Insect cuticles are protected from drying out and abrasion by a thin layer of waxes and cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs). These epicuticular waxes are produced by secretory cells which lie beneath the epidermis (see below) The importance of this epicuticular layer in preventing the insect from drying out has been known for a long time, but…
Insect antennae have been the focus of interest and speculation for as long as people have been observing our six-legged friends. We have seen in previous blogs in this series on Insect Antennae (I, II and III), how they are used for a wide variety of different purposes, from feeding ants, to detecting pheromones and…
Insect antennae often play important roles in courtship and mating. Not just for detecting pheromones, as we saw in the last blog, but also for transferring them, and for stimulating the opposite sex. Antennation – using the antennae to touch any part of the body of another insect – occurs for a variety of reasons…
Adult insects rely on their antennae to detect odours (smells!) which tell them all about what’s happening in their neighbourhood. Whether there is anything to eat nearby; whether there are any members of the opposite sex looking for a partner; who else is about, and so on. They wave their wonderful wands around and pick…
Insect antennae are the most wonderful sense organs. They are both the nostrils and feelers – tactile probes – of insects, and are covered with an array of sensory receptors that can be used to detect a host of different things, including: potential mates, hosts, prey items, oviposition sites and much more. They are used…
In humans, about 10% of us are left-handed. It used to be thought that this was a uniquely human phenomenon – for example, there is no conclusive evidence for genuine handedness in chimpanzees – but surprisingly, it seems that most kangaroos are left-handed! Or to put it more precisely, Eastern grey kangaroos and red kangaroos…
There are said to be about 460 species of dung beetles in Europe (Byk & Piętka, 2018), with about 60 of them occurring in the UK. They carry out the important job of breaking down and degrading dung pats and they also boost the productivity of a pasture by enhancing the activity of soil microorganisms.…
We mammals are quite fortunate in having bones! They reside inside us, and our skeleton grows as we grow. Insects on the other hand, have an external skeleton, or exoskeleton, and must shed it periodically, as they enlarge in size. The insect cuticle is secreted by a single layer of epidermal cells that covers the entire…
Black. We all know what it is. The absence of light; the opposite of white. But are there gradations of black? Are some blacks blacker than others? The answer is most assuredly yes, and scientists have recently developed super black products with incredibly efficient light absorbing properties. For example, Vantablack – a material developed by…
Rock doves, or common pigeons (Columba livia), like those shown here have iridescent green and purple feathers around their necks. Both males and females show these iridescent colours, although females tend to have less iridescence than males. Iridescence means that the colours change according to the angle of view (or angle of illumination). So as the…
Ray Cannon's nature notes 