Urban Wildlife Watch: 13 Year Cicadas

Cicadas, sometimes called locusts or katydids, seem to be everywhere right now. Here in my part of the country - St. Louis, Missouri and as far away as Nashville, Tennessee - the flying insects seem to be everywhere. And the numbers of them seem to be in biblical proportions. That's not a mistake or judgement day occurance, it's simply Mother Nature at play. The ones that we are witnessing right now are called 13 year Cicadas. Scientific name Magicicada.

 from Bungalow Bill's Blogspot

Coming from the south, I have always been familiar with Cicadas, in fact I think fondly of them. That characteristic an an an sound from the trees actually lulls me asleep on warm humid nights. However, I never actually laid eyes on a cicada until last year. I had only heard them! There are thousands of species of cicadas that live all over the world. But this year, we are seeing a whole lot of these:

 from Bates County Live


These 13 year cicadas are about an inch and half long with dark brown bodies with orange coloring and red eyes. Despite their annoyance, they are not harmful. They don't bite or sting; and I have heard some people say they don't have mouth parts or eat. (But I need to get an up close look at these guys to see if that part may be true. Look out for a blog post about dissecting a cicada.) So other than just being a pest, they really aren't a problem for people or pets. As to your plants, that's another story. Cicadas feed on the juices from plants, as well as lay their eggs in the bark of trees.

Overview of a cicada life cycle

from Enchanted Learning

Adults emerge in the summer and life approximately 6-8 weeks. The tend to be found in wooded areas and perched in trees and chorus on hot summer days and nights. They mate during this time and all adults by the end of summer.

Eggs are laid by the females in brood patches of up to 20 eggs or so in the bark of trees. Incubation can last 6-8 weeks. When they are hatched tiny nymphs emerge and drop to the ground.

Nymphs burrow holes in the ground (near the tree where they were 'born' and live the majority of their lives underground as juveniles no wings) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymph_(biology). Nymphs live in the soil eating tree root juice or sap, before finally emerging to the world above. Depending on their species, they remain underground 3, 4, 7, 13, or 17 years (periodical cicadas) or one year (annual cicadas) to feed on juices from roots of plants and trees. Once they are mature, they burrow to the surface and leave distinctive holes in the soil (about the diameter of a fat pencil or dime) often near trees, bushes and other tall green vegetation. The nymphs then hold on tight to a leaf or stem or tree tunk and begin its final metamorphosis into an adult cicada with fancy wings. The shell or exoskeleton of the nymph is left behind and serves as a great indicator of the abundance of cicadas in a particular area. (pic)

To answer some questions posed by others already:
Why are there so many of them all at the same time? 13 year Cicadas are what biologists referr to as a developmentally synchronized species. They all emerge at the same time and time their activity together. Right now, we are witnessing the finally stage in the life cycle of this cicada – the adult stage when they mate, lay eggs (the next generation) and soon die. This timing is actually benefical to them. With so many coming out at the same time they actually overwhelm predators such as birds, wasps, and praying mantises. With so many cicadas available the predators get plenty of food and there are still plenty of cicadas left to mate and continue the species.

Why do they make so much noise? That distinctive sound is the mating chorus of male cicadas announcing they are available for mating. So, that's their mating call we hear. Males perch in trees and chorus together in a rhythmic sound to attract females for mating. There are other calls for courtship as well as for distress - as when attacked by a wasp or praying mantis - but most people are not familiar with those sounds. I certainly am not.

Where does the sound come from? The sound comes from vibrations of tiny membranes lining the outside of the abdomen or belly of males. Males perch in trees and chorus together in a rhythmic sound to attract females for mating. There are other calls for courtship as well as for distress - as when attacked by a wasp or praying mantis - but most people are not familiar with those sounds. I certainly am not.

It seems like they make more noise when it's hot and sunny outside, does the weather condition have anything to do with how loud they are? Yes, the amount of noise they make seems to correspond with the temperature. For example, Saturday, June 11th was an overcast day and it was considerably cooler than it was earlier this week. Some people noticed that the cicadas in their yards and nearby parks were not as noisy yesterday compared to how they sounded before when it was very hot outside. The thinking is that it has to do with body temperature regulation. When it is cooler outside, the insects spend more energy staying warm and less on singing. It may also have something to do with sound traveling faster in warm air.

Those bugs are really annoying. They fly in my face, in my car, make a lot of noise and get everywhere. What good are they? As nymphs, cicada live underground and dig through the soil. This aerates the soil to benefit plants. Although we don't know very much about their behavior at this stage, I am pretty sure that nymphs are food for underground insect predators like moles and shrews, plus they are an important part of the food chain above ground for many animals.

Citizen Science Spring & Summer Field Season opens

The warmer weather calls us outside to run, jump and play.  And if you take a close look or listen, you'll notice that the nature is all-abuzz, too.  All of that new life sprouting and peeping around is waiting on someone just like you make very important scientific observations and report them.  There are alot of projects out there and scientists like myself who could use a hand and your eyes!

