How Not to Be Eaten: The Insects Fight Back. Gilbert Waldbauer. xiv + 221 pp. University of California Press, 2012. $27.95.

Rarely does one have reason to compare a moth and a croquet ball, but entomologist Gilbert Waldbauer finds the parallel. In an anecdote in How Not to Be Eaten, he recalls . . . → Read More: Insect Escape Artists]]> Book review in American Scientist
May-June, 2012

How Not to Be Eaten: The Insects Fight Back. Gilbert Waldbauer. xiv + 221 pp. University of California Press, 2012. $27.95.

Rarely does one have reason to compare a moth and a croquet ball, but entomologist Gilbert Waldbauer finds the parallel. In an anecdote in How Not to Be Eaten, he recalls searching for a red-banded ball that rolled into the rough during a game. When he finally located it, he realized it had been in plain sight all along—but with its colorful stripe obscured. By searching for red, he had overlooked his target. The same thing may happen to birds that chase underwing moths (Catocala), Waldbauer writes.

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Scientists have been uncertain about the specific timing and causes of Europe’s Little Ice Age (LIA), a chilly period that started sometime during the Renaissance and lasted until the mid-19th century. To better document the LIA’s onset, researchers analyzed 94 samples of ancient moss, previously engulfed by ice caps and recently exposed by . . . → Read More: In the News: Birth of the Little Ice Age]]> from American Scientist
May-June 2012

Scientists have been uncertain about the specific timing and causes of Europe’s Little Ice Age (LIA), a chilly period that started sometime during the Renaissance and lasted until the mid-19th century. To better document the LIA’s onset, researchers analyzed 94 samples of ancient moss, previously engulfed by ice caps and recently exposed by melting. Their results place the beginning of the LIA between 1275 and 1300, and implicate volcanoes as a trigger. Also in this issue’s news roundup: Exercise alters DNA methylation, and children’s books used to include more pictures of natural environments.

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Read . . . → Read More: A Fly’s Imperfect Disguise]]> from ScienceNOW Daily News
March 21, 2012
The fly on the left is a puzzle. In theory, it should have evolved to look just as wasplike as the one on the right, the better to ward off hungry birds. But many members of the family Syrphidae, to which both flies belong, only vaguely resemble stinging insects.

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Photographs by Steve Marshall; composite borrowed from the ScienceNOW story.

When it’s time to settle in for the night, red postman butterflies (Heliconius erato) often roost in groups of four or five. To figure out why, researchers hung several thousand fake versions of the insects around the forest in Panama and Costa . . . → Read More: Why Butterflies Sleep Together]]> from ScienceNOW Daily News
March 20, 2012

When it’s time to settle in for the night, red postman butterflies (Heliconius erato) often roost in groups of four or five. To figure out why, researchers hung several thousand fake versions of the insects around the forest in Panama and Costa Rica.

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In rural Ghana, stingless bees are well known as useful animals. Farmers raid natural hives to collect honey, which they use to treat ailments from eye infections to asthma. Many say the bees improve crop yields, and people refer to different species by their indigenous monikers. (The tifuie, for instance, is named after . . . → Read More: The Other Honey]]> from American Scientist
March-April 2012

In rural Ghana, stingless bees are well known as useful animals. Farmers raid natural hives to collect honey, which they use to treat ailments from eye infections to asthma. Many say the bees improve crop yields, and people refer to different species by their indigenous monikers. (The tifuie, for instance, is named after its tendency to get caught in people’s hair.) Despite farmers’ familiarity with these small bees, however, “they had no idea that they could bring them home and culture them and keep them,” says entomologist Peter Kwapong.

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Population growth and devastating droughts have left thousands of Ethiopian pastoralists in poverty and hunger. But community groups that help people learn literacy, business skills and microfinance–rather than new technologies–made participants more resilient and hopeful even after a severe drought. Also in this issue’s news roundup: how humming birds flap, and a gas . . . → Read More: In the News: Teaching, Not Technology]]> from American Scientist
March-April 2012

Population growth and devastating droughts have left thousands of Ethiopian pastoralists in poverty and hunger. But community groups that help people learn literacy, business skills and microfinance–rather than new technologies–made participants more resilient and hopeful even after a severe drought. Also in this issue’s news roundup: how humming birds flap, and a gas cloud headed for the Milky Way’s own black hole.

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With their keen vision and deadly-accurate pounce, jumping spiders are the cats of the invertebrate world. For decades, scientists have puzzled over how the spiders’ miniature nervous systems manage such sophisticated perception and hunting behavior. A new study of Adanson’s jumping spider (Hasarius adansoni) fills in one key ingredient: an unusual . . . → Read More: 3-D Vision for Tiny Eyes]]> from ScienceNOW Daily News
January 27, 2012

With their keen vision and deadly-accurate pounce, jumping spiders are the cats of the invertebrate world. For decades, scientists have puzzled over how the spiders’ miniature nervous systems manage such sophisticated perception and hunting behavior. A new study of Adanson’s jumping spider (Hasarius adansoni) fills in one key ingredient: an unusual form of depth perception.

Read on to find out why the spiders miss their target in red light.
Cross-posted on Wired Science
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The temperature of a nest can affect a hatchling lizard’s size, speed, and sex. Now, the reptiles can add smarts to the list. Researchers have found that lizards incubated in warmer environments may learn faster than others. The results are preliminary, but they suggest that a hotter climate could give some . . . → Read More: Could Climate Change Alter Lizard Learning?]]> from ScienceNOW Daily News
January 10, 2012

The temperature of a nest can affect a hatchling lizard’s size, speed, and sex. Now, the reptiles can add smarts to the list. Researchers have found that lizards incubated in warmer environments may learn faster than others. The results are preliminary, but they suggest that a hotter climate could give some lizards a cognitive edge, potentially helping them escape predators.

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