Ecology & Zoology

Sex Reversal: In Brazilian Cave Insects, Females Have The Penises

Researchers have discovered little-known cave insects, four distinct but related species in the genus Neotrogla, with rather novel sex lives- the first example of an animal with sex-reversed genitalia. ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 20 2014 - 7:11pm

New Electric Knifefish Species Discovered In Brazil's Rio Negro

Researchers report that they have discovered a new genus and species of electric knifefish in several tributaries of the Negro River in the Amazonia State of Brazil. Professor Cristina Cox Fernandes at UMass Amherst, with Adília Nogueira and José Antônio ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 22 2014 - 11:11am

What Do You Do With 1 Million Feral Camels?

Feral camels in the Australian outback are reviled as pests. Yet they thrive, totaling some one million strong. How did they go from historic helper to overbearing invader? As usual, numbers make the difference.  The deserts of the Australian outback are ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 23 2014 - 8:56am

Optimizing Sweet Potatoes- People Want Uniform, Medium-Sized And No Blemishes

Sweet potato products have increased in popularity so growers and processors are interested in identifying ways to make the crop more widely available.  ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 28 2014 - 10:10am

Your Mandible Size Is Overrated

It's official- females prefer courtship over competitiveness. And she may talk with her friends about the size of your mandibles, but it really doesn't matter.    Female mate choice and male-male competition are typical mechanisms of sexual sele ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 29 2014 - 8:05pm

Moroccan Flic-Flac:Spider Gymnast

A paper in Zootaxa describes a new species of spider, Cebrennus rechenbergi, the only spider that is able to move by means of flic-flac jumps.  The nocturnal spider Cebrennus rechenbergi lives in the sand desert Erg Chebbi in southeastern Morocco, not far ...

Article - News Staff - May 5 2014 - 2:30am

Self-Fumigation Actually Is For The Birds

How can science help save the wild finches Darwin made famous in the Galapagos Islands from invasive species? By leaving cotton balls treated with a mild pesticide laying around. In an experiment, the wild finches used the cotton to help build their nests ...

Article - News Staff - May 5 2014 - 10:00pm

Give a hoot. Don’t shoot!

"The spotted owl is the poster boy on how to use the Endangered Species Act to accomplish a goal beyond the species itself and how things can get messed up." Ban Nock writing in the Daily Kos ...

Blog Post - Norm Benson - May 9 2014 - 9:17am

Liladownsia Fraile: New Grasshopper Species Named After Mexican Singer

There are about 9,700 known species of grasshoppers in the world. Now there is one more, and it has beeen named  Grammy-award winning singer and Mexican activist Ana Lila Downs Sanchez. Locals called the creature the friar grasshopper because its head loo ...

Article - News Staff - May 8 2014 - 10:20am

Ecuadorian Wasp That Mummifies Prey Named After Shakira

Some Ecuadorian tribes were famous for making mummified shrunken heads (click for the recipe) from the remains of their conquered foes.  Perhaps they got the idea from nature. Field work in the cloud forests of Ecuador has resulted in the discovery of 24 ...

Article - News Staff - May 8 2014 - 11:41am