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Science Fair Winner Publishes New Study on Butterfly Foraging Behavior

By Guest PostMay 4, 2012Natureadrian duehl, agricultural fields, alexandra, alexandra sourakov, andrei sourakov, blue morpho, blue morpho butterfly, butterflies, butterfly, butterfly rainforest, clipper butterfly, ecology, electroantennography, evolutionary biology, fermented bananas, foraging behavior, gas chromatography, honey, insects, labial palpi, lepidopterist, mango, mass spectrometry, moths, pollinators, teenage daughter, university of florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida lepidopterist Andrei Sourakov has spent his life’s work studying moths and butterflies. But it was his teenage daughter, Alexandra, who led research on how color impacts butterflies’ feeding patterns.

The research shows different species exhibit unique foraging behaviors, and the study may be used to build more effective, species-specific synthetic lures for understanding pollinators, insects on which humans depend for sustaining many crops.

In a study appearing online in April in the journal Psyche, researchers used multi-colored landing pads and baits in the Florida Museum of Natural History’s McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity on the UF campus to determine that some butterflies use both sight and smell to locate food, while others rely primarily on smell. (more…)

Earbones Accurately Record a Fish’s Life Travels

By Guest PostMay 1, 2012Natureearbones of trout, fish movement, fish tracking techniques, lifetime movements, stream water, strontium isotopes

Studying the earbones of trout can reveal their lifetime movements in a large river system, according to a study released in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. (more…)

Researchers Give Long Look at Who Benefits From Nature Tourism

By Guest PostApril 28, 2012Environment, Naturebeauty, change, China, christine vogt, governmental official, guangming he, habitat management, junyan luo, kenneth frank, michigan state university, Nature, nature based tourism, panda preserve, social connection, southwestern china, tourist, wei liu, wolong nature reserve

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Using nature’s beauty as a tourist draw can boost conservation in China’s valued panda preserves, but it isn’t an automatic ticket out of poverty for the human inhabitants, a long-term study at Michigan State University shows.

The policy hitch: Often those who benefit most from nature-based tourism endeavors are people who already have resources. The truly impoverished have a harder time breaking into the tourism business. (more…)

Blood Samples Show Deadly Frog Fungus at Work in the Wild

By Guest PostApril 27, 2012Naturechytrid fungus, deadly dehydration, electrolyte balance, frog population, fungal infection, vance vredenburg, wild frogs, wildlife diseases

Pathogen leads to dehydration, other ill effects

The fungal infection that killed a record number of amphibians worldwide leads to deadly dehydration in frogs in the wild, according to results of a new study. (more…)

MU Veterinary Surgeons Use Advanced MRI Technology to Locate Dangerous Tumor

By Guest PostApril 23, 2012Health, Naturebrain during surgery, brainsight mri, callies tumor, neuro navigation device, remove dangerous tumor, therapy dog

Procedure saves therapy dog, beloved pet from cancerous brain tumor

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Using a special piece of MRI equipment, doctors from the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine were able to remove a dangerous tumor from a beloved pet and therapy dog. (more…)

New ’Bumblebee’ Gecko Discovered in Papua New Guinea

By Guest PostApril 22, 2012Naturebook of life, bumblebee gecko, forest ecosystem, nactus kunan, new guinea, pacific lizard biodiversity, sohoniliu village

WASHINGTON – Biologists from the Papua New Guinea National Museum and the U.S. Geological Survey have discovered a new species of gecko, adorned like a bumblebee with black-and-gold bands and rows of skin nodules that enhance its camouflage on the tropical forest floor. (more…)

Study Amplifies Understanding of Hearing in Baleen Whales

By Guest PostApril 21, 2012Nature, Science3d visualization, anatomy, auditory system, baleen whale, boston, computerized tomography, csi, ct, darlene ketten, dolphins, evolutionary origin, julie arruda, magnetic resonance imaging, massachusetts, maya yamato, minke whale, mri, scott cramer, sound wave, toothed whale, whoi, zooplankton

For decades, scientists have known that dolphins and other toothed whales have specialized fats associated with their jaws, which efficiently convey sound waves from the ocean to their ears. But until now, the hearing systems of their toothless grazing cousins, baleen whales, remained a mystery.

Unlike toothed whales, baleen whales do not have enlarged canals in their jaws where specialized fats sit. While toothed whales use echolocation to find prey, baleen whales generally graze on zooplankton, and so some scientists have speculated that baleen whales may not need such a sophisticated auditory system. But a new study by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), published April 10, 2012, in The Anatomical Record, has shown that some baleen whales also have fats leading to their ears. (more…)

Promiscuous Queen Bees Maintain Genetic Diversity

By Guest PostApril 18, 2012NatureChina, coast, csds, diploid male, entomologist, female workforce, fertile male, flavor, gene, genetic diversity, hainan island, infertile male, island queen, isolated island, malaysia, Philippines, plos one, promiscuous, queen bees, sex, voila moment, zachary huang

EAST LANSING, Mich. — By mating with nearly 100 males, queen bees on isolated islands avoid inbreeding and keep colonies healthy.

The results, published in the current issue of PLoS ONE, focused on giant honey bee colonies on Hainan Island, off the coast of China. Since these bees have long been separated from their continental cousins, it was thought that the island bees would be prime candidates for inbreeding as well as having very different genes, said Zachary Huang, Michigan State University entomologist. (more…)

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