MG> Not to mention that I doubt that either your or Mr. Rice understood the passage. <<<<<<

Your following so what ? assures me that you presently don't understand what RR and I see very clearly. And also, apparently, what even Darwin himself realized. Namely- That it is absurd to contend the eyeball came into being by chance. Not to mention all the other interrelated, coordinated organs, <<<<<<

MG> So what? <<<<<<

So the higher the degree and amount of interrelated coordination, then the greater and more obvious is the evidence that the organism came into being due to intelligent, deliberate design.

Just like it requires more application of intelligence to plan a skyscraper, than it does to plan a log cabin.

Though both require the deliberate application of intelligence to plan-design.

JP>Not to mention the complex relationships between many species,<<

MG> Are you trying to tell me that species are interrelated? <<<<<<

My recently arrived SCIENCE NEWS [26 Nov.94], page 358, describes an example of interrelated species.

A particular [ phorid ] fly inserts it's egg into the body of a particular ant [ S. invicta ] ant.

Details are fascinating.

So,.... the straight, Creatorless evolutionist would have me believe that

Once upon a time, ...... many years ago,

[Perhaps she said to herself, I'm tired of doing the same old thing with my eggs that my species has been doing for eons. I think putting my eggs in that ant would work. I'll give it a try.]

[nevermind what the other flies had done with their eggs for untold centuries before this particular fly had this particular bright idea]

So this particular pregnant fly swooped down on the ant, and faster than you can say gotcha, she inserted her egg into the ant. The ant never knew what hit him. Which is undestandable, since it had never happened before to any of his species.

And the implanted egg just happened to have the phsical ability to produce the precisely required enzymes necessary to cause the innards of the unlucky ant host to turn into a perfect a place for this remarkably lucky egg to grow into a maggot, then into an adult fly that continued what had been a random chance decision of its momma. And voila, a new species of fly evolved. And lived happily ever after.

Well, happily, except for that particular species of ant, that is.

MG> Congratualtions, we'll make an evolutionist of you yet. <<<<<<

I believe in evolution. Like computers evolved.

Due to application of intelligence.

JP> Not to mention that each species routinely replicates itself, <<<

MG> Are you trying to tell me that every monitor lizard is exactly LIKE EVERY OTHER MONITOR LIZARD? If so, you would be wrong. Not only is the phenotype different, but the genotype is also different leading to divergence of species. <<<<<<

Lizards keep having little baby lizards.

WBW, John

From .......... SCIENCE NEWS

VOL.146, No.22

November 26, 1994

page 358

WHEN THIS FLY ARRIVES, ANT'S HEAD ROLL

Small and fragile, phorid flies need a head start in life Ñ literally.

Mom accommodates by injecting a fly egg into an ant. Within 2 days, the emerging maggot crawls into its host's head, where it eventually seals shut the ant's mouth. After about 2 weeks, the growing maggot devours the interior of the ant's head, while an enzyme breaks down connective tissue to the point where the head falls off. This heady incubator protects the larva for another couple of weeks as it transforms into a millimeter long adult.

Two teams of biologists have just identified a family of these flies that makes Solenopsis invicta, a South American fire ant, its exclusive childhood home. Their finding suggests a possible strategy for controlling the northward advance of the ant, whose renowned stings raise pus-forming welts, notes Sanford Porter of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service in Gainesville, Fla. Unlike the two species of fire ant native to the United States, S.invicta has successfully distanced itself from natural enemies.

Ships docking in Mobile, Ala., launched two pioneering S.invicta invasions of the United States. One family of black ants disembarked around 1918 and expanded into Mississippi. A more intrepid, red family entered during the 1930s. Now in 11 southern states, it continues to spread. Both forms became entrenched by muscling out the local competition, explains Lawrence E. Gilbert.

This ecologist, who directs the University of Texas' Brackenridge Field Laboratory in Austin, has watched S.invicta reduce the native species of ants at the field station from 55 to just 3.

While working in Brazil with researchers from Sao Paolo State University in February, Porter noticed that some phorids attack S.invicta fire ants. Moreover, they devour and decapitate the ants in the same way that related flies do native U.S. fire ants. These phorids attacked only S.invicta Ñ not some 25 other, equally available ant species.

Work carried out at about the same time by Gilbert's team demonstrates that the Brazilian flies can be reared in captivity and that they will attack S.invicta immigrants to the United States. Both teams have reports on these observations in press. It's not the parasitizing as much as an inbred reaction to the threat of it that helps the flies control ants, Gilbert believes.

As soon as ants spot their airborne nemesis, they freeze into a defensive posture and stop eating. He suspects that constant aerial reconnaissance by these flies can sufficiently disrupt the food supply of an ant colony to put the brakes on its reproduction. Within the next year, Gilbert hopes to complete studies justifying the importation of some flies for use in field trials against S.invicta. - J. Raloff

END QUOTE