Entomology news in mass media

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09.07.2014 13:41, CosMosk

The" whisper "of bees turns into a "cry"
When bees come across and pollinate a particularly rich source of nectar and pollen, they "whisper" about it to their fellow bees, so that eavesdroppers will not hear about it. However, a new study has shown that some bee species in Brazil do exactly the opposite, using "shouting" as a means of communication.

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego (USA) found that instead of quietly reporting a sweet treat, these Brazilian bees shout to warn eavesdropping competitors that they are ready to fiercely defend their food source. Although it looks like a rather risky and brave move, it is quite effective.

"These are true signals and possible lies. They tell their hive brothers where to find good food, " says James Nieh, a professor of biology at the University of California, San Diego. The study's lead author, PhD student Elinor Lichtenberg, says her discovery of such a controversial way for bees to communicate suggests that eavesdroppers can influence the evolution of animal signals in ways previously thought impossible.

"Our study provides a new perspective on how eavesdroppers influence the evolution of animal communication. Until now, it was believed that eavesdropping was used against encrypted messages, for example, to make it easier to find and eat a victim who makes a loud "noise". However, our results show that eavesdroppers choose noticeable signals that are easiest to detect and understand, " she adds.

The study focuses on stingless bees that compete with each other for the same food. Trigona spinipes are foragers who warn their fellow humans with pheromones, and Trigona hyalinata are spies who eavesdrop on them. It turns out that the eavesdroppers do not want to get into trouble and fight with Trigona spinipes, who behave very aggressively towards uninvited guests.

"Our study provides a new perspective on how wiretapping affects the evolution of animal communications," says Lichtenberg.

The study was published in the journal Current Biology.

Based on materials from Nature World News.
Egor Yakovlev nauka21vek. ru

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08.08.2014 0:11, Atlantis

Society → Science
Biologists artificially created butterflies with purple wings
August 7, 2014, 17: 53

Typically, living organisms produce color either chemically or structurally. The former generate pigments that absorb certain wavelengths of light and reflect others. The latter change the structure of their bodies at the nanoscale, which increases the reflection of radiation of a certain wavelength.
A group of biologists from the National University of Singapore, led by Antonia Monteiro, turned brown-winged butterflies of the Bicyclus anynana species into owners of purple wings. For their experiment, the scientists used the method of selective breeding. The effect was apparent after six generations of insects.
Butterflies belong to the second group of animals that have a specific wing structure that reflects different wavelengths. To understand how this color evolves, Monteiro and her team selectively bred B. anynana, which usually have brown wings, in an attempt to create purple wings.
The two closest relatives of B. anynana, B. sambulos and B. medontias, have purple scales on the underside of their forewings. But so far, no one has ever seen B. anynana with any purple or purplish wing elements.
To get the desired hue, Monteiro and her colleagues measured the wavelengths of light that reflect off the wings of experimental individuals of B. anynana. They then selected individuals that reflected wavelengths as close to violet as possible. Breeding these butterflies alone after six generations resulted in insects with pure purple wings. In each subsequent generation, the new color was more and more than the previous one.
When the researchers examined the wings that changed color, they found that the thickness of some of the scales changed. It is due to this that the wavelengths of reflected light have also changed. They also studied the wings of representatives of the species B. sambulos and B. medontias, which have purple scales of natural origin, and realized that the structure of artificially bred butterfly wings is very similar in structure and thickness to the natural purple scales of their closest relatives.
Thus, biologists came to the conclusion that the color of the wing can change too quickly and natural selection can accidentally lead to the rapid extinction of butterflies with wings of certain colors. Monteiro also claims that her findings, described in an article in the journal PNAS, can help engineers create traps for light or directional radiation sources.
Source: "Vesti.Ру»

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29.09.2014 16:34, Atlantis

September 29, 2014, 16: 17
Deadly spiders attack Rostov-on-Don

Code for embedding in the blog
Venomous spiders are getting closer to Rostov-on-Don. The habitat of deadly karakurts in the Rostov region has significantly expanded recently. Several cases of these spiders have already been recorded in the farms closest to the city. This was reported by the representative of the Southern Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences Veronika Belotserkovskaya.

The bite of karakurt is deadly to humans. If you do not take urgent measures, then some time after the poison enters the bloodstream, death occurs from respiratory paralysis. The venom of this black widow spider is 15 times stronger than that of a rattlesnake.

Previously, Karakurts lived in the Rostov region along the coast of the Taganrog Bay, in the Don Delta and the valley of the Dead Donets. Now spiders are approaching large settlements. According to scientists, next year karakurts may appear within the city limits of Rostov-on-Don itself. Spiders prefer to live in landfills, garbage cans, and abandoned wastelands. Sometimes they can crawl into land plots and houses.