Why get involved in a citizen science project?

It's a perfect way to spend time with your family. You're always wondering what you can do that's different, will make for a great adventure and doesn't cost alot of money.
Start a fun learning project. If you're a home schooling parent, after-school teacher or camp counselor and you want the kids to have a meaning experience that will go with them forever. This is it. Just a little time once a week or once a day yields the perfect opportunity to do a big end-of-camp presentation and capstone experience.

It is so easy! Seriously, simply visit a website, sign-up for a project (and sometimes you don't have to do that), and email the results back (or fill out an online form).  If you find a local project, then you show up and lend a scientist a hand and get a chance to get up close and personal with some exciting plants and animals.
Here are some Citizen Science projects you can do right now!

1. Nature Notebook with The USA National Phenology Network.

Basically, you adopt a special place, like your backyard, special area of your neighborhood park, your school yard, or even the empty lot along your street.  You visit your special place at least once a week. Make notes in your nature journal (are you journaling? if, not it is so much fun and you should do so right now) and share your results with the online data base. The data from you and others all over the nation will be used to track any changes our natural world is making to climate changes and human influences. Go to their website to learn more and  sign up. Also follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

2. Firefly Watch.  As a child I loved catching lightning bugs and putting them in a jar.  I didn't know it then, but the little fluorescent bug was a scientific wonder - producing this yellow-green glow to communicate with other fireflies to mate or catch prey.  How neat! Now, you can take that simple pastime and make a difference.  Scientists using that information to track any changes in firefly distribution, habits, and population growth. You can sign up to be an observer and submit your weekly observations at the website sponsored by the Museum of Science.

3. If you live in my neck of the woods, you can participate in BioBlitz in Creve Coeur Park! The Academy of Science of St. Louis is leading an expedition of citizens and scientists on a 6-hour exploration and cataloging of urban wildlife biodiversity of this St. Louis Metro area park on Saturday, April 16, from 6 am - 12 noon. This is Creve Coeur Park’s first BioBlitz. Teams of public volunteers led by biologists, naturalists and environmental enthusiasts search natural areas within the park, listing as many different species as they can find. You can follow the Academy @AcademyofSciSTL on Twitter.

4. Shark tagging. My friend David Shiffman needs volunteers to help him with his research for school.  Do you like Shark Week?  Then, you're going to love being a citizen science with David.  He tags (small) sharks for his research in sharking feeding behavior and ecology; and his research also helps to measure the size and health of the shark populations in the Coastal South Caroline sea.  Over 30 different species of sharks call that coast home. It's very interesting work and definitely will give you something to talk about at parties forever.  You can learn more about his research here and follow his blog about sharks, marine biology and conversation of the ocean and its creatures at Southern Fried Science and on Twitter @WhySharksMatter.

5. Interested in more citizen science ideas? Then check out Science for Citizens. You can look up upcoming projects or submit your own ideas.  I bet you find something perfect.  Be sure to come back and let me know what you've been up to.

DNLee
demystifying nature letting everyone experience

Urban Wildlife Watch: Mountain Lion in the City

I'm not just pulling your leg here.  A Mountain Lion really was spotted in the St. Louis, Missouri Metro area on January 12, 2011.  Local news agencies have reported the sightings taken from a hiking trail camera in the suburb of Chesterfield, Missouri.

Links to the news story. KMOV (CBS Affiliate) and the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Mountain Lions, also called Pumas and Cougars (I prefer Cougar) - scientific name Puma concolor, are the ecological equivalent of their cousins in Africa - the Lion. Like their cousins, they are the big cats of North America. With the exception of the very young, only humans are a major threat to these top predators.  However, in natural settings they do compete with Gray Wolves and Grizzly Bears (other top predators).

Mountain lions are solitary animals.  Males and females mate and then go their separate ways.  The female raises her 1-3 cubs alone for about a year and half.  In the meantime, they ambush prey like deer, moose, or anything smaller than they are for food.

Before European colonization and expansion into the Americas, this great cat call all of North, Central, and South America home - from Canada to Chile. They are beautiful and majestic creatures. Though sightings in Missouri are still rare (only 13 confirmed sightings since 1994), this does signal a positive turn for the big cat. In fact, sighting of almost any predator in an urban area means that species' numbers are growing and individuals are spreading out looking for a territory of their own. Assuming this isn't someone's pet* or rehab animal, that's exactly what the Missouri Department of Conservation thinks this cat was doing - searching for mates and a home range.

As much as I am excited about this wildlife sighting in a urban area, I am also worried. Some wildlife are just not very well-suited to live along side people. Large animals and predatory mammals are such examples. Until we as people, learn to appreciate large wildlife and are willing to share space and resources with them, these animal just don't do well. All it takes is for someone to be frightened or startled and this beautiful animal will become a mount or trophy on someone's hunting wall.

