The Homely Scientist

Creepy crustaceans Batman!  Those bugs are destroying that island!

HIGASHIHIROSHIMA, Hiroshima — An island off the coast of Higashihiroshima is crumbling away due to countless crustaceans that have made holes in its rocks and caused its highest peak to completely disappear.

The rocky Hoboro Island has become a breeding ground for huge numbers of creatures known in Japanese as nanatsuba-kotsubumushi, a type of isopod. The surging number of insects has caught the attention of local researchers. Source: Crustaceans eating away island off Hiroshima - MSN-Mainichi Daily News

Amazing huh? Isopods are a type of crustacean more commonly known as pill bugs or wood bugs that generally burrow to lay their eggs in soil, logs, or other organic debris.  Scientists think that the soil/rock on this little volcanic island must be easy to dig through because, well you can see why:

Before (1955-1965):

After (present day):

Little buggers in action:

Pretty amazing huh?  This is an extremely rare occurrence, but so cool nonetheless.

Hat tip to Boing Boing

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 at 9:52 am and is filed under Fun facts, Science outside. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.