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Mukade: Difference between revisions
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:'''''There are hundreds of types of mukade in the family, however the most common mukade in Japan are the tobizu 鳶頭, the aozu 青頭 and the akazu 赤頭. The tobizu has a black body and a distinct red head and yellow legs. It would probably be quite hard to miss one of these beauties crawling along your ceiling. | :'''''There are hundreds of types of mukade in the family, however the most common mukade in Japan are the tobizu 鳶頭, the aozu 青頭 and the akazu 赤頭. The tobizu has a black body and a distinct red head and yellow legs. It would probably be quite hard to miss one of these beauties crawling along your ceiling. | ||
They are known for being aggressive. You can find more information about mukade on [http://web.archive.org/web/20050618073622/http://homepage.mac.com/swhenneberry/OnMyMind/C40673818/E1060299329/ this bygone blog] from an American living in Japan who | They are known for being aggressive, attacking not just their prey but each other and anything else that moves. You can find more information about mukade on [http://web.archive.org/web/20050618073622/http://homepage.mac.com/swhenneberry/OnMyMind/C40673818/E1060299329/ this bygone blog] from an American living in Japan, who mentions being bitten by one while sleeping. (He has not yet died from nighttime mukade attacks and now blogs [https://www.stephen.henneberry.net/about/ here].) According to that page, the mukade can "see" you in the dark by sensing your vibrations. | ||
Speaking of vision, many centipedes do not have eyes, and some do not even have photosensitive eyespots, so how do they see at all? Scientists only [https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/02/how-to-see-without-eyes-or-a-protein-that-senses-light/ determined in 2022] that the Chinese red-headed centipede, a close cousin of the mukade, "sees" light by sensing heat. This was not obvious before now because the amount of light that they can sense is well below the amount that should heat them up. Apparently their antennae have a special property that causes them to heat up quickly under light ({{Temp|8|C|0|r}} in 10 seconds, in one experiment), and the centipede then responds to that peculiar heat. This mechanism has never been observed in the animal kingdom before and is still under investigation. Whether this form of "vision" is used by the Japanese mukade is not clear at present. | Speaking of vision, many centipedes do not have eyes, and some do not even have photosensitive eyespots, so how do they see at all? Scientists only [https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/02/how-to-see-without-eyes-or-a-protein-that-senses-light/ determined in 2022] that the Chinese red-headed centipede, a close cousin of the mukade, "sees" light by sensing heat. This was not obvious before now because the amount of light that they can sense is well below the amount that should heat them up. Apparently their antennae have a special property that causes them to heat up quickly under light ({{Temp|8|C|0|r}} in 10 seconds, in one experiment), and the centipede then responds to that peculiar heat. This mechanism has never been observed in the animal kingdom before and is still under investigation. Whether this form of "vision" is used by the Japanese mukade is not clear at present. | ||