A better picture of a Cougar from It's Nature!

For the most part, then animals avoid people.  So encountering one shouldn't happen.  They are most active in the dawn or dusk (crepuscular activity).  If you do travel places where cougars are known to live or happen to come across one, understanding this animal's behavior can help you avoid an ugly ending.

1. Do not advance on the cat or kittens (defending young is one sure way to irritate Mama cat and bring out the nasty.  Walk away from the kittens - resist the cuteness and novelty.  If Mama catches you there, then you're in  big trouble).  Cats hate to be cornered.  Stay far away, but keep your eyes on them.
2. Do not make eye contact.  Stare downs are threatening.
3. Do not run.  Cats like to chase things. It's part of their predator behavior.  Plus, they are rather fast.
4. Do not play dead.  Cats are also very curious. Lying dead and still might cause the cat to approach and sniff you.  You do not want to be in close contact to those claws or teeth.
5. Keep your distance if you can and stand wide and tall.  Make calm loud noises.  Large size and sounding powerful usually deters predators. You want it to think that you're just too much to fool with.
6.  If the fat does advance and your life is threatened, then defend your self fully.  Fight the cat, hit it, or put something between you and the beast. Make it your mission to come out alive.

And God forbide any of these things happen, but if it does and you live, report your incident immediately to park, wildlife, or conservation official.  But use common sense.  If you've been warned of sightings of cougars in a particular area, then don't go looking for them.  It saddens me when I hear of wildlife being killed or put down for attacking a person who was doing or getting into something s/he knew fully well to avoid.  Don't be that person.

* Owning wildlife as pets is illegal and is a practice that I certainly frown upon. I understand how exciting it can be to be next to exotic wildlife. no matter how adorable, cute, cuddly or drawn you are to them, remember they are wild. They have no domesiticated senses of loyalty to, affection for or willingness to obey humans. If you feel that drawn to being near wildlife, become a zoologist. That way you will learn the proper ways to handle and interact with wild creatures and can do so often.

A Wise Latina Scientist

We met in the Ladies Room near the main Auditorium at Bucknell University. I was attending my very first professional science conference (Animal Behavior Society) and was trying to shake off my nerves before giving my first talk. I knew absolutely no one there and though I was well-prepared to share the results of my thesis, I was still a mess. She noticed my distress right away and offered to advance my slides for me. What a relief. She introduced herself and the other ladies in the restroom to me and I felt better immediately.

I delivered my talk and fielded some great questions. It was during the Q&A of my talk that I became certain that I would definitely go on to pursue my Ph.D. in Animal Behavior. But little did I know (at the time) that the nice woman who calmed my fears and progressed my slides would be the one to direct me on that path. Zuleyma Tang-Martinez, is how she introduced herself me - and she too worked with voles. That name didn’t ring a bell, but when she informed me that she recently changed her name from Halpin, then it became all too clear to me that I was standing before one the most-referenced researchers in rodent behavior. Her research with mice, gerbils, and voles included questions relating to social behavior, population biology, and most notably of chemical communication. I was all too familiar with her work on habituation-dishabituation responses.  I was studying chemical communication - everyone in my lab was. The Halpin Method* - which she developed while in graduate school, was one of two protocols (the other is the Johnston Method) researchers used to measure differences in behavioral responses of animal subjects to odors and chemical signals from other animals. Meeting her was a big deal, indeed.

What’s more she had been a major champion for diversity within the society and the discipline. She served as the Society’s President from 1993-1994. During her tenure, she created the (Ethnic) Diversity Fund. The fund, which accepts voluntary contributions from members, helps defray the cost of the meeting registration for students from under-represented groups to attend the international conference. I was fortunate to have received the scholarship to attend that very meeting. She also founded the Latin American Affairs Committee and co-coordinated Turner Undergraduate Diversity Program of the Society.

She has received numerous awards for service related to teaching, outreach and inclusion. In 2007, she received the Animal Behavior Society Extemporary Service Career Award. In recognition of her scholarship and service, she achieved the rank of Full Professor of Biology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 1994. More recently she received Quest Award for Outstanding Research Contributions in animal behavior and behavioral ecology from the Animal Behavior Society.  Her response to receiving the award: “It is my hope that, as the first Latina-American to receive this honor, I can serve as a role model, encouraging the next generation of scientists of color to pursue careers in animal behavior.”

I can certainly say that she has been for me.

* The Halpin Method: Halpin, Z. T. 1974. Individual differences in the biological odors of the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus). Behavioral Biology 11:253–259.



This post is part of the Latino Heritage Month Edition of Diversity in Science Carnival - Celebrating the people of science, technology, engineering and mathematics!

Vole upstages President Obama's Rose Garden Press Conference

The headlines read: "Rodent Scurries Past Obama in the Rose Garden".



