Heart of chitin, born a-fightin'

Saw some treehoppers (Umbonia Crassicornis) and some dead horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus). At first, I thought that that particular treehopper's Latin moniker had spinosa somewhere in it, so I looked it up. I found out that the only umbonia thornbug that lives as far north as Florida is the crassicornis variation. But, there is not much of a difference between the two; they're both huge, as far as little cute insects go.

My other favorite arthropod, the horseshoe crab, has this crazy blue blood that congeals around foreign microbes that could make it sick. So, now scientists are studying how to apply it to various viruses and bacteria that have become immune to penicillin. Neat.

Takeshi Yamada uses them to tell the reincarnation story of a fallen samurai warrior.