@InfraBlue,
Quote:....they're the first and only known instances of mechanical gears in nature.
I have made a bit of a study of arthropods for several years now, and I'm convinced they are actually a robotic alien species.
As an example of this, cockroaches have been wired up, and can be steered remotely, to be used for covert ops, with cameras attached.
Another simple test of this, is to knock down a wasp nest at night time, and see what the wasps do next; nothing is what. You've interrupted their "program" and they have no fall-back system, so they don't 'know' what to do next.