Yucca plant and Yucca moth

Yucca Plant

Most species of yucca have thick, waxy skins to prevent loss of water through evaporation, called transpiration in plants, and they frequently store water in thick roots. Some yuccas store water in thick, fleshy leaves; other species drop their leaves during drought to prevent the loss of water through transpiration. Dead leaves collecting against the trunk of the Joshua tree help protect it from the sun. The channeled leaves of a Mojave yucca direct dew and rainfall water to their roots.

http://www.ehow.com/info_8605942_adaptations-yucca-plant.html#ixzz1m209UREEhttp://www.desertusa.com/animals/yucca-moth.html

In this mutualistic symbiotic relationship, the yucca plant (Yucca whipplei) is pollinated exclusively by Tegeticula maculata, a species of yucca moth that in turn relies on the yucca for survival. Yucca moths tend to visit the flowers of only one species of yucca plant. In the flowers, the moth eats the seeds of the plant, while at the same time gathering pollen on special mouth parts. The pollen is very sticky, and will easily remain on the mouth parts when the moth moves to the next flower. The yucca plant also provides a place for the moth to lay its eggs, deep within the flower where they are protected from any potential predators. The adaptations that both species exhibit characterize coevolution because the species have evolved to become dependent on each other.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coevolution

One of the most extraordinary partnerships between an insect and the plant that it pollinates is that of the yucca and the yucca moth. They are so interdependent that one cannot live without the other. Actually, there are a number of species of yucca, each with its corresponding partner, a species of Tegeticula or Parategeticula moth. This mutually beneficial relationship probably started as a relationship of exploitation with the moth feeding on the yucca. This is still the case with a number of close relatives of Tegeticula, members of the Prodoxidae family.

The yucca moth is a non-descript, small, whitish moth that blends well with the color of the yucca blossoms where it spends most of its brief adult life. A very distinctive feature of Tegeticula is the absence of the long tongue, characteristic of most moths and butterflies. Instead, it has tentacles around its mouth that serve a very important function and make possible its job as a pollinator.

The adult yucca moth does not need to feed because it is so short lived. However, the female gathers pollen, which it holds under its chin with the help of the tentacles. Males and females emerge from their cocoons in the spring in synchrony with the blossoming of the species of yucca with which they are partners. They meet and mate on the yucca blossoms and then the job of the females starts.

She visits the anthers of the flower and scrapes the pollen from several of them shaping it into a large lump. Then she leaves in search of another inflorescence, not just another flower in the same bunch but in a different plant altogether, assuring in this manner the cross pollination of the yucca.

When she arrives at a new plant, she inspects the flowers and chooses the ones that are at the right stage. She also checks if there are already eggs laid in the flower’s ovary. She can detect the smell of other female moths with her antennae and, if another one has been there already, she searches for another flower. This is good for the plant and for the future babies because, if too many eggs were laid in one flower ovary, the flower would abort and the larvae would starve. She lays her eggs in the ovary, no more than a handful; once again, if she laid too many eggs, the flower would abort.

Afterwards she goes to the stigma of the flower and carefully removes some pollen from under her chin and deposits it on the stigma. Now the flower will produce a fruit and enough seeds to feed the larvae as well as ensure the reproduction of the plant.

In a few weeks, the larva is fully-grown. It drops to the ground; it buries itself and makes a cocoon. It will stay underground until the next spring. However, some pupae remain dormant for more than a year. If the yucca fails to bloom one year because of weather conditions, there will still be yucca moths around.

Yuccas are used as ornamentals well beyond their original geographic range. The yucca moths have managed to follow the yucca and have enlarged their range east and north as far as the east coast and Alberta and Ontario in Canada.

http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/pollinator-of-the-month/yucca_moths.shtml

Acacia tree and Acacia ant

African ants and acacia trees get along great: The ants live in the acacia's special swollen thorns and pay the tree "rent" by attacking leaf-eating insects. But the ants steer clear of bees and other insects that pollinate the acacia's flowers, allowing the tree to reproduce, which in turn keeps alive the symbiotic relationship. Now scientists know why the ants turn up their feelers at pollinators: The tree exudes a chemical that tells ants to keep away. The findings, reported in Nature, show how a plant has evolved a way to thwart a potential conflict with a symbiotic insect. Studying acacia trees in Tanzania, ecologists Pat Willmer of theUniversity of St. Andrews in Fife, the United Kingdom, and Graham Stone of the University of Oxford observed that Crematogaster ants seem to avoid crawling over young, fresh flowers but not older ones that had already been pollinated. They were puzzled until they realized that on rainy days, "the effect seemed to disappear," Willmer recalls, and the ants would patrol new flowers as well. Thinking the young flowers might be making a water-soluble repellent, Willmer rubbed a young flower on an old one. The ants avoided that older flower. The researchers are still trying to identify the warning compound, although they speculate that pollen from the acacia blossom might be it. The bottom line, says Willmer, is that "the plants can manipulate the insects to do what they want."

The temporary repellent is particularly ingenious because it ends up maximizing the number of seeds the acacia can produce. After pollination, when the repellent wears off, the renewed presence of the ants protects the developing seeds from being eaten, says Ted Schultz, an entomologist at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History inWashington, D.C. This work is among the first to demonstrate conflict resolution in plant-animal interactions, he adds. "But there are probably all sorts of conflicts and controls [in such symbiotic relationships]. This is probably just the tip of the iceberg."

http://web.fccj.org/~dbyres/ant1.html

The ants act as a defense mechanism for the tree, protecting it against harmful insects, animals or humans that may come into contact with it. The ants live in the hollowed-out thorns for which the tree is named. In return, the tree supplies the ants with protein-lipid nodules called Beltian bodies from its leaflet tips and carbohydrate-rich nectar from glands on its leaf stalk. These Beltian bodies have no known function other than to provide food for the symbiotic ants. The aggressive ants release an alarm pheromone and rush out of their thorn "barracks" in great numbers. According to Daniel Janzen, livestock can apparently smell the pheromone and avoid these acacias day and night. Getting stung in the mouth and tongue is an effective deterrent to browsing on the tender foliage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia_cornigera

Mighty acacia trees tower and spread across the African skies. Little ants scramble about as a protective army. Without each other, they’re nothing.

