Larva has last laugh on toad
Wired.com has a feature called "Absurd Creature" and their latest living thing is a toad devouring a larva of a much-smaller beetle, but the "absurdity" is that the larva has all the power and the toad will soon be beetle food. The larva's evolutionary advantage is that while inside the toad allegedly being consumed, it paralyses the hapless "predator" with its hooked jaws and then secretes enzymes to begin decomposing the toad's tissue (making it edible) - and provoking it to vomit the still-alive larva.
Crowd protects relics
St Valentine triggered a bitter row in Italy when a bishop tried to remove his remains from the church in which they have been kept since the 17th century. The Rt Rev Giuseppe Piemontese planned to temporarily transfer the saint's relics from the San Valentino Basilica in Terni, Umbria, to a cathedral 4.8km away, prompting an outpouring of anger from parishioners. Dozens of angry churchgoers descended on the basilica, positioning chairs around the glass coffin containing the remains, and holding hands to form a human barrier. After pressure from the local community, the relics remain in San Valentino Basilica.
(Source: Daily Telegraph)