The vole has been described as a gate crasher and upstager, because the critter has definitely caught our collective attention.  That may be true, but in actuality, maybe it was President Obama and the Press Corps that was disturbing the rodent.  It was scurrying back and forth making its way from one safe area (the cover of bushes) to the other past the podium and eyes of hundreds of upright potential predators (the press).

Everyone has debated the species identity of the critter as a rat, mouse, or mole.  It was in fact a vole.  I dare say it was a meadow vole, Microtus pennsylvanicus.  I say that because of it size, length, of tail, geographic location, and general appearance (assuming I’m seeing a good quality picture).  I wonder what my other Microtus researcher friends would conclude?

Unlike rats, voles are much smaller in size.  Unlike mice (and rats), voles have very stout bodies with short tails and ears.  And the names rhyme moles and voles are not in the same order of mammals.  Moles are insectivores (predators).  Though small in size and with short tails, the head, legs and running gait of moles is entirely different than that of voles. And it was a rather healthy and chubby vole, perhaps a pregnant female? If so, there will be more scurrying voles in the Rose Garden very soon.

Pictures and link to full article about the event from Huffington Post.

Honey Bees Buzz with Individuality

I'm going to do something a little extra today - present a research paper to you. It's about a common urban species - Honey Bees; and the topic is related to what I study - individual differences in behavior.

Individual Variation in Pheromone Response Correlates with Reproductive Traits and Brain Gene Expression in Worker Honey Bees

by: Sarah D. Kocher, Julien F. Ayroles, Eric A. Stone, Christina M. Grozinger

Study Summary
The researchers examined a behavior in honey bees known to regulate the social behavior of the hive – the retinue response. Retinue response is the amount of time and attention worker bees pay to the queen because of a special pheromone or chemical she sends out. This chemical keeps the hive socially connected. In any group of animals, individuals will behave differently. Some worker responses have a very high retinue response – spending a lot time very close to the queen and picking up the pheromone; and some others have a very low retinue response. The authors set out to measure the amount of individual differences in behavioral and physiological (internal body function) responses to queen pheromones.

Normally, the Queen pheromone is spread over the hive by daughter worker bees. However, there are some worker bees who either don’t prefer the pheromone or avoid the queen altogether. When that happens, physiological changes occur and these daughters have somewhat developed ovaries. These stand-offish daughters have been known to lay their own eggs (usually a no-no in polite Hymenopteran society) which can develop into reproductively capable sons. That doesn’t often happen because other sisters who find nephews (and not brothers) in the bee nursery have been known to discard or destroy the eggs or pupae.

Worker honey bees from two different sub-species (or races): Carniolan and Italian bees were observed. These are very old and well-known races of bees that are morphologically distinct (different physical appearance and shape). The researchers studied 5 colonies of the Carniolan bees and 4 colonies of the Italian bees.

Carniolan queen bee with attendants on a honeycomb. from Wikipedia

Each colony in this study was comprised of full sister worker bees. In bees (and in other Hymenoptera like wasps, hornets, and ants) full sisters are related to each other by 75%. Unlike people (and other mammals), full bee sisters are more related to each other than they are to their mom. I got half (50%) of my chromosomes from my mom, and half (50%)from my dad. Any of my full siblings get the same percentage, but not necessary the exact same chromosomes, so we’re related to each other by 50%, too. In bees, mothers give their daughters half of their chromosomes (50%), but dads give daughters everything – the whole set of chromosomes (100%). So it’s a family affair in the bee hive. With that being said, the authors set out to know how can full sisters that are so highly related still behave so very differently from each other?

Drops of diluted queen pheromone were placed on a slide and introduced to smaller groups of bees (from each colony). The researchers counted the number of worker bees that came into contact with the pheromone and the number of times each bee visited the slide over a period of time (25 minutes). They did this for 5 consecutive days, doing it in the spring and again in the fall.

What did they find?

Well, first not all worker bees behaved the same. There was considerable variation, some visited the pheromone more than others, but there were no big differences between Carniolan and Italian bees. However, they did find worker bees that visited the pheromone less were the ones who had better developed ovaries than sisters who visited the pheromone more. Not only were there behavioral differences among sisters, there were also internal changes that corresponded to this behavior. The researchers confirmed that retinue response to Queen hormone is important for suppressing worker be ovary development which keeps them from having their own baby bees sons.

So what could be driving these differences? Like I mentioned before, all of study bees were full sisters to each other so it can’t be the genes, right? Well, not quite. The researchers did identify the genes they believe responsible for retinue response. What they found was that although the sisters may have been similar to each other in the types of genes they had, gene expression differed from bee to bee. It’s one thing to have the same gene as another person. It’s something else to have that gene actually work and perform in your body. The same gene in your body may do more work (or less work) than that same gene does in my body. This is called individual variation in genetic expression and that is what seems to be at play with the bees. Retinue response is correlated to ovarian development which is correlated to gene expression.

They were the same, but different – inside and out.

Why does any of this matter?