That’s what ten years of research is confirming. Scientists have known for a long time about the symbiotic relationship between the big trees and the little bugs. The trees give the ants a place to live. The ants bite and pester large animals that try to eat the tree’s leaves and limbs.But what happens when the conditions get reversed?After ten years of study, we’re starting to get some answers. With the numbers of large animals in Africa in decline, researchers thought they’d try to find out, on a limited scale, what the impact would be of fewer creatures bothering the acacia tree. Fences were set up around some trees that prevented large animals from feasting on the trees. Even after just a few years, the trees were looking rather ragged and their growth rates slowed down. What was going on?The trees no longer had need to take care of the ants. They didn’t produce as much nectar that the ants feed on and they had fewer, smaller thorns for the ants to live in. Consequently, the ants started to abandon the trees for other locations, giving way to other insects that were damaging the trees.While the original “mutualism” relationship developed over a long period of time, researchers point out that it can break down in a quick amount of time.Researchers are going to take this experiment to one more level. They’re going to “reverse” the reverse process on some of the fenced trees, taking the fences down and seeing how quickly, if at all, the ants come back to the trees if the large animals start eating the trees’ greens.

http://www.sciencebuzz.org/blog/got_my_back_acacia_trees_ants_help_each_other

Fungus and Algae

Lichens are composed of a mixture of fungi and algae. In each “species” of lichen, the alga and fungus are so closely intertwined that whole lichens are classified as species, rather than the component fungus/alga. The type of fungus and alga are species-specific. The alga does photosynthesis and produces sugars for fuel for both. The fungus attaches the whole lichen to its substrate (tree, rock) and holds in water needed by the algae.

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/courses/bio303/coevolution.htm

The body (thallus) of most lichens is quite different from those of either the fungus or alga growing separately, and may strikingly resemble simple plants in form and growth. The fungus surrounds the algal cells, often enclosing them within complex fungal tissues unique to lichen associations. In many species the fungus penetrates the algal cell wall, forming penetration pegs or haustoria similar to those produced by pathogenic fungi. Lichens are poikilohydric, capable of surviving extremely low levels of water content. However, the re-configuration of membranes following a period of dehydration requires several minutes at least. During this period a “soup” of metabolites from both the mycobiont and phycobiont leaks into the extracellar spaces. This is readily available to both bionts to take up essential metabolic products ensuring a near perfect level of mutualism. Other epiphytic organisms may also benefit from this nutrient rich leachate. This phenomenon also points to a possible explanation of lichen evolution from its original phycobiont and mycobiont components with its subsequent migration from an aquatic environment to dry land.

The algal or cyanobacterial cells (bacteria that live in water and perform photosynthesis using a blue pigment) are photosynthetic, and as in plants they reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide into organic carbon sugars to feed both symbionts. Both partners gain water and mineral nutrients mainly from the atmosphere, through rain and dust. The fungal partner protects the alga by retaining water, serving as a larger capture area for mineral nutrients and, in some cases, provides minerals obtained from the substrate. If a cyanobacterium is present, as a primary partner or another symbiont in addition to green alga as in certain tripartite lichens, they can fix atmospheric nitrogen, complementing the activities of the green alga.

Algal and fungal components of some lichens have been cultured separately under laboratory conditions, but in the natural environment of a lichen, neither can grow and reproduce without a symbiotic partner. Indeed, although strains of cyanobacteria found in various cyanolichens are often closely related to one another, they differ from the most closely related free-living strains. The lichen association is a close symbiosis: It extends the ecological range of both partners and is obligatory for their growth and reproduction in natural environments. Propagules (diaspores) typically contain cells from both partners; although the fungal components of so-called "fringe species" rely instead on algal cells dispersed by the “core species.”

Lichen associations may be considered as examples of mutualism, commensalism or even parasitism, depending on the species. Cyanobacteria in laboratory settings can grow faster when they are alone rather than when they are part of lichen. The same, however, might be said of isolated skin cells growing in laboratory culture, which grow more quickly than similar cells that are integrated into a functional tissue. However, from the work of Coxson mutualism would appear to best summarise our current knowledge.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen

On land the algae have a unique role as pioneer organisms. They grow on bare rock, providing there is moisture. The rock weathers and crumbles. The algae die. The mineral contribution of the rock and the organic remains of the algae lead to formation of soil. This pioneering activity therefore paves the way for more demanding plants to invade. A succession such as this is precisely what would have occurred when the islands of the Caribbean first emerged from the sea.

http://www.cavehill.uwi.edu/FPAS/bcs/bl14apl/algae1.htm

Bumble bee and Bucket Orchid

Bucket orchids are an excellent example of coevolution and mutualism, as the orchids have evolved along with orchid bees and both depend on each other for reproduction.

The relatively rare bucket orchid, Coryanthes, behaves almost like an animal at pollination time. This remarkable ability is essential to its survival.

Coryanthes has a steep-sided flower. Two glands extend over the center of the "bucket" and secrete a clear fluid into the flower after it opens. Just above the pool of fluid inside the bucket, a tunnel opens to the outside of the bucket. At the end of the tunnel are the flower's pollen and stigma.

