Universal "Death Stench" Repels Bugs of All Types 248
Hugh Pickens writes "Wired reports that scientists have discovered that insects from cockroaches to caterpillars all emit the same stinky blend of fatty acids when they die and that the death mix may represent a universal, ancient warning signal to avoid their dead or injured. 'Recognizing and avoiding the dead could reduce the chances of catching the disease,' says Biologist David Rollo of McMaster University 'or allow you to get away with just enough exposure to activate your immunity.' Researchers isolated unsaturated fatty acids containing oleic and linoleic acids from the corpses of dead cockroaches and found that their concoction repelled not just cockroaches, but ants and caterpillars. 'It was amazing to find that the cockroaches avoided places treated with these extracts like the plague,' says Rollo. Even crustaceans like woodlice and pillbugs, which diverged from insects 400 million years ago, were repelled leading scientists to think the death mix represents a universal warning signal. Scientists hope the right concoction of death smells might protect crops. Thankfully, human noses can't detect the fatty acid extracts. 'I've tried smelling papers treated with them and don't smell anything strong and certainly not repellent,' writes Rollo in an e-mail. 'Not like the rotting of corpses that occurs later and is detectable from great distances.'"
This is nonsense (Score:5, Interesting)
Bring out your dead ! (Score:5, Insightful)
Your anecdote does nothing to invalidate the article's data.
It makes sense for any animal to avoid a site where its own are dead.
It's the same category of reflex that makes us want to throw up when someone pukes (being social animals we often eat together), that makes us universally find some smells offensive (pretty much always originally attached to something potentially toxic), etc.
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Except for cannibals which are so hard to kill that whatever happened to the dead one was probably just bad luck. Like, for example, roaches. IIRC, their attraction to the smell of their own dead is pretty well documented.
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I have ants where I live, and I've experimented by killing and collecting dead ants, then crushing them and spreading the juices around.
The ants don't care about their own dead, apparently. I find trails of ants all the time where dead ants are scattered along the trail. It doesn't deter them one bit...
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I have ants where I live
I would hope so, unless you are posting from the ISS ;)
The ants don't care about their own dead, apparently
Actually a lot of ants will collect their dead. It's really quite amazing to watch too.
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Here's what I do for ants, works better than any of those nerve agent poisons. Plain old diatomaceous earth (diatomite, silica powder, kisselgur, etc...) Some farmers use it to protect grain and stuff, but it works on ants and other crawly pests too. You put it in places where ants like to run around, like say, the base of a door, along a foundation or on top of an anthill. It kills some of them, injures others but they seem to hate it so much eventually the colony gives up and moves away from your house
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Well, that convinces me. The anecdote that you're not quite sure you've recalled correctly sure outweighs this report from scientists. Kudos!
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Re:This is nonsense (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe for some bugs, but for those nasty caca roches, I get a bowl, wipe the top 4 inches around inside with vegtable oil then put whatever inside... coffee grounds, bananas... whatever... There are tons of dead ones in there but that doesn't stop more from coming. Also, cockroaches are cannibals.
Well, to be fair, your observations are from cockroaches that have lived in close quarters with humans and not those in nature. Notice that in the article, it's only Wired who suggests this would protect you from an infestation. The scientists say this may protect crops--which are in a more natural setting. And I think you would see a much higher success rate on cockroaches or wood beetles that live in the wild versus those in your home. Many animals behave very differently in their natural environment.
Whatever the case, I'm really excited to see fatty acid extracts used instead of chemical compounds on the food that I eat. Especially for people that have small gardens of tomatoes and vegetables. I'd personally pay a small premium on my produce for crops grown and repelling insects with this technology.
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Re:This is nonsense (Score:4, Interesting)
I think bulk breeding and crushing of roaches would likely be a fairly effective means of building these compounds in bulk (assuming, of course, that roaches have a decent amount of these chemicals in them). Paraphrasing and condensing from Wikipedia: In favorable conditions, one female roach can, in her one year lifespan, produce 300-400 offspring, and she only needs to be impregnated once to do so (though the eggs are only laid in groups of ~40 at a time). Aside from one or two commonly available nutrients, their gut bacteria synthesize all other nutrients required to live from whatever they eat, from wood to postage stamp glue to corn oil, so you can feed them otherwise worthless semi-edible plant matter as a form of accelerated composting.
