Classroom Activities
Where do WOWBugs fit into a life science curriculum? In a great many places. WOWBugs: New Life for Life Science presents over 20 ways, keyed to National Science Education Standards. These insects lend themselves especially well to such concepts as life cycles, change, communication, and behavioral adaptations. One teacher whose students explored WOWBug biology commented, "The fact that it parasitizes another insect adds the dimension of predatory fascination, flavored with a bit of gore. Students learn firsthand how all living things are connected."
A popular introductory experiment has been to place a single female WOWBug at the center of a 75-mm diameter circle on a sheet of white paper, then time how long it takes to reach the edge of the circle (usually about 20 seconds). In a short time, several trials can be completed with the same or different individuals, and a class average for WOWBug speed can be determined.
Encourage students to relate their results to the WOWBug's natural history. If the nearest mud-dauber nest were 800 meters away, how long would it take for an average WOWBug to crawl to it? How far might a female WOWBug be expected to travel during her brief adult life? Do female WOWBugs of all ages and conditions prefer to walk rather than fly? What reasons might there be for crawling rather than flying? How could these ideas be tested?
Extending this activity, use a pencil tip to gently prod a WOWBug and observe its response. Often it will play dead for a few seconds. Alternatively, it will suddenly jump or hop to one side. Make a small pencil mark at the starting and ending points of the hop. After marking several hops, measure each and determine an average jump length. Students can measure each other's average jump length and height, then compare a WOWBug's jumping ability to a human's in relation to relative body size. This activity can segue into to a broader discussion of insects' supposed special abilities, relative body sizes, and some interesting concepts about mass, volume, and muscle power.
Compare the anatomy of the male and female WOWBug under a stereomicroscope using living or slide-mounted specimens. Males can be seen to have much shorter and reduced wings compared to the fully developed wings of females. Also, males have unique, antlerlike antennae that are used to engage the antennae of females during their elaborate courtship rituals. The bottom-most segment possesses a distinctive fingerlike projection on one side, the basis of the species name digitata (Fig. 4). Males lack eyes as well. Presumably, vision is of little importance inside the dark cocoon of their host where their entire lives are spent. Courtship and mating depend instead upon tactile and chemical communication cues.
Figure 4 The unusual antenna structure of the male is revealed in this greatly magnified SEM (80X).
Consider using the WOWBug life cycle as an introduction to a unit on meiosis and mitosis. The way WOWBugs determine the sex of their offspringlike the rest of the bees, wasps, and antsdiffers from that of most other animals. It is easy for students to discover this phenomenon.
Have students place isolated late female pupae on fresh hosts. The females that emerge, though unmated, still produce eggs that develop into adult WOWBugs. However, all are male. Other cultures concurrently established with both male and female pupae included produce both sexes of offspring. Encourage extensive discussion of the results. This mechanism, haplodiploidywherein males have one set of chromosomes (a mother, but no father) and females have two sets of chromosomes (both a mother and a father contributing genes)characterizes all the Hymenoptera. It's both a fascinating phenomenon in its own right, and the birth mother of the fascinating field of sociobiology.
Looking for an inquiry lab or science fair projects? Help your students ask other meaningful questions using WOWBugs. The availability of large numbers of WOWBugs, their small size, ease of handling, and behavioral versatility, make them ideal experimental organisms.
For example, students may be curious whether WOWBugs are attracted to light, and, if so, whether one wavelength is preferred over others. They can construct a test apparatus using a "T" or "Y" tubing connector and transparent drinking straws or clear plastic aquarium tubing. WOWBugs started in the base of the "Y" must choose between two stimuli (light or dark, red light or yellow light, etc.) as they move through the apparatus. Data are easy to collect, and through repeated trials the validity and rigor of the experiment is increased. With slight modifications, the same apparatus can be used to study the effects of odors, sound, or taste.
Further Resources
Dahms, E. C. 1984. A review of the biology of species in the genus Melittobia (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) with interpretations and additions using observations on Melittobia australica. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 21: 337360.
Matthews, R. W., et al. 1996. WOWBugs: New Life for Life Science. Riverview Press, Athens, GA.
Matthews, R. W., et al. 1997. Insects as teaching tools in primary and secondary education. Annual Review of Entomology 42: 269289.
Matthews, R. W. 1997. Teaching ecological interactions with mud-dauber nests. American Biology Teacher 59: 152158.