When it opens, the flower sends out a strong, sweet odor that can attract male bees from over five miles away. The male bees collect a waxy material on the flower's surface that they later use in mating rituals. As the number of bees collecting this substance off the flower's surface increase, so does the likelihood that, in the excitement, one of them will fall into the pool below. When this happens, the sticky fluid makes it impossible for the bee to make its out of the "top" of the bucket-shaped flower. However, the tunnel provides an easy exit. But as the bee nears the tunnel's end, the flower drops down a projection from the tunnel's ceiling, holding the bee for about ten minutes before freeing him. While the bee is held, the flower glues two packets of pollen to the bee. If it should happen that the bee already has pollen packets, this activity delivers the pollen to the stigma, and pollination is complete.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM6QrF3qXK8&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

Flowers need to be pollinated. Pollination is the process of moving the pollen grain from the anther of a stamen to the stigma of a carpel. There are a few flowers that can self-pollinate all on their own, but this limits them to inbreeding. Most species rely upon some kind of pollination vector to accomplish pollination. The vector can be any agent that can move pollen from anther to stigma.

There is evidence of water and wind as the pollination vector in certain species, but many species do not depend upon the random or downstream-only pollination pathways offered by these vectors. Indeed such vectors are only useful in situations where large populations of a very limited number of species are present.

Most flowers have evolved to use a "smart bomb" or "magic bullet" vector...animals! These vectors have sensory organs to locate flowers, they have locomotion to get them to the flowers in spite of large spaces between individuals, and they have enough intelligence to remember that they can depend upon a reward if they visit one particular species repeatedly.

http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/ibc99/koning/pollenadapt.html

The Orchidaceae originated as terrestrial forest under-story herbs approximately 100 million

years ago. The transition to an epiphytic canopy habitat required adaptations in plant morphology.

Orchids have specialized adaptations in the roots, stems, leaves, and seed. Epiphytic orchids have no

vascular connection to the host tree. The host only supplies support in a habitat that has more sunlight

than the forest floor. Orchids absorb required nutriments from the surface of the host and rainwater.

Orchid roots function as anchorage for the plant, photosynthesis, and water and

nutrient uptake and storage. These adventitious roots typically arise from the rhizome. Orchid roots

have a spongy layer of cells outside the exodermis known as the velamen that functions for temporary

water storage. These cells rapidly absorb rainwater (and nutrients) and hold it until it can be

translocated across the exodermis into the vascular system. Roots of epiphytic orchids are exposed to

the light and the cells in the roots contain functioning chloroplasts. This is why wet orchid roots appear

green in color. Velamen can also be found in Aroids that are adapted to an epiphytic habit.

Epiphytic orchids often have enlarged portions of the stem called pseudobulbs,

which are used for water and carbohydrate storage. The pseudobulb may form in one internode or it

can consist of several internodes. The pseudobulbs swell or shrink as moisture is stored or withdrawn.

This adaptation allows orchids to flourish in areas with seasonal rainfall where the plants experience

months without rainfall. The pseudobulbs and leaves have a thick cuticle to reduce moisture loss.

The leaves of a plant are the primary photosynthetic organs that are sometimes

modified for water storage. Some orchids have thick succulent leaves and no pseudobulbs. Orchids

have a modified photosynthetic pathway as an adaptation to the dry canopy habitat. The opening of the

stomata to take up carbon dioxide is always connected with large losses of water. To inhibit this loss,

Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) has a mechanism that allows the uptake of carbon dioxide during

the night when relative humidity is higher. The prefixed carbon dioxide is stored in the vacuoles and is

used during the daytime for photosynthesis.

Orchid seed are adapted for wind disbursal. The dust-like seed consist of a tiny

embryo and a net-like testa.  The seed lack endosperm, the 3N tissues that typically feed a developing

embryo. In orchids when germination occurs a mycorrhizal fungi penetrates the testa and feeds the

embryo. This symbiotic relationship also occurs in the seed germination of terrestrial orchid species.

Although Orchidaceae is a member of the monocotyledons, the embryo lacks a

cotyledon. However orchids do have the general characteristics of other members of the lower

Asparagales: mycorrhizal relationships, simultaneous microsporogensis, sympodial growth, inferior

ovary, sepal nectaries, and lateral inflorescences.

http://www.selby.org/learningandgrowing/articles/orchid-adaptations-epiphytic-lifestyle

Bees don’t see red, but do see yellow, blue, and ultraviolet (UV). Thus, bee-pollinated flowers are mostly

yellow or blue with UV nectar guides (landing patterns) to guide the bee. They usually have a delicate,

sweet scent, and a small, narrow floral tube to fit the tongue-length of that species of bee. The flowers

are sturdy and irregularly-shaped with a specifically-designed landing platform. For example,

snapdragons will only open for a bee of the right weight.

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/courses/bio303/coevolution.htm

Butterfly and Daisy

Butterfly

Butterflies feed primarily on nectar from flowers. Some also derive nourishment from pollen, tree sap, rotting fruit, dung, decaying flesh, and dissolved minerals in wet sand or dirt. Butterflies are important as pollinators for some species of plants although in general they do not carry as much pollen load as bees. They are however capable of moving pollen over greater distances. Flower constancy has been observed for at least one species of butterfly. As adults, butterflies consume only liquids which are ingested by means of their proboscis. They sip water from damp patches for hydration and feed on nectar from flowers, from which they obtain sugars for energy as well as sodium and other minerals vital for reproduction. Several species of butterflies need more sodium than that provided by nectar and are attracted by sodium in salt; they sometimes land on people, attracted by the salt in human sweat. Some butterflies also visit dung, rotting fruit or carcasses to obtain minerals and nutrients. In many species, this mud-puddling behaviour is restricted to the males, and studies have suggested that the nutrients collected may be provided as a nuptial gift along with the spermatophore, during mating.

