Stag Beetles

The male stag beetle uses it's jaws to pick up other stag beetles and throw them from the tree tops. Why does the beetle do this? Fighting for a mate. If he wins the battle he gets to further pursue the female up into the tree tops. But there's more than one male to battle with before they can reach the female. If the male defeats all the other males he will be able to mate with the female. Once he's mated with her he'll throw her out of the tree tops like he did with the other males. Talk about some anger issues. A male stag beetle may have to throw more than 50 other males from a tree in pursuit of a mate. It may also take days to reach the top of the trees where the female resides. These little beetles are persistent, and will do whatever it takes to get to a mate.


Lab Video - LIFE - Stag Beetle Segment.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02218/stag-beetles_2218702k.jpg

http://www.naturephoto-cz.com/photos/mraz/stag-beetle-08d240.jpg

Frogs That Cough

A new frog was found recently. These frogs are said to be found between Connecticut and North Carolina. What makes this frog so interesting is it's distinct call which sounds more like i's coughing than croaking. The frog, Rana kauffeldi (also known as the Atlantic Coast Leopard Frog), is finally being recognized after years of it's existence being discounted. The scientific name of the frog was in honor of ecologist Carl Kauffeld. Kauffeld had claimed the frog existed in 1937 but couldn't gain enough scientific recognition at the time. seventy years later they thought it was only fair to name this tiny frog after him. This new frog isn't considered a new species because of it being so closely related to two other leopard frogs, one from the north and one from the south. This frog is said to cough rather than croak. Researchers have yet to figure out why the call sounds more like a cough.



"New Frog Species Coughs Instead of Croaking" by Richard Farrell. December 3rd 2014. LiveScience

http://i.livescience.com/images/i/000/072/499/iFF/atlantic-coast-leopard-frog.jpg?1417632136

http://www.coloherps.org/reference/species/SpePics/PicRapi.jpg

Dawson's Bees

Amegilla dawsoni, more commonly called Dawson's Burrowing Bees, are only found in one area of the world. In Western Australia these bees nest by the thousands. They nest underground in burrows which is where the "burrowing bee" comes from. What makes them so remarkable is all of them are female. All the males fight to the death in mating season. Only the strongest survive this process which ensures that the offspring will have the best genes. Some of the females even become casualties during this process, being decapitated during these brawls. As soon as a female emerges from the ground the males swarm. Fighting over her until only the strongest males remain. After mating season is over what is left of the male population dies out, leaving only the females. They have laid their eggs in the burrows underground away from danger and care for them there.

Lab Class Video - LIFE the Dawson's Bee segment.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46710000/jpg/_46710846_bee.jpg

http://www.aussiebee.com.au/Images/dawsons-burrowing-bee-lg.jpg

Remote Controls

Electric eels are truly fascinating animals. They incapacitate prey using electricity. By producing up to 660-volts they shock their prey. Scientists have found that they are able to control their prey by producing this shock, which makes the fish they are targeting spasm involuntarily giving away it's location and preventing it from escaping. Electric eels aren't actually considered eels at all but instead are considered to be fish. They live in the muddy freshwater of the Amazon and Orinoco rivers of South America. They have very poor vision so, like a bat uses sonar to help find prey, electric eels send out low voltage pulses which they use as a sort of radar. They're one of several fish species that uses electrical pulses. 80% of their body is covered in cells that work as biological batteries. They also breath air, so they surface regularly.


"How Electric Eels 'Remote Control' Other Fish" by Verity Nye. December 5th 2014. LiveScience.

http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_26/533741/140626-science-electric-eel_e13c5c1edebd90e2b35e0453c28a64e8.jpg

http://electricanimals.wikispaces.com/file/view/Electric-Eel.jpg/237008942/360x240/Electric-Eel.jpg

New Lizards Found

Deep in the Andes Mountains of Peru, in a place that has been explored very little, two new species of lizards were found. Lizards of both species have splotchy green and brown skin to help camouflage them. Both species were found in Cordillera Azul National Park, one was even named Enyalioides Azulae to honor the reservation. The second species was named after the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi who helped fund the survey of the area. These lizards are in the category of woodlizards and thanks to the discover of these new species, Peru is now the country with the largest diversity of woodlizard. The people now feel that the area is a treasure that must be explored to see if any other unknown species appear. After the founding of these two species they believe that there are many more species in the park that haven't been discovered yet.

http://i.livescience.com/images/i/000/038/118/i02/Enyalioides-binzayedi-lizard.jpg?1363875552


http://i.livescience.com/images/i/000/038/119/i02/Enyalioides-azulae-male-female-lizard.JPG?1363875731

Dissection

 Today in lab we dissected 5 different animals. A grasshopper, an earthworm, a crawfish, a starfish, and a shark. I'm an animal lover so I was a bit reluctant to actually cut the animal but the feeling subsided when my love of science took over. The most incredible part was definitely dissecting the starfish. You could just never imagine that they are so simple yet so complex. The shark was amazing as well. Sharks are one of my favorite animals so although it was slightly upsetting to see it dead I was completely amazed by the dissecting process. Today's lab was the most fun I've had in a class. Our teacher makes it interesting and keeps us laughing. Through the eye watering aroma of the formaldehyde we learned and had an incredible experience that I'll never forget and I'm sure my classmates feel the same.

http://jb004.k12.sd.us/MY%20WEBSITE%20INFO/PICS/STARFISH_4.jpg

http://www.savalli.us/BIO370/Anatomy/AnatomyImages/DogfishDissectionLabel.jpg

Pollination by Animals

 It is estimated by scientists that about 90% of angiosperms employ animals as a means to transfer pollen. These animals include birds such as a hummingbird, bats, and different insects such as moths, butterflies, bees, and beetles. How the plant achieves the desired pollination is by offering the animal a meal. The flower provides nectar, which is a high energy fluid, and in return the animals transfer pollen from flower to flower. But what attracts the animals to the flowers in the first place? The colorful petals and the sweet smells of course. Birds are attracted to bright colors such as reds, and oranges but do not care for the smells, where as insects like bees are drawn to the flowers by the fruity scents they produce but are completely indifferent to what color the flowers are. Some flowers, like the Carrion Flower and the Rafflesia, attract carrion flies and beetles by producing a smell that mimics the stench of rotting flesh.


Biology: Concepts & Connections. Jane B. Reece; Jean L. Dickey; Martha R. Taylor; Kelly Hogan; Eric J. Simon; Neil A. Campbell. Chapter 17 - The Evolution of Plant and Fungal Diversity. Page - 353. Section 17.10 - Pollination by animals has influenced angiosperm evolution.

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http://beeinformed.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20070806_bat.jpg

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http://i0.wp.com/listverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/rafflesiaarnflw1.jpg?resize=550%2C412