Have you ever noticed mysterious clusters of smooth pea-shaped spheroids—often white- or pink-colored—stuck to the stems of aquatic plants or debris? More than likely, these are the eggs of an aquatic snail. If you ever find yourself paddling through the Florida everglades, the egg clumps you see may be laid by the beautiful Florida apple…
Sunday Sketch: Weather Bee
Did you know? In honor of groundhog day, here’s an animal that can really predict the weather! Sensing drops in barometric pressure, as well as other changes in the environment, a honeybee hive puts in extra work in before a rain. Sketch and fact contributed by Victor Santiago Source: Xujiang, He & Tian, Liu-Qing &…
Field Fiasco: Adversity in the Arctic
Many field fiascos recount the terrors of tropical clines, from bugs frightening in both size and number, to the various forms “Rain” can take. This week, our stories come from the opposite end of the earth: the snow-covered Arctic circle. Dr. Jesse Krause, a post-doctoral scholar in the lab of Dr. John Wingfield, has spent…
Creature Feature: Axolotl
Imagine a creature with translucent skin, a headdress made of feathery membranes that it uses to breathe underwater, elusive in its natural habitat of subterranean or cavern pools. Sounds like science fiction, but fact is often stranger than fantasy. The axolotl, Ambystoma mexicanum, is a species of salamander originating in the cenotes of southern Mexico…
Sunday Sketch: Armadillo Quadruplets
Did you know? The nine-banded armadillo nearly always gives birth to identical quadruplets! If she has a hard time telling them apart, don’t blame her: she has her hands full! Fact and sketch contributed by Amelia Munson Sources: Stockard, C. R. (1921). A probable explanation of polyembryony in the armadillo. The American Naturalist, 55(636), 62-68….
Field Fiasco Friday: Fishy Business
On a bright and sunny day in the eastern rainforests of Madagascar, I prepared for another day in the field, following a group of wild lemurs. I filled my water bottle, grabbed my lunch, threw my backpack over one shoulder and set off up the hill to meet my local guide at our usual meeting…
Ecotourism: National Parks
This week, we conclude our series on ecotourism. This time, we are featuring opportunities that are a little closer to home. Whether they know it or not, many people in the United States engage in ecotourism in their own backyards. The National Park Service, founded in 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson, oversees 417 areas in…
Creature Feature: Tailless whip scorpion
These elusive critters look like something straight out of a horror movie. They are members of the order Amblypygi and within the arachnid family, which includes spiders1. In contrast to the whip scorpions or vinegarroons (Uropygi)—another order of arachnids—these creatures lack the tails that lend them the partial title of “scorpion”. Though they have the…
Sunday Sketch: Grandma Aphid
Did you know? In many aphid species, a female will regularly give birth to a live clone. These newborn clones already contain a developing daughter within them. Termed “telescopic generation”, this allows aphids to multiply very quickly with or without males. So, the next time you’re pulling out your hair over these little bugs, be…
Field Fiasco: Fish in the driveway?!
This past year, Dr. Isaac Ligocki, an NSF post-doctoral fellow with Dr. Rebecca Calisi here at UC Davis, set out to do field work in Northern California. He aimed to examine the effects of a common group of pesticides: the pyrethroids—deemed “safe” alternatives for agricultural use. Widely used in the California Central Valley, these chemicals…
