Nature Moments

Nathaniel T. Wheelwright

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The Buzz About Bees

September 11, 2018


Bumblebees have tiny brains but extraordinarily sophisticated behavior. If you follow a bee as it forages for pollen and nectar, you’re likely to find that it specializes on only one type of flower. In this latest Nature Moments video, ecologist Patty Jones explains that bees’ choices are influenced by plant chemicals and the behavior of other bees.

Filed Under: Summer Tagged With: August, Insects, July, June, Plants

Herbivory in Moderation

August 29, 2018

Those holes, rips, folds and tubes that you find in leaves? They’re mainly the work of larval beetles, moths, flies, sawflies and other insects. In moderation, herbivory is a sign of a healthy environment because it indicates that our native insects have not been decimated by pesticides or climate change.

Filed Under: Summer Tagged With: Nature Moments

Stripes Between Tides

August 23, 2018

In animals, stripes serve to provide camouflage or warn predators. At the scale of landscapes, stripes reveal differences among plants in animals in their ability to deal with difficult environments, predation, or competition for space, as marine biologist Amy Johnson explains. Look for stripes the next time you climb a mountain or visit the beach.

 

Filed Under: Summer Tagged With: August, Invertebrates, July, June, Plants, Summer

The Songs of Trees

August 7, 2018

If you close your eyes on a breezy day, you can identify trees just by the rustle of their leaves. Are they singing to each other? For David G. Haskell, ecologist and author of The Songs of Trees, listening closely to the distinctive voices in a forest “can ignite our curiosity and get our minds into the lives of trees.”

Filed Under: Summer Tagged With: August, July, June, October, Plants, September

Getting to Know Bug Spit

July 30, 2018

You never know what you’re going to find inside a gob of spit in a meadow. If you’re lucky, it might be a young spittlebug. The “spit,” which is left over from feeding on plant sap, protects these harmless insects from predators and parasitic wasps.

 

Filed Under: Summer Tagged With: August, Insects, July, June, Meadow, Nature, Nature Moments, Spittlebug

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