In a natural colony of honey bees, the hive must survive. Though most of the time the Queen is laying eggs to make more worker bees, change does come. Queens don’t live forever. When the old queen dies, worker bees go into fast action to raise a sister queen bee – who will have the next generation of bee babies. Who does this important work? Worker bees with higher retinue response. They raise the next and future queen. They make sure any eggs already laid get the necessary nutrition (royal jelly) to put them on the fast track to the throne. (Worker bees and queen bees are genetically similar, the time to develop and type of food fed as a pupae is what makes them physically, physiologically, and behaviorally different from each other).

On the hand, worker bees with lower retinue response, those with better developed ovaries, are able to lay eggs and produce sons. Now, raising nephews is not as big of a deal since they will soon leave the hive and go and mate with other queens when he becomes mature. In this way, bees are able to reproduce and spread the love or genes around.

Full Citation: Kocher SD, Ayroles JF, Stone EA, & Grozinger CM (2010). Individual variation in pheromone response correlates with reproductive traits and brain gene expression in worker honey bees. PloS one, 5 (2) PMID: 20161742

Related articles: Urban Wildlife Watch - The Buzz about Bees

My comments to this article: PLoSone.org

Wordless Wednesday: Still Stalking in the Snow

The SnowPocalypse isn't all bad. At least I was able to snap some really great animal tracks on my deck and in my back yard.

Cat paw prints

Notice the paw pads. Cats walk intheir own tracks, the back paws step into the same spot as the front paws, creating a single middle pad and 5 smaller pad impressions.

This cat walked the length of my backyard from the back gate (where there is a small hole), past the red bucket to the deck.

The snow is 6 inches deep at this point.

Cats are still active, even in the cold weather.

Paw print with the distinctive 4 toe pads.

Has the SnowPacolypse revealed any animal tracks in your yard?

Wordless Wednesday: Me & the Field Mice

Checking my bag. I caught something.

A prairie vole, Microtus ochrogaster (my study animal).

Palpating the vole to see if she is pregnant. Depending on how far along she is, I'll have to release her back in the field.

A Deer Mouse, Peromyscus (not my study animal).

Releasing the mouse back to the field. Click on picture to enlarge.

I caught a Least weasel, Mustela nivalis, too. Definitely NOT my study animal. They prey on other two guys above. After hissing at me, and baring scary teeth, he released himself back into the field. LOL!

Don't let the size or cuteness fool you. This is the world's smallest carnivore, and all Mustelid.

More pictures of my field site here and here.

If only writing the dissertation were as much fun as this part. But I've got 7,766 words for Chapter 2 and I have prelimanary results for Chapters 3 & 4. Writing continues.

Pollinators make the world go round (Travelog Europe)

This is part of my Urban Wildlife Watch:Travelog Europe Series where I introduce wildlife and botanicals I came across while traveling to Europe August 18-31, 2009.

Pollinators are animals that visit flowers and distribute pollen among individual flowers. Most pollinators are invertebrate species like bees, wasps, flies, and butterflies and vertebrate species like hummingbirds. These animals visit flowers for their nutritious, high-calorie nectar. Sometimes they also dine on the pollen.

While consuming from the attractive (visually and olfactory) flowers, the animals get dusted with pollen - the white or yellow dust on the anthers of the flower. When the animal visits another flower and repeats the behavior, pollen from a previous flower gets left behind and the cycle repeats itself.

The old saying "It's all about the birds and the bees" is about this very activity - pollination. The saying is also used to refer to sex. That's because pollen is actually the sperm cells, or male gametes, of a flower. In fact, flowers are the reproductive parts of plants. Next time you step to smell a flower, take a closer look. A complete flower has both the male and female equivalent parts. Flowers come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors with some plants have only one sex. But for the most part it isn't hard to find a flower that has all of the basic parts, just things maybe bigger or smaller.

The male parts are called the Stamen and the female parts are called the Pistil or Carpel. The stigma is often moist and sticky and when a pollinator visits or if carried by wind and rain, pollen from other flowers land on it and travel down the tube (style) in the ovaries. Seeds develop and new flower life begins anew to be planted for new flowers.

At the tip of this fragrant lavender stalk is an arrangement of dozens of little flowers. Pollinators, like this bumble bee inspects each of these tiny blossoms in search of food. Lavender and bumble bees are also common in North America. I photographed this pair in Rennes, France.

I don't know the name of this flower - looks like a forb - or species of fly visiting this tall wild flower I found in an open-field in Groningen, the Netherlands. Notice the white-spiky parts, these are the reproductive parts of the plant, but I'm not exactly sure if it's the stamen or the pistil, I'm guessing stamen because of the volume.
Despite the strong winds, the flies (there are 2 in this photo) were able to hold on tight and continue foraging. You'll also notice that many of the flower buds have yet to open up on this pink flower.

