Hey guys, a while back I read about either a fly, or an ant, or some insect which when young, stretches it's eyeballs out of it's head, and the body hardens and it becomes a permanent thing!
Anyone shed some light on it?
[ No, it's not reversible, like inflation as seen in the picture. ]
>>2093550
Really curious about what the bug is! anyone?
>>2093550
I don't remember the name, but ya. The fly blows air bubbles into it's eye stalks when it emerges from it's pupae while it's exoskeleton is still soft. It's a reproductive thing, like females pick males with the longest stalks.
>>2093555
So wait, it might actually BE the pictured one?
I was under the impression that the fly did this to attract a mate, and it was undoable.
I thought they did it once as young and it was permanent...Any ideas?
I guess my hangup is the reversable part.
Can they suck their eyes back in? The
creature in question, at least in my mind, it
was permanent.
This is one and the same?
I wonder what would become of the fly that was unable to stretch it's eyes...Would it function normally? Would it be a new bug? This window, to stretch the eyes is only a short one, what if it were prohibited from doing this and it hardened without it?!
>>2093567
It would be an r9k fly, forever unable to mate
>>2093571
But aside from mating, I do wonder, how would it behave? I want to capture one of these and find out!
>>2093558
It's irreversible I believe. Arthropods exoskeletons are soft when they emerge from their pupae or after they molt.
>>2093572
It would be a lot more agile, like a normal fly. Thats why females prefer the big stalks. It means poor visual acuity, so you have to be super fit to avoid predators. Its kinda like a guy who's survived combat is gonna be more attractive to most women than a guy who's never been to war. Im sure thats where the whole man in a uniform thing comes from
Diopsidae
>>2093550
It's a stalk-eyed fly; males with longer eye stalks are more desirable to females. Also, if a rival male comes across a male with his harem, the two will compare eye stalk lengths, and the one with the shorter eye stalks just leaves. Real fighting very rarely ensues.
