of my life. A surgeon could use a
scalpel to cut me out, or he could try to squeeze me out. If he tries the later, he risks having
me break apart within my burrow, and then it would be difficult to get all of my parts out.
Hopefully that will not happen, and so far, I am surviving and growing in my home. If I can
last around 12 weeks in my burrow, then I will pop out of this hole and say goodbye to my
human host. I will fall to the ground as I transition to my pupae stage.
One of my distant cousins didn’t get so lucky. Here is a picture of him getting removed from
the scalp of a human. If you want to read examples of other larvae-infested humans, check
out this link: https://ambergriscaye.com/pages/town/botfly.html BLOG POST #3 –
PUPAE Wow, what a journey! I started my life as an egg that my mother attached to a
mosquito. Then one day, a human’s body heat helped me hatch into a larva. After hitching a
ride with a human for approximately 12 weeks, I popped out of my human host and fell to
the ground here in Belize. After about 2-3 days of digging into the soil, I am going through
pupation. I am spending the next 2 to 4 weeks here in the ground. I am not very active
during this stage, except that I am transitioning into an adult. I do not eat anything while I
4. am making this transformation. Here is a selfie of me as a pupa that can be found at the
following link: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/flies/human_bot_fly.htm
BLOG POST #4 – ADULT Hi again. I was able to break free from my pupal case and make
my way out of the soil. Now, I am having fun flying around with my new wings. After not
eating for a few weeks, do you think I would be really hungry? Well, the truth is, I ate so
much during the larval stage that I don’t eat as an adult. In fact, I really don’t have much of a
mouth. My size is like most adult bot flies, between 12 and 18 mm long. I look almost like a
bumblebee, with dense bluish-black hair on my body and a yellow-orange face and legs. My
wings are brown, yet slightly transparent. I have compound eyes, but my eyes are fairly
close together, compared to some of the other bot flies I have seen. This means I am a male.
Also, I am a little smaller than the female bot flies. I have some interesting antennae that will
help me find a female when we are ready to mate. I only have about 3-4 days to live, so we
better mature quickly! Here is a picture of an adult, similar to me: BLOG POST #5 –
MATING
It has been only a few hours since I became an adult, and I am no longer interested in flying
around for fun. I am ready to find females who are ready to mate. This is when I do my
pouncing dance. If a female is receptive, copulation occurs when she protracts her abdomen,
and we are done after about 9 minutes. Like I said, I have a very short life as an adult, so I
have to hurry through this mating process. I may find another 1 or 2 females to mate with
over the next couple days. Females lay hundreds of eggs on multiple porter hosts, much like
the mosquito that helped me start my journey. However, I will die before I get to see any of
my offspring. In fact, I will likely be dead by the fourth day of adulthood. Oh well, it has been
a fun journey! If you want to read more about the adult lifecycle, you can check out this
link: https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Dermatobia_hominis/