Besides, I think we can safely say that no matter how much of a threat we pose to the survival of other species (say, most of the world's fish stock), we're in no danger of running out of roaches. And aside from PETA, not a whole lot of people are going to protest a roach crushing facility that enables them to repel roaches. Just don't build it too close to people, or you'll get a whole NIMBY movement going.
Re:This is nonsense (Score:4, Insightful)
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Roaches have lived among humans for long enough that their natural eviroment is our home.
Only a few types (maybe half a dozen to a dozen out of thousands or more species worldwide). Most roaches are still nature lovers.
Re:This is nonsense (Score:5, Funny)
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Whatever the case, I'm really excited to see fatty acid extracts used instead of chemical compounds on the food that I eat.
Yeah, I can't wait to have dead roach slime smeared all over my food. That sounds much more appetizing. ;)
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The oil could seal the stench... (Score:2)
Oil is a remarkable sealant - something to keep in mind. I don't have a cockroach problem but, here in Michigan, the wolf spider [google.com] (and various other species scare the bejebus out of me (ever hear a 12 year old girl scream?) so I have discovered that eucalyptus oil is handy to keep them at bay.
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The biggest that I saw was about 5 inches across (Independence Oaks in Clarkston) but, normally, they are less than half of that size. I had a couple in my house recently - only about 1.5 inches - and they are QUICK.
***shudder***
Re:This is nonsense (Score:5, Funny)
Doesn't work for me either! My car's windshield and hood are plastered with dead insects. You would think that would warn other insects to stay away but no, after every road trip, there are just MORE bugs splattered on my car. I call BS.
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(Please somebody say WHOOSH!)
Re:This is nonsense (Score:5, Funny)
I just thought he was crazy. Apparently he was on to something.
Less nonsense (Score:3, Informative)
Maybe for some bugs, but for those nasty caca roches, I get a bowl, wipe the top 4 inches around inside with vegtable oil then put whatever inside... coffee grounds, bananas... whatever... There are tons of dead ones in there but that doesn't stop more from coming. Also, cockroaches are cannibals.
Got a roach problem? Cheap boric acid, sold in plastic bottles everywhere. Don't dump it, pour it, spoon it. Don't waste time preparing mixtures of food and boric acid. Snip the top off of the plastic top. Tip the bottle a little bit, and squeeze. Practice until you can create clouds of fine particles floating in the air. Globs and clumps of white powder do you no good at all - you want a very fine cloud to float out, so that it can settle and coat everything.
Get rid of kids and pets for a couple days - som
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Maybe for some bugs, but for those nasty caca roches, I get a bowl, wipe the top 4 inches around inside with vegtable oil then put whatever inside... coffee grounds, bananas... whatever...
So, what you're saying is that either the scientists are flat out lying when they claim this works for cockroaches, or that they're so incompetent that they can't even tell when an insect is avoiding some area due to an applied chemical? Really?
Honestly, what the *fuck* is with Slashdotter arrogance? I mean, I've been ar
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Did you take your Cheerios with extra piss this morning?
I found his comment pretty entertaining. Just wish I'd read it before moving out of my old apartment.
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Re:This is nonsense (Score:5, Funny)
Joe? Are you alright? Joe? JOE?
Re:This is nonsense (Score:5, Funny)
Re:This is nonsense (Score:4, Funny)
And not the pizza's?
Quite interesting.
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Where do you think the fly carcasses wind up?
Hint: those aren't peppercorns.
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new flies are examining the dead fly carcasses
And not the pizza's?
They're examining the pizza's dead flies. [angryflower.com]
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Plus a zingy alternative pizza topping!
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Yea, I'll have the large peperoni with some of that new dead fly spice. (Joke!)
Gotta keep that thing away from the food.
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At all the mexican food restaurants here in Texas, they hang a (sealed) ziploc bag filled with water above the door. Somehow they believe that it repels mosquitos and flies. So many places do it, you'd think it would have to work, but I can't see how. Anybody have any ideas?