A tiny little grass flower, very dainty with a small tender fly on the petal. If you look closely, the tiny knobs in a circle are the stamen. Photo taken in Groningen, the Netherlands.

This Echinacea flower has a spiny head referred to as a cone, which is where it gets its common name the purple cone flower.. The stamen and pistil aren't very distinct, but the flower still attracts many kinds of pollinators with its height and colorful petals.

A fly visiting the flower. Not sure of the fly species but there are similar - bee-looking flies in North America that also visit cone flowers, daisies, and sunflowers. I photographed these flowers in Niennord Park in Leek, the Netherlands.

I was surprised to see this large bumble bee climbing along the stalk of the flower. That is not typical behavior at all. I wanted a closer look at this bee because I noticed it had a white rump. I had never seen a white-rumped bumble bee in the States before. When I returned to school, I asked my lab mate and bumble bee expert, Javier Hernandez to identify it for me. It is Psithyrus or cuckoo bumble bee. It gets this name because, like the cuckoo bird, the female lays her eggs in the nest of another species and let's that female take care of her pupae (babies).

Check out this quick video clip of the bee.

The bee was behaving strangely, crawling on the stalk of the flower and flying low to the ground. It's quite possible this bee may be infected with a fungus going around, but I don't know all of the disease ecology details right now.

September Celebrates Biodiversity and Conservation

Book Review: Puzzle of the Platypus

In fulfillment of my duties as a member of the Animal Behavior Society’s Outstanding Children’s Book Award committee I present one of the finalists for this year’s award.

Title: The Puzzle of the Platypus: And Other Explorations of Science in Action
Author: Jack Myers
Illustrator: John Rice
Publisher: Boyds Mills Press


It isn’t often that children get a chance to read fun stories about science and scientists. The scientific process can be hard to explain to students and it often they failed to comprehend how scientists follow their curiosity to solve problems and learn more about animals and nature. But I suppose it takes a scientist who appreciates the joys and challenge of science discovery to present these tales with wonder and creativity. Dr. Myers, a biologist and science writer, served as the science editor Highlights for Children Magazine writing numerous science stories for the periodical. This book is a collection of eleven of his most touching stories of animal behavior and science discovery. Each story is an account of current animal behavior research from science journals and text books translated into four-to-six page short articles with original illustrations for young readers. The introductory illustration for each story is a fun summary of the story with colorful accompanying illustrations that detail the work of the scientists. This book introduces readers to a variety of animals from around the world including hibernating polar bears, enigmatic platypuses, gregarious cliff swallows, clever crows, and deducing dolphins. For students who are warming to reading, this book offers short, yet engaging stories for active little minds who find it hard to read an entire book in one-sitting. Youth can revisit the book several times to enjoy the pictures, read the stories, and reflect on the scientific challenges and successes of each tale.

Ideal for students in grades 3-6 and great story-time book for younger students.

Ethology Conference - The Function of Behavior

Day Four of the Ethology Meeting is all about Function and Behavior.

For a long time I have always felt as if I had some sort of intution about marketing. Hmm, seems my intutition was merely cuing into my academic knowledge in animal behvaior which also includes pyschology and cognition. From the point of view of the function of behavior, there is a great intersection between Ethology, Consumer Pscyhology and Marketing that I might want to look into as a side hustle.

Today's plenary speaker is Dr. Jean-Charles Chebat who isn't an ethologist, psychologists or animal behavior scientist at all. He's a Martketing professor at HEC Montreal - a Business College in Quebec, Canada, and he studies the behavior of shoppers. Now, if you remember what ethology means - the scientific study of animal behvaior in relation to its habitat - you might be thinking, "What's the'natural habitat' of a shopper?"
Well, the shopping mall, of course. No kidding. His work on how people respond to subtle cues of sound, smell, and space (how things are arranged) is some interesting stuff. His research (and reasearch from other studies) indicates that the background music, specifically the tempo of the music, has an effect on how people pace themselves in a store, how quickly or slowly they peruse the aisles, how much time they spend in the store and not so suprisingly, how much money they spend. Aromas and colors have a simlar effect on shoppers, too. lavendar has a calming effect on shoppers.

Here's some fresh lavendar I found in a park in Rennes, France.

To bad there is no smell-o-vision.

Citrus makes younger shoppers feel as if they can find things more easily (then, I'll take a lemon with me the next time I visit Marshalls or TJ Maxx, I can never find anything on those long racks!)
The cool colors in the blue spectrum tend to have a calming affect on people, making them feel relaxed and comfortable while they shop. Warm colors in the red spectrum tend to encourage people to move at a quicker pace.

And the unconscious behavioral high-jacking doesn't just end with colors, smells, and space. Other people can influence shopper behavior, too.

For task-oriented shoppers like me - crowds have a negative cognitive and spending impact. Crowds can make shoppers and employees feel overwhlemed, that the product or services are somehow less valuable, and it the shopping experience feels depersonalized. Such people are less likely to spend much money or leave feeling irritaged. Perhaps a little lavender in the store and soothing music can do the trick.

