Insect Camouflage & Coloration

Cryptic coloration, body shape, and other adaptations are often common place in the insect world.  While most of us are familiar with walking sticks looking like tree or plant stems a variety of other insects have unique strategies for survival.  One group of insects that often can have rather grisly way of camouflaging themselves are assassin bugs.  The assassin bug, Acanthaspis petax, has the perhaps one of the coolest body armors in the natural world.  What is it?  A. petax uses the dead carcasses of ant prey to cover its body.  Research completed in 2007 found this corpse filled defense helps repel spiders from preying on them (Stromberg, 2012).

                                                          Photo by Mohd Rizal Ismail

Another unique way of protecting yourself in the insect world is to resemble something big and tough, such as a snake. A number of caterpillars of moths and butterflies mimic the appearance of snakes to deter predators.  One such caterpillar is the spicebush swallowtail butterfly larva (Beiser Field Station, 2008).


Image credit: Beiser Field Station

Works Cited:
Spicebush Swallowtail. (2008, October 7). Retrieved December 9, 2014, from http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/spicebush.htm

Stromberg, J. (2012, May 8). This Insect Uses Its Victims' Carcasses As Camouflage. Retrieved December 9, 2014, from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/this-insect-uses-its-victims-carcasses-as-camouflage-83656246/?no-ist

Gut bacteria that can Degrade Plastic

Indian mealmoths (Plodia interpunctella) have recently been discovered to harbor bacteria which can degrade polyethylene.  The bacteria in question, a Bacillus and Enterobacter species, were isolated from the guts of P. interpunctella and demonstrated significant degradation of polyethylene with "tensile strength dropped by 50%, and their ability to repel water droplets fell by 30%. And after the microbes grew on the polyethylene for 60 days, the mass of the plastic films decreased by 10%, and the molecular weights of the polymer chains dropped by 13%" (Pelley, 2014). 

Other studies complete 2011 found bacteria living in shallow pits on polyethylene  plastic found in ocean waste.  Researchers indicated that, " almost 25% of the baceteria on one polyethylene surface were vibrios, bacteria from the same group as the cholera bacterium" (Zaikab, 2011).

Electron microscopy reveals the inhabitants of a plastic bag fished from the Sargasso Sea.T. Mincer/G. Proskurowski

Works Cited:

Pelley, J. (2014, December 4). Pantry Pests Harbor Plastic-Chomping Bacteria. Retrieved December 5, 2014, from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pantry-pests-harbor-plastic-chomping-bacteria/

Zaikab, G. (2011, March 28). Marine microbes digest plastic. Retrieved December 5, 2014, from http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110328/full/news.2011.191.html

3 Facts about Turkeys

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and in preparation for the holiday season I've decided to list a few facts I found interesting about turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo).

1.  While most of us are familiar with the "gobble" sound made by turkeys, these birds also make a host of other calls.  According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Website, male turkeys "gobble" to attract mates, females and males "purr" while on foot, and courting males produce a "chump" sound which is not well understood (2014).  If you're curious about how these actually sound as well as other bird calls I highly recommend you visit the Cornell Lab page here.

2.  Fun fact, Benjamin Franklin wanted turkeys to be our national symbol, not the bald eagle and lamented the choice. an Article in Slate Magazine, by Nicholas Lund (2014), cites a letter from Franklin stating, 

  "For in Truth the Turkey is in Comparison (sic. eagle) a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America. He is besides, tho’ a little vain and silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on."

3.  Every year the President of the United States pardons a turkey....... This year the lucky bird who won't be for dinner is from Ohio.  Read about it here.

