6,697 results
-
Ordering Life: Karl Jordan and the Naturalist Tradition by Kristin Johnson
Karl Jordan’s innovative methods of classifying insect species are highlighted in this biography of the early 20th century entomologist. Johns Hopkins Univ., 2012, 376 p., $39.95
- Life
International Congress of Neuroethology, College Park, Md., August 5–10
Dung beetle gaits and the whine of a mosquito's flight
- Math
Bumblebees navigate new turf without a map
The insects can quickly calculate the best route between flowers.
- Chemistry
Caffeine’s buzz attracts bees to flowers
Nectar of some blooms carries the drug, which improves bee memory.
-
A World of Insects by Ring T. Cardé and Vincent H. Resh, eds.
Two entomologists present insect essays that explore everything from insect sex to crime scene investigation. Harvard Univ., 2012, 404 p., $19.95
- Life
Ancestors of today’s placental mammals may never have shared the Earth with dinosaurs
A newly constructed family tree dovetails with the fossil record, but differs considerably from previous genetic studies by suggesting that placental mammals emerged after the dinosaur extinction.
- Microbes
Killing with the flip of a switch
A single genetic transformation turns mild-mannered bacteria into assassins.
-
How Not to Be Eaten: The Insects Fight Back by Gilbert Waldbauer
Insects’ ingenious means of avoiding becoming lunch are examples of evolutionary one-upmanship in action. Univ. of California, 2012, 221 p., $27.95
- Animals
Early arthropod had a fancy brain
A 520-million-year-old fossil of a segmented animal shows that sophisticated central nervous systems are surprisingly ancient.
-
- Animals
How a mosquito survives a raindrop hit
Lightweight insects can ride a water droplet, as long as they separate from it before hitting the ground.
- Humans
Penis size does matter
Women tend to consider men with lengthier members more visually attractive.