Butterflies use their antennae to sense the air for wind and scents. The antennae come in various shapes and colours; the hesperids have a pointed angle or hook to the antennae, while most other families show knobbed antennae. The antennae are richly covered with sensory organs known as sensillae. A butterfly's sense of taste, 200 times stronger than humans, is coordinated by chemoreceptors on the tarsi, or feet, which work only on contact, and are used to determine whether an egg-laying insect's offspring will be able to feed on a leaf before eggs are laid on it. Many butterflies use chemical signals, pheromones, and specialized scent scales (androconia) and other structures (coremata or 'Hair pencils' in the Danaidae) are developed in some species.

Vision is well developed in butterflies and most species are sensitive to the ultraviolet spectrum. Many species show sexual dimorphism in the patterns of UV reflective patches. Color vision may be widespread but has been demonstrated in only a few species. Some butterflies have organs of hearing and some species are also known to make stridulatory and clicking sounds.

Monarch butterflies

Many butterflies, such as the Monarch butterfly, are migratory and capable of long distance flights. They migrate during the day and use the sun to orient themselves. They also perceive polarized light and use it for orientation when the sun is hidden. Many species of butterfly maintain territories and actively chase other species or individuals that may stray into them. Some species will bask or perch

on chosen perches. The flight styles of butterflies are often characteristic and some species have courtship flight displays. Basking is an activity which is more common in the cooler hours of the morning. Many species will orient themselves to gather heat from the sun. Some species have evolved dark wingbases to help in gathering more heat and this is especially evident in alpine forms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly

Daisies: grow low to the ground so they are not affected by mowing have white petals surrounding the central anthers (producing pollen) to attract insects have flowers that grow taller than surrounding plants to attract insects must supply food as a reward for the pollinator have to advertise the presence of food to attract visitors must have a way of putting pollen on the pollinator so it is transferred to the next plant/flower.

http://test.field-studies-council.org/documents/projects/sitp/sessions/pid/PTID%20Adaptations%20of%20a%20daisy%20fact%20sheet.pdf

A Daisy is a perennial whose evergreen leaves form a basal tuft or a rosette. Daisy flower plant has a prostrate fashion or a growing habit of spreading. Daisies can be propagated by division in spring or through sowing seeds in spring or late autumn. English Daisy is a serious weed in the northwest United States. The Daisy flowers open at dawn and are visited by many small insects. Daisies are used by children to make daisy chains. The Daisy's leaves are edible and can be used in salads.

http://www.theflowerexpert.com/content/growingflowers/flowersandgeography/daisies

Sword-billed Hummingbirds and Trumpet Vine

Hummingbird

The sword-billed hummingbird (Enisfera enisfera) is very aptly named, as its bill can grow up to 4 inches long, which is longer than its body. Because of this, the bird cannot preen with its bill and instead will groom its feathers with its feet. To ease neck strain while perched, sword-billed hummingbirds often hold their bills straight up. These unique birds can be found in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela.

http://birding.about.com/od/birdprofiles/ig/Exotic-Hummingbird-Pictures/Sword-Billed-Hummingbird.htm

Hummingbirds are birds that comprise the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm (3–5 in) range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm to about 20-mm Bee Hummingbird. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings 12–80 times per second (depending on the species). They are also the only group of birds able to fly backwards. Their English name derives from the characteristic hum made by their rapid wing beats. They can fly at speeds exceeding 15 m/s (54 km/h, 34 mi/h).

Hummingbirds drink nectar, a sweet liquid inside certain flowers. Like bees, they are able to assess the amount of sugar in the nectar they eat; they reject flower types that produce nectar that is less than 10% sugar and prefer those whose sugar content is stronger. Nectar is a poor source of nutrients, so hummingbirds meet their needs for protein, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, etc. by preying on insects and spiders. Most hummingbirds have bills that are long and straight or nearly so, but in some species the bill shape is adapted for specialized feeding. Thornbills have short, sharp bills adapted for feeding from flowers with short corollas and piercing the bases of longer ones. The Sicklebills' extremely decurved bills are adapted to extracting nectar from the curved corollas of flowers in the family Gesneriaceae. The bill of the Fiery-tailed Awlbill has an upturned tip, as in the Avocets. The male Tooth-billed Hummingbird has barracuda-like spikes at the tip of its long, straight bill.

The two halves of a hummingbird's bill have a pronounced overlap, with the lower half (mandible) fitting tightly inside the upper half (maxilla). When hummingbirds feed on nectar, the bill is usually only opened slightly, allowing the tongue to dart out and into the interior of flowers. Like the similar nectar-feeding sunbirds and unlike other birds, hummingbirds drink by using protrusible grooved or trough-like tongues. Hummingbirds do not spend all day flying, as the energy cost would be prohibitive; the majority of their activity consists simply of sitting or perching. Hummingbirds feed in

many small meals, consuming many small invertebrates and up to twelve times their own body weight in nectar each day. They spend an average of 10–15% of their time feeding and 75–80% sitting and digesting.

