Leap for fleadom!

Tags

fleas, insects, zoology

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibvrx8_8Ga4

Short clip of a flea jumping – accompanied by traditional flea circus drum roll. Like most people, I don’t welcome fleas into my home… but viewing their remarkable leaping ability from afar like this appeals to me!

“New research from the University of Cambridge sheds light on how fleas jump, reaching speeds as fast as 1.9 meters per second. Using high-speed recording equipment and sophisticated mathematical models, Professor Malcolm Burrows and Dr Gregory Sutton from the University’s Department of Zoology, were able to prove that fleas use their toes to push off and propel themselves into the air.”

Inland ants prefer salty snacks to sweet

Tags

ants, behaviour, ecology, zoology

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2008/10/27_salt.shtml

Mammals are limited by the availability of salt, and now researchers have shown that ants are too. In experiments in North, Central and South America, ecologists have shown that plant-eating and omnivorous ants living more than 60 miles inland are more interested in salt than sugar, with the preference greater the farther they live from the coast. Carnivorous ants show no such preference.

“Ants will always go for the sugar because they need sugar to provide the basic energy for life and for their activity, but when you see ants spending increasing amounts of time or employing increasingly large numbers of individuals foraging for salt, it suggests that salt is a resource that is limiting to them. Their ability to be competitive and maintain themselves in different environments could be limited by a resource like salt.” ~ Steve Yanoviak, co-author.

The researchers suggest that what holds true for ants may well be true of all insects and even microbes – pointing to a role for salt, or sodium chloride, in the ecosystem that has not been recognized before.

Crabs wave the long arm of love

Tags

behaviour, communication, crabs, zoology

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/01/16/2138849.htm?site=science&topic=latest

Claw-waving fiddler crab (Australian National University: Martin How)

Claw waving in the male fiddler crab replicates human communication – being modified depending on distance from the object of attraction.

The male crab uses large flamboyant gestures to attract the female when she is at a distance from him, which become more coaxing (and fairly elaborate showing off behaviour) as she approaches.

Nothing too earth-shattering in the findings of this study, but good to see a few pics of the male fiddler crab, with his infeasibly large claw. (And I can think of far less pleasant PhD investigations.)

 

Swans like a bit on the side

Tags

behaviour, biology, birds, swans, zoology

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1658291.htm

Swans have long been viewed as a symbol of fidelity and everlasting love. But they are in fact cheating philanderers that regularly flee the nest for extramarital sex, Australian researchers reveal.

DNA testing has shown that one in six cygnets is the product of an illicit encounter, smashing the birds’ monogamous image.

The researchers make comments about the swans possibly making sophisticated mating choices and seeking out superior genes… oh yeah? How about just seizing the opportunity? 😉

 

Female spiders try eating mate even before sex

Tags

spiders, zoology

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/sex/mg18625005.800

From the page: “Eating your mate during or after copulating, that’s no big deal. Eating your mate beforehand, that’s weird,” says Chadwick Johnson at the University of Toronto, Canada.