Evolution
Have
you ever been somewhere so hot you couldn't put your bare feet on the
ground? Did you then decide to step in dung to avoid burning your feet?
No? Just the dung beetle then.
While studying the "orientation
dance" of dung beetles (where they climb on their ball of dung and
rotate to select a direction), researchers noted that beetles climbed on
their dung balls more often on hot days. Beetles
on
hot ground climbed onto their dung balls seven times more often than
those on cooler ground. To find the reason for this pattern some beetles
were equipped with tiny silicone boots - clearly seen in the photo - to
keep their front legs cool. To the researchers' surprise this had a
dramatic effect, and beetles wearing these boots did not mount their
balls so often.
This is the first example of an insect
utilizing some sort of mobile thermal refuge. When on top of their ball
in the hot sun, the dung beetles were also seen "wiping their faces" - a
preening behaviour which could be spreading regurgitated liquid over
their head and legs. This is likely to be another temperature-coping
behaviour, as the beetles are never seen doing this at other times of
day. One of the researchers, Dr. Jochen Smolka (Lund University),
commented, "Evolution has an astonishing ability to make use of existing
structures for new purposes -- in this case using a food resource for
thermoregulation."
Photo credit: Wits University (the other University behind this finding).
http://www.eurekalert.org/
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/
Have
you ever been somewhere so hot you couldn't put your bare feet on the
ground? Did you then decide to step in dung to avoid burning your feet?
No? Just the dung beetle then.
While studying the "orientation dance" of dung beetles (where they climb on their ball of dung and rotate to select a direction), researchers noted that beetles climbed on their dung balls more often on hot days. Beetles
While studying the "orientation dance" of dung beetles (where they climb on their ball of dung and rotate to select a direction), researchers noted that beetles climbed on their dung balls more often on hot days. Beetles
on
hot ground climbed onto their dung balls seven times more often than
those on cooler ground. To find the reason for this pattern some beetles
were equipped with tiny silicone boots - clearly seen in the photo - to
keep their front legs cool. To the researchers' surprise this had a
dramatic effect, and beetles wearing these boots did not mount their
balls so often.
This is the first example of an insect utilizing some sort of mobile thermal refuge. When on top of their ball in the hot sun, the dung beetles were also seen "wiping their faces" - a preening behaviour which could be spreading regurgitated liquid over their head and legs. This is likely to be another temperature-coping behaviour, as the beetles are never seen doing this at other times of day. One of the researchers, Dr. Jochen Smolka (Lund University), commented, "Evolution has an astonishing ability to make use of existing structures for new purposes -- in this case using a food resource for thermoregulation."
Photo credit: Wits University (the other University behind this finding).
http://www.eurekalert.org/
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/
This is the first example of an insect utilizing some sort of mobile thermal refuge. When on top of their ball in the hot sun, the dung beetles were also seen "wiping their faces" - a preening behaviour which could be spreading regurgitated liquid over their head and legs. This is likely to be another temperature-coping behaviour, as the beetles are never seen doing this at other times of day. One of the researchers, Dr. Jochen Smolka (Lund University), commented, "Evolution has an astonishing ability to make use of existing structures for new purposes -- in this case using a food resource for thermoregulation."
Photo credit: Wits University (the other University behind this finding).
http://www.eurekalert.org/
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/
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