Hummingbirds are specialized nectarivores and are tied to the ornithophilous flowers they feed upon. Some species, especially those with unusual bill shapes such as the Sword-billed Hummingbird and the sicklebills, are co-evolved with a small number of flower species.Many plants pollinated by hummingbirds produce flowers in shades of red, orange, and bright pink, though the birds will take nectar from flowers of many colors. Hummingbirds can see wavelengths into the near-ultraviolet, but their flowers do not reflect these wavelengths as many insect-pollinated flowers do. This narrow color spectrum may render hummingbird-pollinated flowers relatively inconspicuous to most insects, thereby reducing nectar robbing. Hummingbird-pollinated flowers also produce relatively weak nectar (averaging 25% sugars w/w) containing high concentrations of sucrose, whereas insect-pollinated flowers typically produce more concentrated nectars dominated by fructose and glucose.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummingbird

Trumpet Vine

The Trumpet Creeper, Campsis radicans 'flamenco', is a rapid growing, clinging vine that produces orange trumpet shaped flowers in the summer months that attract hummingbirds and butterflies. It is also known as the Trumpet Vine and is a tough vine for hot and dry sites. The invasive nature of this plant makes it hard to get rid of but also very hardy.

The abundant sprays of trumpet-shaped orange flowers cover this deciduous vine for an extra long bloom season. Trumpet Creepers are often grown with multiple trunks. This plant flowers best in a full sun location. The rapid growth makes it an excellent plant for covering fences or arbors.

http://www.naturehills.com/product/trumpet_creeper.aspx

The trumpet vine or trumpet creeper is large and woody. It is a native of the southeastern United States. The flower comes in colors ranging from orange to red. The plant can grow to 10 meters in height, but may be as short as 3 meters. The flowers are very attractive to hummingbirds, but many types of birds like to nest in the thick leaves. The plant is very hardy and difficult to get rid of. As it grows, it puts out huge numbers of tendrils that grab onto every available surface. When planted next to a tree, the vine will “climb” the tree and may dismember it in the process.

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Trumpet_vine

Red squirrel, Lodgepole Pine, and Crossbill birds

Red Squirrels are smallish creatures, with reddish fur and a long bushy tail. Their special features or adaptations allow them to successfully find shelter and food in woodlands like Balloch Wood.

The bushy tail is perhaps the most obvious feature, essential for balance and communication and is often held up and over the squirrel’s back. In fact, the Latin name for the red squirrel is Sciurus vulgaris which originates from the Greek word ‘skiouros’ meaning ‘shade tail’.

Young red squirrels are called kittens, and are born blind and hairless. They are born in nests called dreys in spring and summer and need to eat well so that they are fit and well for the winter months.

Squirrels get up at dawn to spend the daylight hours foraging for food, making use of the many types of food which the forest has to offer, from tree bark and fungi in winter to insects and tree sap in summer.

They are well known for hoarding food to prepare for the winter months when supplies are low. These food reserves of tree seeds and nuts are buried in autumn and utilised throughout the winter and spring.

In the summer months squirrels often have a snooze around mid-day inside their drey which is also a secure and safe place for overnight rest. That means squirrel spotting in the middle of a hot sunny summers’ day is often unrewarded!

Unlike some other mammals, squirrels don’t hibernate and remain active throughout the winter. One of the best times to see squirrels is during the months of January and February when their courtship chases take place and the trees are without leaves making squirrels easy to spot!

Yet red squirrels are an endangered species. Although they are the only native species of squirrel in the UK, they are not the only species resident here. Grey squirrels from North America were brought here over 100 years ago and were released into parks and gardens across the country.

Due to their ability to feed more efficiently in broad leaved and mixed woodlands they have pushed red squirrels out of many woodlands in England, Wales and central Scotland and now outnumber them by almost twenty to one. This, combined with disease and tree felling, has led to a dramatic drop in red squirrel numbers over the last 50 years.

Fortunately grey squirrels find it fairly difficult to survive in large conifer forests where large seeded broadleaved trees like beech and oak are minimal – a climate in which red squirrels thrive.

Greys, being almost twice the size of red squirrels, need to spend much more time than reds foraging for food in order to reach their daily energy requirements.

Conifer cones have very small seeds and a fraction of the energy of an acorn, a bit like comparing a chocolate button to a mars bar! For this reason efforts to conserve the red squirrel are focussed on the large spruce dominated conifer plantations which are so common in this part of the world, for example the Galloway Forest Park managed by Forestry Commission Scotland.

With appropriate habitat management, these large forests could become important future refuges for the red squirrel as greys become more widespread.

http://www.creetown-walks.co.uk/wildlife-red-squirrels.asp

Lodgepole Pine

Lodgepole pine is known for its long, slender trunk and high, thin crown. The average mature size is 24 inches in diameter and 70 feet high, although trees only 5 inches in diameter are often 50 feet high.

Both male and female cones are found on the same tree, but are separate. The male cones are in large, orange-red clusters. The seed cones (female cones), are yellow-brown in color, average about 1 ½ inches in length. The tips of the cone scales near the cone apex are armed with sharp prickles, while the tips of the basal scales are usually knoblike. Cones are larger on one side near the base (asymmetrical). They frequently cling to the twigs in a closed condition for several years, a condition described as "serotinous."

Small, thin-shelled seeds, about 1/16 inch in length with terminal wings ½ inch long. Cones require heat to melt resin and release seeds, or fire kills the tree and prevents water from reaching the cones.

Needle-like in bundles of two. These leaves vary in color between yellow-green and dark green. They average 2 inches in length and are usually twisted, hence the scientific name contorta. Buds are resinous, dark brown in color, and about ¼ inch long.

Twigs are stout and dark in color, thickly covered with leaves that remain on the twigs for about 5 years. Bark is very thin, rarely exceeding ½ inch, which tends to reduce the tree's resistance to fire. The bark is generally not rigid, but scaly. The scales are brown to gray and loosely attached. The wood is rather hard, brittle, and straight grained.

Lodgepole pine is adapted to high mountain slopes at elevations usually above 6,000 feet. Reproduction is best attained in areas that have been cleared either by man's activity or as a result of fire.

