8 posts · 6,232 views
The personal ramblings of a marine biologist. Current news, cool research, systematics, taxonomy, history of science and more.
Kevin Zelnio
8 posts
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- October 5, 2010
- 05:08 PM
- 846 views
Assassin Bugs Use Their Victims as Shields
by Kevin Zelnio in The Online Laboratory of Kevin Zelnio
When we think of ‘prey’ we generally think of nourishment, but prey has other use too. Jackson & Pollard report on a fascinating case in which the ant-snatching assassin bug (Acanthaspis petax) makes a “backpack” of its victims to avoid being seen by its own predator, the deadly jumping spider. Masking to avoid [...]... Read more »
Jackson, R., & Pollard, S. (2007) Bugs with backpacks deter vision-guided predation by jumping spiders. Journal of Zoology, 273(4), 358-363. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2007.00335.x
Nelson, X., & Jackson, R.R. (2006) Vision-based innate aversion to ants and ant mimics. Behavioral Ecology, 17(4), 676-681. DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ark017
- September 17, 2010
- 07:22 AM
- 519 views
Evolution and Costs of Firefly Lights
by Kevin Zelnio in The Online Laboratory of Kevin Zelnio
Photo from Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Light. It’s all around and is the foundation of much of planet. Plants on land or in the shallow seas use the power of light to catalyze a cascade of interactions that ultimately result in the foundation of our planet. Even in the deep sea the products of light find their way [...]... Read more »
Branham, M., & Wenzel, J. (2003) The origin of photic behavior and the evolution of sexual communication in fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae). Cladistics, 19(1), 1-22. DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2003.tb00404.x
J.E. Lloyd. (1997) Firefly mating ecology, selection and evolution. In: Choe, J.C., Crespi, B.J. (Eds.), Evolution of Mating Systems in Insects and Arachnids. Cambridge University Press, London, 184-192. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511721946.011
Stanger-Hall, K., Lloyd, J., & Hillis, D. (2007) Phylogeny of North American fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae): Implications for the evolution of light signals. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 45(1), 33-49. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2007.05.013
Woods WA Jr, Hendrickson H, Mason J, & Lewis SM. (2007) Energy and predation costs of firefly courtship signals. The American naturalist, 170(5), 702-8. PMID: 17926292
- August 25, 2010
- 09:00 PM
- 1,014 views
Mahjong-Induced Seizures
by Kevin Zelnio in The Online Laboratory of Kevin Zelnio
Mahjong indoctrination starts early in China.
Anyone that knows me outside of the blogosphere, knows I won’t turn down a good game of Mahjong. Part of the fun is figuring out which scoring system your host is going to use, because I swear to to this day it changes by the minute. “Oh, is that a [...]... Read more »
Chang RS, Cheung RT, Ho SL, & Mak W. (2007) Mahjong-induced seizures: case reports and review of twenty-three patients. Hong Kong medical journal, 13(4), 314-8. PMID: 17664536
- August 21, 2010
- 08:42 AM
- 926 views
Myrmecomorphy
by Kevin Zelnio in The Online Laboratory of Kevin Zelnio
I absolutely adore the theory of evolution. It has a divine predictive, the results so wondrous in and of themselves. During my studies into symbiosis I have seen alot of strange and unusual adaptations, but the deeper I dig they more they keep getting stranger and stranger. The word this week is:
Myrmecomorphy
Top: [...]... Read more »
Nelson, X., & Jackson, R. (2007) Complex display behaviour during the intraspecific interactions of myrmecomorphic jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae). Journal of Natural History, 41(25), 1659-1678. DOI: 10.1080/00222930701450504
- August 19, 2010
- 08:17 AM
- 620 views
Jumping Spiders Prefer Vegetated Corridors
by Kevin Zelnio in The Online Laboratory of Kevin Zelnio
Barriers to dispersal come in all shapes and sizes and not all are obvious. Baker conducted experiments with jumping spiders, Phidippus princeps (Salticidae) in which he manipulated corridors connecting patches of old growth fields (clover and alfalfa). Patches were either not connected (bare corridors), all connected, or partly connected by vegetated corridors (see schema [...]... Read more »
Baker, L. (2007) Effect of corridors on the movement behavior of the jumping spider Phidippus princeps (Araneae, Salticidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 85(7), 802-808. DOI: 10.1139/Z07-061
- August 15, 2010
- 04:16 PM
- 894 views
Wolf Spider Leg Regeneration Impairs Foraging
by Kevin Zelnio in The Online Laboratory of Kevin Zelnio
Study organism, photo from Uetz Lab (click through).
Wrinn & Uetz studied how leg loss and regeneration affected the condition, growth and development time of the wolf spider, Schizocosa ocreata (Lycosidae, photo at left). Spiders may amputate their legs as a defense strategy, but it’s not clear what trade-offs exist. For instance, if a spider [...]... Read more »
Wrinn, K., & Uetz, G. (2007) Impacts of leg loss and regeneration on body condition, growth, and development time in the wolf spider Schizocosa ocreata. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 85(7), 823-831. DOI: 10.1139/Z07-063
- August 10, 2010
- 09:08 PM
- 536 views
Some Snails Prefer Doing It Anti-Chiral
by Kevin Zelnio in The Online Laboratory of Kevin Zelnio
Most snails walk the line and stick with doing the dirty deed missionary-style. No one even thinks about any of that kinky, low-down, unholy ways of propagating the world. But Schilthuizen and colleagues report in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology (open access!) that one disgusting species of snail actually [...]... Read more »
SCHILTHUIZEN, M., CRAZE, P., CABANBAN, A., DAVISON, A., STONE, J., GITTENBERGER, E., & SCOTT, B. (2007) Sexual selection maintains whole-body chiral dimorphism in snails. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 20(5), 1941-1949. DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2007.01370.x
- May 26, 2010
- 03:40 PM
- 877 views
Tahitian Tree Snail Avoid Extinction by Heading for the Mountains
by Kevin Zelnio in The Online Laboratory of Kevin Zelnio
Partula spp. from Society Islands. Photo Credit: Marc Agren
In a short, but sweet, paper by Lee et al. published in the Current Biology, there is a “glimmer of hope” for montane tahitian tree snails (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Partulidae, Partula spp.). They examined the mitochondrial haplotype diversity of tree snail specimens locked away [...]... Read more »
LEE, T., BURCH, J., JUNG, Y., COOTE, T., PEARCEKELLY, P., & OFOIGHIL, D. (2007) Tahitian tree snail mitochondrial clades survived recent mass extirpation. Current Biology, 17(13). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.05.006
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