I believe the theory is that flies avoid it to avoid getting snapped up by the fish found in running water. Whether it works or not is still unclear [snopes.com] but unlikely. One researcher says "no, under fluorescent or incandescent lighting", but surprisingly there doesn't seem to be much research.
Re:This is nonsense (Score:4, Insightful)
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Evolution occurs on a species level, not an individual one. Also, evolution isn't "directed" towards anything. It's random mutations, and those which end up being more beneficial are the ones that stick around.
In this case, it's entirely feasible to imagine multiple species developing a common scent that is avoided by all. It would after all improve the chances of survival for the _entire_ population. There are many species of insect and plant which have bitter tastes as well. Such features may not be
Re:This is nonsense (Score:5, Funny)
Dear Sir,
We are writing to you in relation to views and opinions that you articulated in Slashdot post #29465417 on 18th September last. Saids view on the mechanics of evolution were found by the committee to be grossly nescient and incorrect, and moreover demonstrating of a grievously lack of creative and logical thinking on your part. In the words of one committee member, and I quote: "WTF?!".
Following arbitration on the matter, the committee deeply regrets to inform you that your Geek Credentials and subsequent privileges have been placed in probation pending a completed review by yourself on the basics of the theory of evolution and its predictions. We regret to inform you that until such time as this review has been filed your access to association slide rules and soldering kits will be suspended and you will be restricted to playing only those table top games which restrict themselves to six sided dice. Moreover, while you may still retain them, use of association anti-wedgie underwear is also prohibited during this time.
Enclosed with this letter is a copy of the latest popular science volume The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins. It is hoped that your review can be swiftly completed by a enlightening study of this book and its replete examples. I await your reply and subsequent readmission to full membership with hopeful anticipation.
Yours sincerely
Dexter Cuthbert
Chairman
Membership Review Committee
International Geek and Nerd Association
P.S. We mean it about the underwear.
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Your understanding of evolution is incorrect. Evolution isn't something an animal "does" or even something nature "does". It's just the simple fact that ANYTHING that leads to better reproductive success will lead to more offspring and gradually replace animals that don't have that SOMETHING.
Evolution is not hard to understand, it's just common sense once you understand it.
Imagine two valleys separated by a hard to cross mountain ridge. In one valley some animals develop a random mutation that gives off a s
Re:This is nonsense (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't know any more than you do, but here's a possible scenario: when bugs died, they emitted a slight odor as an accidental part of the decomposition process. Insect X is born with a gene that makes him dislike that odor, so he and his offspring avoid diseased corpses and are slightly less likely to die. But it's not foolproof, because the odor is slight.
Later, one of those insects develops a "be extra stinky when you die" gene. Maybe it means he has more of a certain chemical in his exoskeleton, which bacteria like. It doesn't really help him survive, but it doesn't hurt him either. He has some offspring, and later dies. All his offspring avoid his corpse like crazy, and start doing the same for each other's corpses. Now that whole population is less likely than before to catch disease, and that particular gene keeps getting passed on.
Think of the gene itself as an organism, with the actual insect being just a host. Would those organisms help either other reproduce? I think so.
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I know I'm being pedantic, but am I the only person on /. that knows the word is "jibe", not "jive"?
I wonder if this is why they ... (Score:2)
... quit coming to my roach motel.
if you build it (Score:3, Funny)
-Mister cockroach.
Smelling death (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Smelling death (Score:4, Funny)
Bob the squirrel saw his cousin Sammy go in there. He saw what happened to Sammy. Bob does not want to end up like Sammy.
As an added reminder, essence of Sammy remains in the trap. Sammy juice. Yuck.
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Sharks, too (Score:5, Insightful)
Thinking about it, I doubt very much that humans millennia ago smelled dead human and though, "Hey, I wonder what killed him. I'm going to go see."
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I guess we have now evolved to that point? Or maybe past it, "Hey, I wonder what killed him. I'm going to go see, and we'll base a CSI episode off of it."
Re:Sharks, too (Score:5, Insightful)
Not really. It takes a lot of practice to overcome revulsion of the dead. There is nothing that smells quite as bad like a dead person, even a fresh one has a smell that will tie your stomach in a knot. My fiance is a mortician and it took her quite some time to get over the smell. It still creeps me out when I end up having to wait on her at the funeral home.