However, on a smaller scale, any degree of shopper social interaction can (a friend, a relative or even strangers influence your shopping behavior). In fact, a study found that most people unconsciously fall into one of eleven customer roles (McGrath & Otnes 2000).

1. help-seeker: asks for help with a purchase, findinig something or opinion on a product
2. reactive-helper: offers help when asked
3. proactive helper: offers help without being asked
4. admirer: the co-signer
5. competitor: the body-checker and elbower in basement sales; wants to beat everyone else at acquiring the best purchases
6. complainer: person who is never happy with a store, product, or service
7. follower: people who tail strangers in a store watch what they say and buy
8. judge: slick hater who throws judgement on someone else or their purchases
9. accused: the one who worries about what others think about them and their purchases
10. spoiler: hater who always hates on someone else's purchase
11. observer: stationary, quiet person who just watches everybody else in the store

Which one are you?

Ethology Conference - The Causes and Mechanisms of Behavior

Day Two of the conference all about the Mechanisms of Behavior.


The plenary speaker of the day was Dr. Carmen Sandi whose talk was titled Stress and the fate of memories. First, I was excited to see a female plenary or keynote speaker. In science it is still relatively uncommon to have female keynote speakers. It’s not because there aren’t very many female scientists, and that certainly isn’t the case in the field of behavior. However, there are still relatively fewer women, compared to men who reach the high levels of recognition in order to receive an invitation to be a keynote speaker at a major international conference. There are researchers and science bloggers who study and address these topics directly, e.g. Fairer Science, and can list a variety of reasons why this may or may not be the case. However, it is always a joy to see a plenary talk from a seasoned researcher who represents a different demographic typical of what we think most scientists look like.

Her talk detailed the important role stress has in making memories and learning and how behavior is influenced. How does stress do that?

Well, stress can be internal (like emotional) or external (like meeting a deadline). The stress surrounding the situation can strengthen the memory and shape how we respond to futire encounters of the stress. Your memory can be key to your survival, for awild animal it would be important to remember:
- what food to eat or prey to hunt or avoid
-what is a dangerous habitat or where the predators live, look like, smell like, etc
You need to be able to recall these things in an emergency and react appropriately

Dr. Sandi's presentation included examples of rodent ‘learning mazes’ that were very similar to the testing equipment I used in my studies. The rest of the conference day, including my symposium on Animal Personality and Day Three of the Conference all about Applied Animal Behavior (with domestic and captive wild animals) was Deja vu.

Dramatic, I know. But these tests are being used for a wide variety of animal species: rodents - wild and domesiticated; farm animals - sheep, goats,and pigs; fish;birds..and many, many more species.

Animal personality is one a-MAZE-ing (open)FIELD of study.

The positive: there is a huge body of literature and knowldge about how these behavior tests work to help us leanr about animal behavior and personality.

The negative: we can't seem to agree as what these test actually tells us about animal behavior -of animal kind of animal - large or small, fish or fowl, wild or domesticated.

Science is by no means an exact science. Knoweldge is being constantly updated and modified. Which, by the way is the purpose of me sharing with you what happens at professional science meetings. This doesn't mean that we don't know what we are doing or what we are talking about. Oh contrare - but it does mean that we are cautious about telling you, the public, that we have found the answer, the one absolute answer. You see, most any scientist is always thinking considering things. We try hard not to be judgmental, there is always room to learn. We don't know everything so we always leave the door open to learn more. That's one of the lessons of being scientific literacy you might hear people talking about sometimes.

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Pictures of people at the conference, many of them are professors whose papers I have read and cited in my Bibliography of my dissertation.

Ethology Conference - The Development of Behavior

First, I need to make a correction. The is the 31st Biennial IEC Confrence, not the annual. Biennial means every two years. Each day of the IEC conference is organized around one of the Tinbergen's 4 Questions.

Day one of the conference is all about Behavior and Development.

Development & Behavior - describes how organisms come to behave in a way that is thought to be 'typical' of its species and this is called species-typical behavior. Species-typical behavior is important for the organism because behaving 'correctly' keeps the animal safe from danger and helps it utilize resources - such as what is the right kind of food to eat or prey to hunt, where and how to find appropriate shelter, and also how to interact with conspecifics, or others of its species, in a social manner which would include mating and parenting.

