Ponderings

[Wood Borer]

I have observed maggots in my fly traps however I have never studied them closely to determine if the maggots were conceived in the trap or not.

I suspect they are from those big blowies that seem to carry the young maggots with them.

[silentC]

I have to get up there and change the bait this weekend, so I'll have a look. If I can get close enough to the contents without passing out...

[bitingmidge]

Now silent, if you'd been a sailor, you'd have understood the term "apparent wind" and it's effects.

The phenomenom you describe also allows us under some conditions to sail downwind with no apparent breeze at all, to sail faster than the breeze, and to sail into the apparent breeze when in fact the wind is from behind, (a spot where the wind often is.)

On the insect pondering, the answer lies I'm sure in the writings of one Captain W.E. Johns, and if I may be as bold as to offer a suggestion or two for your future research into the matter (Publisher noted to make it easier for you):

1997 N.Wright: "Biggles does some Homework"
1962 Hodder and Stoughton: "Biggles Sets a Trap"
1967 Brockhampton Press: "Biggles Sorts it Out"
1937 Oxford University Press: "Biggles Flies West"
1938 Oxford University Press:"Biggles Flies South"
1935 Oxford University Press:"Biggles Flies East"
1943 John Hamilton Ltd: "Biggles Flies Again"

And of course there's the all time Classic tome "Biggles Fly's Undone".

cheers,

P (with thanks to http://www.biggles.info/)

[Gra]

biting, you been reading my library again

[TassieKiwi]

Well, at least I now know why I don't ride pushbikes, or play with dead flies. Thanks, ancient C.

[silentC]

Midge, thanks, I knew I could count on you. I'm well aware of apparent wind, it's the unapparent wind that sneaks up on you and singes your nostril hairs that I worry about.

Careful Cliff, you'll get us infractionated.

TK, you really need to live more of life. Be in it!

[Cliff Rogers]

...Careful Cliff, you'll get us infractionated....

I have no idea what you are talking about.

I guess that word is off limits like flatulance & the any mention of the digits of the feet of beige ruminant animal of southern Eurasia that has either one or two humps on its back and is adapted to an arid climate.

[AlexS]

I've been pondering a couple of things:

1. I have some fly traps hanging from my trees. The traps consist of a plastic bag containing a small amount of bait topped with a funnelled lid, which the flies can crawl into but are too dumb to escape from. Ultimately they die of starvation or whatever.

I've had these things in the trees for about 6 or 8 weeks now. Eventually the bait becomes ineffective, so you periodically dispose of the dead flies and re-bait them. However, every time I check them, they are full of live flies.

Knowing how flies reproduce, how do I know whether the flies in the traps now have come from outside, or whether they have been born inside the traps from eggs laid in the rotting corpses of their ancestors? Could there be many new generations of flies being born and dying in these traps with relatively limited output from the outside world? There aren't many flies around, so are they working, or is it just a bad season for flies?

2. When I am riding my bike into a strong head wind, it is quite hard to keep up the pace and I can hear the wind in my ears. When I turn around and ride the other way, at a slow speed, I can feel the wind on my back and hear it in my ears but as I speed up, it becomes very still (depends on the speed of the wind, but usually around say 30kph). If I ride along at that speed, it requires little effort. However if I push on towards 35 or 40, I can once again hear the wind. Does this bring about increased resistance? That is, does it actually become harder to keep up pace with a slower tail wind behind you, than it would if it was perfectly still?

It is definitely easier to exceed fly escape velocity on your bike when you are riding into the wind than against it. Flies don't like flying into the wind and lose heart very quickly, whereas if they are flying downwind after a sweat-soaked cyclist, their adrenaline kicks in and they fight above their weight, so to speak.
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