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Anything good on the winelist ?
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Now we can just use youtube!
The only good bug is a dead bug. (Score:5, Funny)
Join the Mobile Infantry and save the Galaxy. Service guarantees citizenship. Would you like to know more?
I smell.. (Score:2)
Folklore (Score:4, Interesting)
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Good for democracy (Score:2)
I vote we hose down K Street with it. We'll have a representative democracy in under 5 minutes!
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Thanks. If I see my congressman surrounded by lobbyists in gas masks, I'll know who to talk to.
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Alas, there would be no effect. You forget that Washington power brokers are not just vermin, but undead vermin.
Crops (Score:5, Insightful)
How are they going to use this for protecting crops? If ants are repelled, wasps and bees will be, too, and there goes your pollination.
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Yes,
but the process of attaching the masks may hurt the bees' knees.
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How are they going to use this for protecting crops? If ants are repelled, wasps and bees will be, too, and there goes your pollination.
Still useful (if it really works) for protecting fruit though. Once the blossom is gone and the fruit starts to develop, pollination is no longer an issue.
Re:Crops (Score:5, Informative)
How are they going to use this for protecting crops? If ants are repelled, wasps and bees will be, too, and there goes your pollination.
Corn [wikipedia.org] is pollinated by wind. I'm not going to bother to find sources for each kind of corn, but here's links for maize [osu.edu] (American corn), wheat [answers.com] (European corn), and barley barley [wikipedia.org]. (I guess that link only indicates that Barley self-pollinates, not pollinates by wind. whatever.) Rice [wikipedia.org] is also wind-pollinated.
Potatoes [cornell.edu] don't need to be pollinated at all.
Therefore, if a product is developed from cockroach juice, it might be most useful for these kinds of crops. Note that "cereals" and "roots and tubers" are the 1st and 3rd most produced [wikipedia.org] type of crop.
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Great... (Score:5, Funny)
So the solution to live cockroaches on my floor is dead cockroaches?
As someone living in a gentrifying neighborhood, any chance this works on hipsters?... (some ground up Converse All-Stars and stovepipe jeans?)
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I find your ideas fascinating, and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
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I believe you would actually have to grind up the hipster.
Slashdotters stench (Score:2, Funny)
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Rotting pizza and the smell of coding for 36 hours in a hot room without a bath, maybe?
Funny Footnote (Score:2)
Image: Flickr/bensheldon. Note: This photo was chosen from a disturbingly large volume of dead cockroach images on Flickr.
Every once in a while the internet totally redeems itself. :-P
Thanks, Slashdot (Score:2)
Is this why Raid's days may be numbered? (Score:2)
All the time I spent vacuuming out dead roaches from my computer cases... wasted. If I'd mashed them flat instead, obviously I'd have had a lot fewer live bugs to eliminate from my code as a result.
RAID's days may be numbered (Score:5, Funny)
interesting results (Score:2)
1) How quickly does the substance dissipate? Would a farmer have to spray the every time it rains/there's a light breeze?
2) How long before some bugs say "ah, screw the smell, i'm hungry, dammit!" Some insects might evolve to sacrifice their natural defense from disease for the sake of a good meal, thus making the process useless... Thankfully there aren't really a whole lot of dis
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Is this new? (Score:5, Interesting)
A few decades ago, Edward O. Wilson proved that ants mark their trails with scent by removing their organs individually and smearing them around. Eventually he found one that would cause them to follow the trail, and would demonstrate his discovery by writing his name in ants.
I heard a recorded lecture where he told this story, and he also mentioned that they discovered the "dead ant" smell that would signal the colony that "this one is dead, go put it on the pile." When they put the scent on a live ant, the other ants would carry it off to the pile, ignoring the fact that it was squirming the whole way there. And until the stinky ant cleaned itself off enough, they would keep putting it back every time it left the pile.
Re:Is this new? (Score:4, Funny)
A few decades ago, Edward O. Wilson proved that ants mark their trails with scent by removing their organs individually and smearing them around.
Damn, those are some masochistic ants.
