God has an enemy - Cremastocheilus Beetle ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the Americas a little brown or black beetle lives that most of us would not even notice. In fact, most of you would probably just step on it if you came across it. But, this little beetle has a fascinating story.

This beetle happens to be a parasite. We usually think of a parasite as something that lives in or on us and makes us sick or itch. But this beetle is a parasite on ants!

Its name is Cremastocheilus (Kree-mast-oh-kyle'-us), sometimes called the anteater scarab and is nothing special to look at. But, it has an incredible ability. It is able to change the way it smells.

If you are familiar with ants, then you know that they are able to recognize others in their colonies with their marvelous sense of smell. They cannot do it by sight, because they cannot see very well. In fact, some ants are totally blind. So, when two ants meet, they will stroke the other ant with their antennae collecting minute amounts of chemicals in special receptors that allow them to identify if the other ant is friend or foe.

Incredibly, the Cremastocheilus beetle can change the way it smells. When it is time for the female beetle to lay her eggs, she will go to an ant nest and walk up to the entrance. She then changes the way she smells so that the ants will think that she is an ant from that colony.

Once she has passed the guards, she makes her way down into the ant nest and finds the nursery. She then lays her eggs in with the ant eggs.

When the baby beetle hatches, it smells like a baby ant. But, it does not eat what baby ants eat. It eats baby ants! The ants take care of it anyway, because to them it smells right.

When the baby beetle gets big enough, it will pupate and then become an adult. As an adult, it leaves the ant nest to find another adult beetle to mate with. The female will then find another ant nest and start the cycle over again.

When I think of this beetle, it reminds me a lot of God's enemy, sin. We are so blind, that in many respects we are just like the

If we don't get rid of the sin, it will destroy the most precious things in our lives and eventually kill us as well. Let's ask God to help us to find the parasites in our lives and destroy them.

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I have not been able to find common books with pictures of Cremastocheilus in them. However, there are a few published on the web. I suggest going to Google.com and clicking on the images tab. Then search for cremastocheilus and you should be able to find an image or two.

If you want to collect some specimens, the easiest way to do that is to put a large flat rock on the nest of one of the large carpenter ant colonies found in most pine forests. You can tell them, because they make a large pile of pine needles and if you listen, you can hear them rustling around inside. To catch some, place a large flat rock on the side of the nest. Come back in a few days when the sun has been warming up the rock. One of these beetles can often be found warming up under the rock.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tracking God News IS PUBLISHED BY: http://www.trackinggod.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

copyright 2002
Ron McCluskey
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Ron McCluskey is an emergency room physician and amateur naturalist. Growing up, he studied insects and birds. While he continues to enjoy studying these natural subjects, his interest has grown to include the rest of creation as well.

He has spent over a year doing volunteer work in tropical countries. While there he enjoyed seeing how God's creation gives ample evidence of His intimate knowledge and care for His nature.