Small but Deadly

          Usually amphibians are the ones who kill and eat bugs. But this time the bugs are eating the amphibians. These bugs are called Epomis beetles. When this beetle gets an opportunity, it kills and eats amphibians. This beetle doesn't care if the amphibian is many times its size. The beetle still eats it no matter what its size. The diet of this beetle consists of invertebrates, such as worms. When this type of beetle was enclosed with an amphibian, it attacked and consumed it. Amphibians usually feast on insects and most of these insects are beetles. Beetles attacking amphibians brings new insight to the relationship between these two creatures. These beetles eat all types of amphibians including frogs, newts, toads, and salamanders. First, the beetles bites the amphibian in the back. The amphibians then tries to swing the beetle off it's back. The incision made by the beetle into the amphibians back soon paralyzes it. Lastly, the beetle devours the amphibian. Fully devouring the amphibian usually takes the beetle several hours.

          I found this article very interesting. It surprised me that these beetles are so small, but still very strong. I never knew that a beetle could be able to eat a whole amphibian. If an Epimos beetle was put in a container with a frog I would guess the frog would eat the beetle. But really the Epimos beetle would be the predator and the frog the prey. It also interested me because of how fast this beetle can kill an amphibian. This shows that no matter how small you are, you can be stronger than someone bigger than you.  

This is an interesting video of the Epimos beetle eating a frog:

 http://www.livescience.com/14253-beetles-feast-frogs.html

Source:

http://www.livescience.com/14254-beetles-eating-amphibians-predator-prey.html

Rutger's Geology Museum

          Last week my science teacher assigned our class a project. In this project we were told to build a exhibit for the Rutgers Geology Museum. We had a choice of working by ourselves or in a group. The objective was to create something that visitors of all ages can interact with and enjoy when they visit the museum. My group chose to make an exhibit about rocks and minerals. We didn't want to create something that would be boring and put the visitors to sleep, so we thought of an idea that would be interesting and fun. Our idea consisted of making a sandbox and hiding different rocks in it. On the lid of the sandbox we piled up cards that had a description of each rock in the sandbox. The visitor would have to first pick a card from the pile. Then, they would need to read the description and look at the picture of the rock. Next, they would search the sandbox and try to find the rock using the picture and description on the card. The point of the game was to learn about the physical features of the rocks in the sandbox. 
          During this project my group faced a few problems. First, we didnt know where to find rocks to put in the sandbox. So, everyone in my group had to search for rocks near their homes. This way, we got a variety of rocks. Also, no one in my group knew where to get sand from. Then, my mom gave us the idea of using sand from sand art. At home I had about six bottles of sand art. We used this colorful sand to fill up our sandbox. In the end, our project was a success and my group really enjoyed making an exhibit for the Rutgers Geology Museum. We hope that the museum will enjoy our project as much as we did.