Ecology & Zoology

Why Do Animals Grow Bigger In The Cold?

A possible new solution to a 163-year-old biology puzzle- why animals grow bigger in cold climates- may have been found, according to researchers who say ecological factors can now be added to physiological ones. The results were published in The American ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 26 2010 - 4:19pm

Tips And Tricks For Sexing Squid

So, I was going to blog about the new baby giant octopus (complete with webcam!) at the Smithsonian. But, it's not really a squid. Then I was going to talk about sperm whales collectively hunting squid, and point out that the BBC made a geographic err ...

Article - Danna Staaf - Mar 4 2010 - 8:50pm

Atlantic Longarm Octopus Found Imitating Flounder

A new study of the Atlantic longarm octopus, Macrotritopus defilippi, indicates that the species has exceptional camouflage capabilities. Scientists say the octopus avoids predators in part by expertly disguising itself as a flounder. While two other speci ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 4 2010 - 1:26pm

Practical advice about Ants in your House- An Ask BUGMAN Answer!

-------- Original Message-------- Subject: are ants bad for our health? From:  Date: Sun, February 28, 2010 2:00 am To: bugman@bugs.org We have ants and I respect their quest for food...but does their  presence in our home have any health consequences foe ...

Blog Post - Mark Berman - Mar 7 2010 - 1:17pm

How Octenol Guides Mosquitoes To Mammalian Hosts

Scientists from the U.S. department of Agriculture have discovered how The Aedes aegypti mosquito detects the chemical structure of a compound called octenol as one way to find a mammalian host for a blood meal. Scientists have long known that mosquitoes c ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 9 2010 - 12:40pm

DNA Barcoding Tracks Movements Of Insects

Researchers studying populations of numerous moth and butterfly species across Papua New Guinea have developed a new technique to study the spread and diet of insect pests--DNA barcoding, which involves the identification of species from a short DNA sequen ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 8 2010 - 7:04pm

Study Examines Parent-Offspring Conflict In Canary

Birds communicate with their developing chicks before they hatch by leaving them messages in the egg, new research published in Science has found. By changing conditions within the egg, canary mothers leave a message for their developing chicks about the l ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 12 2010 - 1:20pm

Global Warming To Blame For Earlier Butterfly Emergence

Butterflies are emerging over 10 days earlier in Spring than they did 65 years ago, and anthropogenic global warming is probably at fault, according to a study in Biology Letters.   The study found that mean emergence date for adults of the Common Brown bu ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 18 2010 - 3:06pm

Tree Rings Reveal Fire History Of Ancient Sequoias

A 3,000-year record from 52 of the world's oldest Sequoia trees shows that California's western Sierra Nevada was drought-ridden and often on fire from 800 to 1300, according to a new study published in Fire Ecology. During those 500 years, known ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 8 2010 - 7:05pm

Quick Note: Oprah Winfrey and Minor Inaccuracies That Make Me Crazy!

I am watching the new min-series "Life," on Animal Planet. Animal Planet and the Discover Channel remind me of FOX "News" and MSNBC networks covering politics. Um... Schlocky.... Maybe I make too much of such things but, here's wha ...

Blog Post - Mark Berman - Mar 21 2010 - 8:31pm