Page 128 - Ever Thought About The Truth ?
P. 128

EVER THOUGHT ABOUT THE TRUTH?


                 The neatly placed white eggs soon start to darken, and they
             turn completely black in a couple of hours.  This dark colour pro-
             vides protection for the larvae by preventing them from being
             noticed by other insects and birds. Apart from the eggs, the skin
             colours of some other larvae also change according to their sur-
             roundings, and this helps to protect them.
                 The larvae change colours by making use of certain factors
             after quite complicated chemical processes. No doubt, neither
             the eggs, nor the larvae, nor the mother gnat is aware of the
             processes behind the colour changes during the gnat's different
             developmental stages. It is out of the question for these living be-
             ings themselves to make this system or for this system to form by
             coincidence. Gnats have been created with these systems from
             the moment they first appeared.

                 Coming Out of the Egg

                 When the incubation period is complete, larvae start to
             come out of the eggs almost simultaneously. The larvae, which
             feed continuously, grow quickly. Soon, their skins become too
             tight, not allowing them to grow any further. This indicates that
             it is time for the first change of skin. In this phase, the hard and
             brittle skin breaks easily. Before the gnat larva fully completes its
             development, it changes its skin two more times.
                 The method created for feeding the larvae is rather astonish-
             ing. The larvae make small whirlpools in the water with their
             two fan-shaped appendages made up of feathers, and thus make
             bacteria and other micro-organisms flow towards their mouths.
             The respiration of the larvae, which repose upside down in




                                          126
   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133