Rocky Mountain lodgepole pine produces serotinous cones which do not open at maturity because they are sealed shut by a resinous bond between the cone scales. These cones remain on the tree for years and require temperatures between 113 and 140 degrees F (45-60 C) to melt the resin and release the seed. In nature, only forest fires generate temperatures of this magnitude within a tree's crown.

Lodgepole pine grows on a wide variety soils but grows best on moist, medium-textured soils derived from granitic, shale, or coarse-grained lava parent materials.

extension.usu.edu/range/woody/lodgepolepine.htm

Crossbill Bird

Crossbill bird of the genus Loxia, in the finch family. Its bill, crossed at the tips, is specialized for pulling

apart pine cones and picking out the seeds. Crossbills are found in the evergreen forests of the Northern

Hemisphere, as far south as NW Africa and Guatemala. Two species occur in the United States. The red

crossbill ( L. curvirostra ) is found in Europe and in N and central Asia as well as in North America. Males

have orange to dull red plumage, with black wings. The white-winged crossbill ( L. leucoptera ) occurs in

northern Russia and in North America; the male of this species is rosy red and both sexes are marked

with white wing bars. Females of both species are olive-gray and yellow; they lay three to four pale

green, brown-spotted eggs, in well-formed nests built in trees. Crossbills are not considered migratory,

but they shift their breeding grounds erratically, probably in response to the availability of pine cones.

Sometimes they suddenly appear in large numbers in areas where they were formerly rarely seen.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/crossbill.aspx There should be geographic differences in the pinecones. If the trees have evolved in response to their seed predators, we should observe geographic differences in pinecones: where squirrels are the main seed predator, trees should have stronger defenses against squirrel predation, and where birds are the main seed predator, trees should have stronger defenses against bird predation. This turns out to be true. Where there are squirrels, the pinecones are heavier with fewer seeds, but have thinner scales, like the pinecone on the left. Where there are only crossbills, pinecones are lighter with more seeds, but have thick scales, like the one on the right.

Lodgepole pine cones adapted to squirrels — easier for crossbills to eat.

Lodgepole pine cones adapted to crossbills — easier for squirrels to eat.

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/evo_35

also check out: http://www.uwyo.edu/benkman/pdfs%20of%20papers/benkman_2010.pdf

Old World Swallowtail and Fringed Rue

Common Yellow or Oldworld Swallowtail

The common yellow or oldworld swallowtail butterfly is a common butterfly which is found across Europe, Africa and Asia. It prefers wet and marshlands as its home and has a life span of up to one month.

This swallowtail is recognizable by its black and light-yellow body with a red-and-blue ‘eye’ print upon its wings. They have a tail-like extension on their hind wings and produce green, black and orange caterpillars. Their wingspan is approximately 3.7 inches (95 mm).

The food the common yellow swallowtail butterfly will eat changes as it transforms from being a caterpillar. As a caterpillar, they only eat very specific plants, most preferably milk parsley although they will also eat carrot, fennel and angelica. When they reach adulthood they mainly exist upon the nectar of flowers. They have a long extendable tongue which they use to drink nectar from thistles and milk parsley plants most commonly.

They mate during the summer, usually from the end of May onwards and they lay their eggs upon the upper leaves of the milk parsley plant. After approximately two weeks the eggs will hatch and the newborn caterpillars are said to resemble bird droppings! As mentioned they develop into larger colored creatures and to warn off predators they have a couple of ingenious techniques. Firstly, they can shoot out a pair of horns from their head to appear threatening and secondly they can produce a secretion which smells so strong it can cause predators to flee. As adults they develop different techniques to keep predators away. The combination of “eyes” on their wings and long tail like appendages confuses predators, mainly birds. This is because the birds can confuse the tail-like appendages with the swallowtails antennae and give them more of a chance of escaping!

Common yellow swallowtail butterflies are becoming less common as the supply of milk parsley decreases. Although they aren’t reliant upon it they prefer to use it to feed, hatch their eggs and many other uses. With the loss of the milk parsley plant, we are also losing the swallowtail butterfly.

This swallowtail is a favorite of butterfly collectors in countries such as England where butterfly collecting is popular.

http://www.factzoo.com/insects/common-yellow-oldworld-swallowtail-butterfly.html

Fringed rue is an odd-looking flower which can have four or five scoop-shaped petals with a fringe of fine, long hairs around the edges. The divided leaves have a strong and unpleasant smell when crushed. When not in flower, this woody, evergreen shrub has a somewhat blue-grey overall appearance.

http://www.first-nature.com/flowers/ruta_chalepensis.php

Rue

Rue is the common name for various members of the family Rutaceae, a large group of plants distributed throughout temperate and tropical regions and most abundant in South Africa and Australia. Most species are woody shrubs or small trees; many are evergreen and bear spines. The family is characterized by the presence of glands producing an essential oil, and the foliage, fruits, and flowers are noticeably aromatic and fragrant. The aromatic principle is widely utilized for flavorings, perfume oils, and medicines. Chief in importance are the citrus fruits, source of numerous extracted oils but best known as a major tropical-fruit industry, rivaled only by the banana and, to a lesser extent, the pineapple. Also of value medicinally are angostura bark and the rues (both now more commonly used for flavoring) and the poisonous jaborandi. Leaves of the latter (Pilocarpus spp. Brazil) are the source of pilocarpine, used to treat glaucoma. Several species of the Rutaceae yield lumber used for cabinetwork, e.g., the orange and the species called satinwood. The prickly ash, native to North America, is used in domestic brews and is often planted as a fragrant garden ornamental, as are the citrus trees and the varieties of dittany or fraxinella (Dictamnus alba), Old World woody perennials with a strong, lemon-like aroma. The name rue is properly restricted to the shrubby herbs of the genus Ruta, ranging from the Mediterranean to E Siberia. The common rue of history and literature is R. graveolans, which has greenish-yellow flowers and blue-green leaves sometimes variegated, with a very strong odor and a bitter taste. The leaves are now sometimes used in flavorings, beverages, and herb vinegars and in the preparation of cosmetics and perfumes. In medieval times rue was much used as a drug; its use as a condiment was thought to prevent poisons from affecting the system. Rue was strewn about law courts in parts of Great Britain as a preventive against diseases carried by criminals. It was sometimes associated with witches but also symbolized grace, repentance, and memory. Shakespeare in Richard II refers to it as the "sour herb of grace." The family Rutaceae is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Sapindales.

