The Push-Me-Pull-You Conundrum

I've faced some tough questions in my time, but none tougher than this one from my younger daughter...

How does a Push-Me-Pull-You go to the toilet?


9 comments:

Colin Smith said...

The only answer that springs to mind:

With difficulty. :)

Jane Lebak said...

Like many moths and wasps, a Push-Me-Pull-You only eats during its larval stage, during which it consumes enough massive amounts of green leafy vegetables to give itself energy for the rest of its lifespan. Any incidental waste elimination is done through its sweat glands, spit and tears.

Gary Corby said...

Jane, you have a future in speculative biology.

Am now trying to imagine a Push-me-pull-you in its larval stage...


Peter Rozovsky said...

How does a Push-Me-Pull-You, you know, um, make little Push-Me-Pull-Yous?

Gary Corby said...

So pleased the younger daughter didn't ask that question.

I suspect Jane has an imaginative answer.

Jane Lebak said...

Not imaginitive at all, actually. This is a worker push-me-pull-you, and therefore it has no reproductive organs at all.

Drone push-me-pull-yous are extremely difficult to photograph, since drones are considered something of a luxury to the hive, and Queens have never been photographed at all.

Jane Lebak said...

Sorry for using "at all" three times in a four line comment. I've got children climbing on me and it's still pretty early. :#)

Anonymous said...

"Push me pull you" applies to the species' digestive tract, as well as the means of locomotion. This is believed to have a strong causal connection with push-me-pull-you being the only mammal for which suicide is the main cause of death, a fact which may be the origin of the myth about lemmings.

Gary Corby said...

I am in awe.