 

Image:  http://www.cashstore.com/blog/thanksgiving-costs-will-rise-in-2012/

Works Cited: 

Lund, N. (2014, November 25). Benjamin Franklin’s Bizarre Symbology. Did He Really Admire the Turkey? Retrieved November 26, 2014, from http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/holidays/2013/11/benjamin_franklin_turkey_symbol_why_he_hated_the_bald_eagle_for_the_great.2.html

 Wild Turkey. (n.d.). Retrieved November 26, 2014, from http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wild_Turkey/sounds

Nature Deficit Disorder

Recently, a number of documentaries have been published alleging that teens and children today lack adequate exposure to nature.  The term, "Nature Deficit Disorder", first stated by Richard Louv in his book, "Last Child in The Woods" has become the phrase associated with the lack of outdoor play in children.  According to Louv, "Kids who do play outside are less likely to get sick, to be stressed or become aggressive, and are more adaptable to life’s unpredictable turns." (Egan, 2012).  What sort of evidence supports going outside more?  Studies completed by Atchley & Strayer (2012) on individuals going on hikes state: 

"Our results demonstrate that there is a cognitive advantage to be realized if we spend time immersed in a natural setting. We anticipate that this advantage comes from an increase in exposure to natural stimuli that are both emotionally positive and low-arousing and a corresponding decrease in exposure to attention demanding technology, which regularly requires that we attend to sudden events, switch amongst tasks, maintain task goals, and inhibit irrelevant actions or cognitions"

  Despite an apparent correlation between nature and increased cognitive advantage the study failed to  conclude if exposure to nature or decreased use of technology resulted in a cognitive advantage.  Do you think kids aren't exposed to enough nature?  

Below are two trailers for documentaries addressing "Nature Deficit Disorder". 

Trailer 1:  "Mother Nature's Child"

Trailer 2:  "Play Again"

Works Cited:

Atchley, R., & Strayer, D. (2012, December 12). Creativity in the Wild: Improving Creative Reasoning through Immersion in Natural Settings. Retrieved November 20, 2014, from http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0051474

Egan, T. (2012, March 29). Nature-Deficit Disorder. Retrieved November 20, 2014, from http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/nature-deficit-disorder/?_r=0

New invasive species found in Pennsylvania

Invasive species can be destructive forces in natural ecosystems and agricultural settings.  Recently, a number of counties in Pennsylvania have been put under quarantine as a non-native insect species was detected. The insect species in question, commonly known as the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) , is native to China and southeast Asia.  The insect belongs to the Order Hemiptera, and is in fact, not an actual fly but a type of planthopper belonging to the family Fulgoridae. According to Dara (2014), "Spotted lanternfly feeds on a variety of host plants including fruit trees, ornamental trees, woody trees, and vines.  Apples, birch, cherry, dogwood, grapes, Korean Evodia, lilac, maple, poplar, stone fruits, and tree-of-heaven are among more than 70 species of hosts attacked by this pest."  This wide host range could become problematic for a number of agricultural crops if the spotted lanternfly were to become established in the United States. 

For more information & tips for identifying L. delicatula visit: 

http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=15861

http://www.farmingmagazine.com/blog-8053.aspx

Works Cited:

Dara, S. (2014, November 7). Spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) is a new invasive pest in the United States. Retrieved November 12, 2014.

Malaria & Mosquitoes

Many insects are vectors of disease. Perhaps the most infamous of the insects associated with disease are flies in the family Culicidae or more commonly known as mosquitoes.  Mosquitoes vector a wide assortment of disease causing protozoans, viruses, and bacteria.  Malaria is perhaps the most deadly vectored disease from mosquitoes.  The chart below from the CDC (2012) provides a quick overview of how the Plasmodium completes its life cycle in humans and mosquitoes in the genus Anopheles.

Mosquitoes are crucial for the pathogens transmittance to new host as the mosquito releases new "spores" to hosts when they take a blood meal.  The CDC website also provides a more detailed overview of the infection stages and can be found in the works cited page.  Malaria is a serious problem in my countries and deserves more public attention in the United States.

Works Cited:  

Malaria: Biology. (2012, November 9). Retrieved October 27, 2014, from http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/biology/

Insects and Water Quality

Insects are ubiquitous.  They inhabit nearly every habitat on the planet including freshwater lakes and streams.  Having clean freshwater is not only important for human consumption but for the general health of aquatic ecosystems.  Many insect species can be indicators of clean water as their larvae develop over extended time periods in freshwater.  Of these species, insects in the orders Plecoptera, Ephemeroptera, and Trichoptera are often associated with clean, fast moving waters.  By contrast, many Dipteran species such as midges and mosquitoes can thrive in sub-optimal conditions with little oxygen or significant organic nutrient waste.

For more information regarding insects used in water quality testing visit: EPA: Macroinvertebrates.