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/rue

The four-year old plant is well-established and has not been transplanted during this period. I purchased it as a seedling and the only maintenance has been mulching and removing dead branches. When the stalks became too long to bear its weight, they were pruned a few inches above the root level, and new sprouts would start growing right away.

Rue is an evergreen shrub about 80 cm (3 ft) tall, with individual round stalks that shoot up right from the base. Some of them split in two, but most are single stems, with a cluster of leaves at the distal end of the stem – about three quarters from the base. Some stems are tall and slender, measuring 60-80 cm (2-3 ft). The stalks are hard, with a diameter ranging from 6-10 mm (2-4 in) covered with scars at regular intervals, showing where leaves that have fallen off used to grow. The bark and leaves have a similar

aroma. When broken, the bark shows a very thin, dry, paper-like external layer that has a sandy color which can easily be peeled off with a nail. Immediately underneath, the next layer is light green, soft and moist, and can be peeled off as well. The next layer is somewhat dryer and of a faded green, almost white. This layer is very tough and dry, and cannot be peeled off. I tried to break it open with my nails and was able to split it. This rather “hard shell” showed a very soft and well protected white compact core, with a consistency that reminded me of bread dough. What called my attention was the fact that these layers were completely different from one another both in color and consistency, in spite of being extremely thin, and the drier layer enveloped the softer one. The region that bears leaves has a completely different tone, a light green that matches the leaves, and the color transition from green to beige is abrupt. Also, this “green” area is rather soft and juicy. It seems to me that when the leaves fall off, there is no longer a need for so much softness and moisture, thus the bark becomes tough and changes to this sandy shade. Tiny new leaves grow at the very end of the stems and look like very delicate lacework when they first appear. In spite of being hard and tough, the long stem is quite flexible and sways to the wind.

The whole orientation of the plant is upward. The stalks seem to try to reach the sky, while the roots attach it firmly to the ground. It is well rooted, although I have not been able to observe the root system. I held it close to the base and tried to pull the plant, but it offered great resistance.

The bright yellow fringed flowers with protruding stamens are star-like, and grow in clusters, facing straight up. The central flower has five petals, while all other have four. The rounded petals are initially curled around the center and slowly open up, forming a protective shield for the light green, four/five-lobbed ovary, which gradually swells up, until the petals are no longer necessary and drop. The ovary, with 4-5 chambers, continues growing until it reaches a size between 0,5 – 1 cm (.2 – .4 in), becoming brown as it matures, eventually opening up to reveal 4-5 tiny black seeds in its interior. I observed this process from August to December 2007, and documented it with pictures, some of which are shown in this paper.

The leaf colors range from green-grayish to a bluish green with a velvety touch. The rounded small leaves are disposed symmetrically on the upper part of the stem. They are very light and bright green when young, turning into a green-grayish tone as they get older, eventually becoming brown at the tips and falling off. Some older leaves are covered with a white soft layer underneath the blade. I am not sure whether this is a natural feature of the plant or a parasite of the plant I observed. The leaves are symmetrically distributed on each individual stem, to the right and left and at the tip. They have a central grayish vein and many smaller secondary veins deriving from the main vein. Some leaves remind me of a heart shape.

One of the most striking features of this plant is indeed the strong, aromatic, bitter or acrid scent, but once you get used to it, it can be very soothing and comforting. I have had personal experiences with that. Whenever I feel upset, mashing a few leaves with my fingers and smelling them makes me feel better. The taste of the leaves is quite bitter and the berries taste similar, but stronger and a little hot.

http://www.flowersociety.org/rue-plant-study.html

Star Orchid and Giant Hawk Moth

What are those big, beautiful, fragrant flowers with the odd petal in the middle that you’ve seen in

corsages and wedding bouquets? Why, orchids, of course! Simply saying the name ignites images of

dazzling colors and shapes. The amazing variety of species (about 25,000 worldwide) staggers the

imagination.

From the moccasin-like lady’s slippers to the bespeckled oncidiums or the intricate little babyboot

orchids, these extravagant flowers are just variations on one basic theme that defines the orchid family.

One Basic Theme

Truly awe-inspiring, this bouquet of flower variations makes it possible for different orchids to be

adapted to different types of insect pollination. By “adapted,” I refer to structures precisely suited to

accomplish specific functions, such as specific chemicals that attract male wasps to a fly orchid. Most

other flowers separate these parts. Another unusual feature of orchids is that the third petal, called the

labellum or “lip,” is more elaborate than the other two. The lip sits on the lower side of the flower,

where it serves as a landing platform for pollinating insects. Instead of powdery pollen like other

flowers, orchids hold together their pollen in two waxy bundles (called the pollinia), which are attached

to a sticky pad.

When an insect lands on the lip in search of nectar, its mouth or body brushes the sticky pad, and the

pollinia are glued to the insect. When the insect lands on a different flower, the receptor on the new

flower’s central column snatches the pollen bundles.

