[ExI] bees again

[spike]

On Behalf Of Anders Sandberg
Subject: Re: [ExI] bees again

 

On 19/05/2013 15:42, spike wrote:

 

>.My idea is to try to use genetic engineering to make the cockroach more
attractive.If we can make sheep that glow in the dark, we should be able to
make prettier cockroaches. spike

 

Anders wrote


Some people are trying using ordinary breeding:
http://www.roachforum.com/index.php?showtopic=4329
and enthusiasts are of course happy to point out all the existing patterns:
http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/Roaches/



 

-- 
Anders Sandberg

 

Thanks Anders!  These are waaay cool sites!  They reinforce a notion I have
held for some time.  No matter how crazy and weird is one's particular
obsession, there are others out there who are more crazy and weird.  The
internet helps these people find each other and reinforce our weird
obsessions.  A pet cockroach site, cool!

 

I had an idea regarding cockroaches, that Keith might want to comment on,
considering he is our local evolutionary psychology hipster.  Although a few
insects are carnivorous or have stings, are nearly all are stingless
vegetarians, completely harmless to humans.  Arachnids on the other hand are
almost universally carnivorous and most can deliver a painful mechanical
bite, even if it is not venomous.  A mechanical bite would produce the
instant negative feedback that results in a nearly universal human revulsion
for arachnid, which could have evolved in this way: humans who had the
anti-spider genetic content were less likely to play with them, and thus
less likely to get a bite from the few seriously venomous spiders such as
the black widow and the brown recluse.  Result: slight differential survival
rates of generalized anti-arachnid genetic code.

 

Theory: cockroaches have the prominent legs and oversized antennae, which
may resemble two additional legs, which when combined with the drab
universal brown coloring, causes the unfortunate cockroach to vaguely
resemble a spider.





Common American cockroach:

 

 

 
<http://www.google.com/imgres?q=cockroach+pictures&start=212&sa=X&hl=en&biw=
1157&bih=864&tbm=isch&tbnid=zCeekuBPJcqWMM:&imgrefurl=http://www.crawlspacec
entraltn.com/pest-control/cockroach-extermination/american-cockroaches.html&
docid=1S0ZyDRst7tOMM&imgurl=http://www.crawlspacecentraltn.com/images/americ
an-cockroach-med.jpg&w=350&h=250&ei=ZQSZUYLUGqaJiAK9nICwCQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vp
x=413&vpy=338&dur=5889&hovh=190&hovw=266&tx=127&ty=115&page=7&tbnh=139&tbnw=
195&ndsp=37&ved=1t:429,r:28,s:200,i:88>
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTPZmde3IOkhgD-r2CpdjmKpzk0J58bFNWAZ
yeET0LYd51g7oo

 

Venomous brown recluse:

 

Brown Recluse Spider Picture

 

 

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