Velvet Ant

Identification – mutillidae sp.

This is an extremely rare sight, velvet ants mating. This gorgeously coloured ant is in fact a wasp and the female is wingless. At first sight, you would be forgiven for thinking ‘predatory wasp with its dinner’. However, I have photographed the male wasp before and after a long search, it was only a couple of weeks ago that I finally identified the beast.

As soon as I saw the red wasp on the leaf today, I knew exactly what it was. When I saw that he had something in his jaws, I could only hope, as my eyesight simply is not good enough. I only managed to grab one shot before he flew off and the camera settings were all messed up from just shooting a white butterfly.

Back at the lab and the image exposure was perfect. A quick search and the female was confirmed.

One of the reasons why this is a rare sight, is sexual dimorphism. In other words, the two sexes look so different, that unless you actually see them mating, you would never believe that they were in fact the same species!

The male, like all wasps, is stingless, BUT That tiny, helpless looking female, has one of the baddest stings of all wasps. Also known as the cow killer, as a measure of the intense pain you can expect.

Artificial selection - Part 3, the final solution.

Two thousand years on, but first some history:

Two hundred years after the formation of Nadiron, without warning, a massive Nadirian army took occupation of the whole of India in a matter of hours. Few lives were lost as no resistance was put up against this far superior force. Within days, the entire country was cordoned off and secured. Fear spread throughout the farming world as the legend of two metre giants spread.

Life had settled down worldwide, with the population now a mere 15% of its former self. There were no cities as such. The population was split into hundreds of thousands of small communities, working the land in self-sufficiency. If any one community tried to grow stronger, it would be destroyed with devastating power by the Nadirians. If any community tried to progress with technology, again, the Nadirians would step in and flatten the township.

Over the next two hundred years, the Nadirians spread throughout the world, establishing large futuristic, heavily guarded city communes. The people were relocated into modern peripheral communes. Massive industrial complexes were built and the people were put to work, either in industry or on the state controlled farms.

Any resistance or objections were swiftly crushed and the people quickly realized that they had been taken over by a totalitarian society. But, the quality of life of the human race dramatically improved. Nutritional standards were raised, health care was re-introduced, education and a general higher standard of living were available, within a strictly controlled framework.

Civil unrest was not tolerated and crushed unmercifully, as was criminality and greed. There was no penal system, the Nadirians had no use for such human traits and planned to breed out the selfish gene. The people found themselves contented, well-nourished and cared for, providing that the simple rules were followed and the required work was undertaken.

The birth control of the world population continued, replenishing the old and dying. The life expectancy of the human race became an uncanny consistent 75 years and the population numbers were stabilised and constant.

Forests and wildlife were re-established, from gene pools that were stored away for the future as part of the ‘big solution’. The planet was restored to its ancient former glory.

The Nadirians were young, strong and very healthy. They never seemed to age, but they were a mystery, with no information forthcoming. Some people likened the new society to that of an ants nest, but enjoying a high quality of life and disease, sickness, poverty and suffering a thing of the past, no one was complaining. Not that they would be allowed to anyway.

So what happened!

In the absence of ethics committees and governmental controls, genetics was fast tracked as the most obvious solution. The Nadirian scientists discovered how to genetically switch birth control on and off. They secretly gassed the world population, introducing strict birth control, forcing a massive population reduction through natural wastage, achieved in just a few generations.

At the same time, the Nadirian geneticists solved the ageing process and all the major diseases were genetically eliminated. A policy of artificial selection and strict birth control rapidly improved and advanced the physical and mental strengths of the Nadirian society, they essentially became a super race in a matter of a few generations.

With a higher learning, science and technology were rapidly advanced and solutions were found to the problems that plagued the human race for so long.

Once all the technology was in place and the population numbers were under control, they systematically took over the oppressed human population. They crushed resistance and rewarded compliance with a healthy and comfortable standard of living. They basically enslaved the entire human race and strictly enforced a new balance with nature that worked for all parties.

The Nadirians continued to grow in strength, quality, intelligence and an ever increasing life span. The human workers were managed and controlled. Advancement was prevented, but a quality of life was promoted.

Under adversity, the human species had evolved into a new sub-species by artificial selection. Thus, a sustainable balance of the planet’s occupants and resources was achieved for the millennia to come.

Dave