• @tal
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    1 month ago

    On a more positive note, one party is having a great time:

    https://baynature.org/article/fire-chasing-beetles-make-appearance/

    Charcoal beetles behave at fires the way locusts behave in cornfields, or like humans at a football game: they congregate en masse, they eat a lot, and they find mates. The beetles enter a fire to mate while it’s still burning and once the flames have subsided, females lay eggs under the bark of burned trees. The larvae depend on the woods of freshly-killed trees because they cannot cope with the living tree’s chemical defenses. This after-fire niche provides a no-pressure environment nearly free of predators and defenses.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanophila_consputa

    Wildfires are part of California’s ecosystem, and some critters need 'em to survive.