Call me a skeptic (Score:3, Interesting)
Perhaps the compounds decay? (Score:2)
My guess would be that these compounds which repel the insects probably decay after a few hours or days? At which point,the other roaches come back and chow down?
When can we buy this "death mix"? (Score:2)
I'm guessing this would be a pretty non-toxic bug deterrent as it wouldn't need to kill them, just fool them into thinking the sprayed area was deadly. So you could spray it into areas containing food items. As someone who recently had a pest infestation, I'd welcome this. (Double infestation, actually. Termites which were only found when we called an exterminator to examine the beetle larvae we found all over our house. Those wound up being pantry pests.)
Another thought occurs though, if the "death mi
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Geeks are insect experts (Score:5, Funny)
Trouble with crustaceans (Score:2, Funny)
Great, finally there's a way to get these damn lobsters off my crops!
Across species? (Score:3, Funny)
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It doesn't surprise me that penicillin (an antibiotic) doesn't work too well against a virus. That's not a mutation.
Perhaps you meant bacteria that are immune to penicillin (which, in many cases, are the result of stupid people insisting on trying to treat viral infections with antibiotics).
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isn't a "cold" actually a virus?
Yeah, enteroviruses [wikipedia.org]. The cold used to be from rhinoviruses, but they got merged.* It's likely her doctor was concerned about opportunistic infections - such as pneumonia - and gave her antibiotics preventative-like. (In my opinion, doing so is usually overreacting, but I'm not a medical-type doctor and, if I were, I don't know anything about your sister. So do what the nice doctor tells you.)
* The recession impacts everything. I definitely didn't expect it, but then I never studied microeconomics.
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Nature doesn't have a knack for anything, it's a dumb process.
But you're kind of right - if the reproductive advantages a species of insect gains from living in human dwellings outweighs the reproductive advantages of an aversion to "Death Stench," insects unaffected by this odor will fill the niche.
Re:Prolly not going to work. (Score:4, Informative)
The very high degree of conservation of this trait across species suggests that there are already strong selective pressures to maintain it. Selective use of this stuff is not likely to counter that. Also most evolution happens through frequency shifts of alleles already present in the population, not through creation of new alleles by mutation. Given the long evolutionary history, there may not be many non-functioning alleles for this trait to promote. Mutations are random and infrequent, and most are lethal. It could be many, many years before a suitable mutation arises.
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Freakin' lasers?
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Bollocks. Can you provide a single reference to a shark repellent which was proved or convincingly demonstrated to be effective and any evidence of a subsequent mutation that caused that species to be immune?
This [youtube.com] demonstration is pretty darn convincing. Right? And sure enough, a later mutation [funnyanimalpictures.net] came along with immunity. One day science will give us* bat-catshark repellent, but until then, I'm staying clear of any body of water larger than I can comfortably drink.
* And by "us" I mean "those of us who dress up light a creature of the night to strike fear into the hearts of criminals".
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Because you're simply placing too much emphasis on natural selection being somehow performed with a destination in mind.
Evolution is mostly accident. The fact that the fatty acids inside a dead corpse happen to put off others has nothing to do with those creatures benefiting from it - it's just the way fatty acids smell when a living thing dies. And any sensible living thing might well benefit from detecting a unique odour that only occurs around rotting corpses so that it can steer clear of the area - th
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Okay, I understand now that the smell itself is flagged by the animals as a warning sign. It was a genuine question I had, yet some begrudged slashdotter felt the need to mod me as a troll...
Well this is the most common mistake people make about evolution. There is no "divine intervention" so there is no purpose, however I wouldn't call it "accident". It's much more like a filter.
You have 3 cockroaches, one is dead and two are living. One of the two living is fat and hates the smell of other dead cockroaches. The other is thin and doesn't get bothered by the smell of dead cockroaches. The dead cockroach was killed by an airborne disease. The fat cockroach stays away while the thin cockroach do
Rather simple actually... (Score:2)
All bugs emit a certain smell when they die. Some bugs find that smell repulsive, some don't.
One of those two will remove themselves from the "death area" and later have offspring.
It is not the trait that they smell bad when they die that is transmitted, but the trait that said smell is repulsive.
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Th
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