John
Lydon's Megabugs
Discovery Press Release
John
Lydon goes back to the Jungle in Discovery's Megabugs… John Lydon
has teamed up with Discovery Channel to present a new ten part series on
one of his favourite subjects – bugs!Lydon is on a mission: to find the biggest, hairiest, stickiest and most indestructible insects in the world. In this exciting new series, John goes stateside in search of the continent’s most infamous bugs, from 30-year-old tarantulas and deadly hornets, to rhinoceros cockroaches and glow-in-the-dark scorpions.
En route, John meets the crazy, colourful characters who live and work with such mega bugs daily and literally immerses himself in the world of bugs, being swarmed by killer bees and sucked by leeches along the way.
John Lydon’s Megabugs is full of mega facts about these mega bugs – including how a spider’s webbing is so strong, it can be made into rope that will hold John’s weight, and how a rhinoceros cockroach is so tough, if the average human had the same power as one, then they would be able to carry the equivalent of 76 family cars on their backs!
Lydon believes that it’s time some of the world’s most feared bugs got the respect that they deserve and this fascinating series will uncover some extraordinary facts about these most remarkable creatures.
Mega Facts
*
The largest spider’s web is 18 feet wide – as wide as three
tall men lying end to end.
* A Rhinoceros Cockroach can
carry the human equivalent of 76 family cars on their backs.
* A single bite from a Violin
Spider can cause horrible ulcers and pain for years, as the venom continues
to digest flesh, occasionally leading to amputation.
* No human is ever known to
have died of a tarantula bite – we’re more likely to be killed
by a champagne cork than a poisonous spider.
* Ten people have died from
killer bees in the US (one victim was stung 150 times!) and 175 have died
in Mexico.
* Houseflies are one of the
most dangerous animals on earth, transmitting more than 200 different
parasites and pathogens to humans, and causing large number of deaths.
The common housefly is also faster - in a sense - than a jet airplane.
The fly moves 300 times its body length in one second, while the jet,
at the speed of sound, travels 100 times its body length in one second.
* Scorpions are one of the toughest of all bugs – they can withstand nuclear holocaust, days underwater, freezing conditions and a whole year without food.
* The world’s loudest
bug - the male Cicada, has an abdomen which contains a large resonating
chamber. Their calls can be heard a quarter of a mile away. Although one
of the longest-living bugs, these cicadas spend an amazing 17 years as
tiny juveniles burrowed 1-1/2 to 2 feet underground before warm weather
tells them to dig to the surface and climb onto trees, posts, poles -
anything that's handy. They have just three weeks to find a mate, lay
their eggs and avoid predators before their imminent death.
* The male Praying Mantis loses
his head completely when copulating. The female initiates sex by ripping
his head off. A recent discovery found the Praying Mantis has an extraordinary
bat detection system; their bodies contain a hollow chamber that resonates
and detects the flight of their most feared predator. Once detected the
Mantis will drastically change its flight pattern; hurling directly to
the ground in a crazy spiral, the louder the noise detected the crazier
their flight!
* Termites cause more damage
to homes in USA than fire, floods, storms and tempest, combined. They
have been known to destroy the wall and roofing timbers of a home within
three months of construction and affect more than two million homes a
year.
* The Flea is the biggest human killer of all time. Though tiny and wingless, is an external parasite responsible for plagues that have killed 75 million people worldwide. A female flea can consume up to fifteen times her own body weight in blood each day, to support the huge production of eggs.
© Discovery 2004