Dr. Robert Lickliter, of Florida International University, gave a talk titled ‘Ecology, experience, and epigenesis: The developmental dynamics of species-typical behavior” and presented some interesting details about how the field of Behavioral Development has provided some great insights into species-typical behaviorFor a long time, we thought of species-typical behavior as built-in to the organism. Animals are simply born, hatched or emerging knowing what to do and doing it. For example, ducks that follow their mother after hatching, or baby antelope that can gallop, run and nurse its mother soon after birth. Or the breed differences between sheep. Black face sheep are known to be very being very good mothers, whereas Suffolk are known for being less so. I learned in the talk by Dr. Cathy Dwyer of Scottish Agricultural College titled “Variation in maternal behavior affects offspring behavior and development in sheep”, that these breed-typical behaviors are based on subtle behavior cues coming from both the mother sheep, called a ewe, and the baby sheep, called a lamb. The reason why these two breeds or sheep are different in their parenting styles is because they different in how much they nurse their young and interact with their lambs when they are nursing. These parenting differences also influence the social behavior or flocking tendency of lambs with other sheep.
Suffolk sheep Image credit: http://www.faculty.ksu.edu.sa/

Black face sheep Image credit: http://www.attonburn.com/

These seemingly immediate and natural behaviors were once explained as being innate or instinctual to the organism. But it is important for me to explain to you that instinct doesn't mean genetically hard-wired. In fact, the idea of innate or instinctual behavior isn't set in stone.

Even what we thought of as instinctual behavior is subject to development, in other words, it happens because of some sort of preparation to do the behavior.

Preparation can include simple exposure - such as baby ducks must hear the calls of its mother and itself in order to know its species call and respond to them once they are hatched. That is why baby ducks follow their mother so immediately after hatching.

Preparation can include practice and coaching - such as male zebra finches that need to hear older males sing their species mating songs and practice the songs before they can successfully sing the song and win a female mate.

Preparation can also include practice and feedback - such as male cow birds that sing mating songs and the females give them visual signals to let them know which parts of the songs they like. The males eventually only sing songs that females like and this helps them secure a mate.

These research studies are great examples of the scientific process and how science helps us discern more information about the everyday - seeing wonder and nuance in common phenomena.

Once upon a time, the term instinct was perfect way to explain things that we didn't completely understand at the time. It just seemed to happen. I made it look easy, because it is to me ("The Choice is Yours" by Black Sheep 1991 - did you get the pun? hahaha).

In other words, until researchers decided to look at the phenomena more closely and carefully, the behavior of the animals just seemed to happen - automatically, immediately, and naturally. The scientific process - of observation, proposing hypotheses and testing hypotheses, allows for us to update our knowledge. Yes, once upon a time we thought of each of the behaviors mentioned earlier as instinctual. Now, with hypothesis testing we are learning that these behaviors are developed and animals are prepared (unconsciously and sometimes before birth/hatching) to do these behaviors. Not only can we update our knowledge about animal behavior, but animals can also 'update' their capacity to behave in a way natural for their species.

Live Blogging Professional Scientific Conferences - International Ethological Conference

I am at the 31st Annual International Ethological Conference in Rennes, France. Ethology means the study of animal behavior in relation to its habitat with an emphasis on behavioral processes. So why don't just call it animal behavior? Well, because there is more than one way to look at animal behavior and scientists who study animal behavior which include (psychologists, ethologists, applied animal behaviorists, and behavioral ecologists). In fact, there are at least 4 ways to examine animal behavior and thankfully we all agree to these - they are called the Tinbergen's Four Questions which are considered the "spine of ethology".

1. Development
2. Mechanisms
3. Function
4. Evolution

Ethologists comprehend that in order to fully comprehend animal behavior we must understand not only what animals do, but when they do it, under what circumstances they do it, what objectives the behavior meets, and the historical reasons why animals do what they do. Some animal behavior scientists focus on one area or the other, but together we pool our research results, come to meetings and put our heads together to get a better idea of animal behavior.

Each day of the IEC conference is organized around one of the Tinbergen's 4 Questions. And I’ll share highlights of the meeting and the scientific research being discussed.

Ethologists attending the conference.

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Now, it’s your turn. Go on an Urban Science Adventure Animal Behavior Research Challenge.

What I love about animal behavior science is a branch of science that comes so naturally to almost anyone; and you don’t have to have expense equipment or supplies to make some really exciting discoveries. Animal Behavior is neat because anyone, including you, can observe animals and begin studying animal behavior. The very act of close watching and taking notes is a part of the necessary work of animal behavior research.

Visit your Special Sanctuary and pick an animal that visits there often. It can be an insect, bug, bird, frog, squirrel or even pets like dogs and cats.

Watch one animal very closely for 10 minutes. This is your focal animal.

Jot down notes as to watch what this animal is doing -- such as running, climbing, eating, resting, interacting with another animal, etc.

Watch this one animal for the whole time. Hopefully, you are keeping a natural journal of all of your outdoor adventures. If not, start your nature journal now.

Now, you are doing real-live observational animal behavior research.
Observe your focal animal as often as you like - daily, weekly or several times a day.
Later, try observing more than one animal, but only after you spend 10 minutes watching the first animal.
Are there many different species at your Special Sanctuary? Observe these animals, too.

Do they behave differently?

Can you identify different individuals from the same species?

Can you notice any individual differences in their behavior?

Write me and tell me all about your Urban Science Adventures! ©