Page 237 - The Microworld Miracle

aware of what is going on around them.
Their antennae perceive and ana-
lyze the chemicals they use to
communicate with one anoth-
er by. Although antennae are
sometimes regarded more as
feelers to augment their sense
Bees can establish a chemi-
of touch, their basic function is cal "language" with one an-
other which they perceive
to provide the insect with a sensi-
thanks to their antennae.
tive sense of smell. A large number of ol-
factory nerves are arranged along the antennae, and these detect
the aromas of foodstuffs and identify the chemical messengers or
scent-bearing molecules known as pheromones belonging to the
opposite sex. Communal insects like ants and bees, also used their

antennae to establish identity and for chemical communication.
They analyze the chemical signals released by others by touching
them with their antennae and determining whether they are friends
or foes. Mosquitoes can perceive sounds through their antennae.
When one examines the countless features of insects, such as
their sensitive antennae, the chemicals they use to communicate,
their bodies created like robots, the resistant structures that permit
them to live under all kinds of conditions, the poisons they use for
attack and defense, the way they enter into shared lives with other

living things, the exquisite tissues of some insects such as butter- HARUN YAHYA
flies, metamorphosis, hunting and tactics like camouflage, a very
broad, complicated picture emerges. These properties, the subject
of whole libraries of books, yet they actually represent the very lim-
ited knowledge we have of insects. There are hundreds of thou- (ADNAN OKTAR)

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