Without this cross-fertilization between different flowers, the seeds couldn’t develop. And it’s essential

that more than just one seed develop at a time. Orchids store seeds in seed capsules, which cannot

mature unless most of the seeds are fertilized. Since these capsules contain thousands or even millions

of seeds (orchids have the smallest known seeds), getting all that pollen transferred at one time is vitally

important.

Simplicity of Adaptations

With everything stuck on one single column, orchids seem to have “less structure” with which to

accomplish pollination—at first glance, anyway. In fact, it has a more complex, more efficient basic

structure to transport the large number of pollen grains from one flower to another flower. This design

is also more adaptable than most other flowers.

The breathtaking spectrum of orchids arises largely through simple variations in a few features, such as

petal size and shape, coloration, curvature, growth rates, fragrances, and development of ridges, ruffles,

lobes, and nectar pockets. Demonstrating this plasticity, orchids are well known for wide crosses that

seamlessly blend stunning differences from several species into a single flower.

Eye-Popping Examples of Adaptations

Fly Orchid. In the photo of the fly orchid, what do you see? If it is an insect sitting on a flower, you are

wrong. It’s the orchid itself!

The column and lip form the head and body of the insect, and the two remaining petals suggest the

antennae. The flower produces an odor otherwise produced by females of certain digger wasps. The

flowers are ready to be pollinated precisely when the male wasps are ready to mate but before the

females are. The chemical attracts the male wasp to the flower, which physically resembles the female

well enough for the male to attempt to mate with the orchid. In the process, the pollinia stick to the

wasp’s head. By the time the wasp leaves in search of another “female,” the stalk of the pollinia dries

out and positions the pollinia so that it can be deposited when the wasp reaches the next flower.

Spurs. Many orchids have a tubular lobe, called a “spur,” on the back of the lip that fills with nectar.

Butterflies and moths, with their long coiled “soda straw” mouths, feed on the nectar. In particular,

night-flying hawk moths are attracted to white or pale yellow-green flowers that are visible at night. It is

common to find orchids with spurs two, three, or four inches long because many moths have mouths

that long when uncurled.

The real champion of long spurs is Angraecum sesquipedale, the comet orchid of Madagascar. Its spur is

about 12 inches long, though some have been found up to 16 inches. At the time Charles Darwin was

shown the comet orchid, no one knew what creature did the pollinating. Based on the idea of

adaptation, Darwin predicted that a Malagasy hawk moth would be found with an equally long mouth.3

Though people scoffed at him, the moth was actually discovered in 1903.

The fly orchid simulates the smell and appearance of a female wasp to attract male wasps for pollination. Only one moth—the Malagasy hawk moth—has a tongue long enough to draw nectar from the long spur of the comit orchid of Madagascar. The spur is 12-16 inches long. The lady slipper temporarily traps pollinating insects inside its large lip. Pollen sticks to the insect as it exits the back of the slipper.

Trap of the Lady’s Slipper. One type of orchid temporarily traps the pollinating insect. The lip of the

lady’s slipper orchid is a complex “one-way street.” Nectar inside attracts small bees, wasps, or flies that

enter through the large opening of the “slipper.” Once inside, however, the bee can’t easily fly back out.

Trying to climb up the smooth inner walls and curled edge, the pollinator usually falls to the floor of the

“slipper.” Here it finds traction on hairs that direct it to two windows in the back of the slipper. To get to

the holes, it must first squeeze past the pollen receptor (which grabs any pollinia on the bee, and pick up

new pollinia as it slips out the exit hole). The dimensions of each passageway match the size of the

insect species that visits that species of orchid.

www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v4/n1/ orchids

The Giant Hawk Moth has an 8-inch tongue that allows it to drink the nectar from the long bell-shaped Star Orchid.

Orchid plants, members of a vast and ancient family, enchanted Darwin late in life and intrigue us still, more than a century later. With over 20,000 species in the wild today, each astonishingly adapted to its habitat and its pollinator in shape, size, color or fragrance, orchids embody life's richness. And it is that richness that Darwin's work allows us to understand.

Two centuries after Darwin's birth his insights remain fresh and vital. As a young man, he dared to ask how the natural world came to look as it does. How can we explain the amazing diversity of life all around us? And his answer—it had happened through evolution by natural selection—only increased his sense of wonder. "There is," he said, "a grandeur in this view of life," a life in which "endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."

Moths

Moths live in a wide variety of habitats around the world. They usually go unnoticed, except when flying erratically around your porch light, a streetlight, or other source of light during the darkness of night. Perhaps you notice their handiwork when you find small holes in a woolen garment stored in your closet or you find your tomato plants consumed by a hungry tomato hornworm.

Most moths work the night shift, unlike their “respectable cousins” the butterflies, which are out during the daytime, and glorified in prose, poetry, and art. Unfortunately, we usually vilify moths because of their association with the dark of night and our innate fear of darkness and things that go bump in the night. Do you remember the monsters under your bed?

They get little respect, except from the relatively few scientists and naturalists who are passionate about their study and who study moths and their ways. Moths represent a biological storehouse of interesting, dramatic, and unusual behaviors, some with roles as pollinators, and others as food for other animals. All have interesting stories to tell if we will only take the time to stop, look, listen and smell the hidden world of moths and their flowers. Planting moonlight or a fragrance garden is a sure way to enjoy not only these wonderful blossoms, but also their nocturnal pollinators, especially the giant hawk moths.

Highly magnified hawk moth scales (Manduca sp.) viewed with a Leica Z6 microscope. Like mammalian fur, or feathers on a bird, these long tapering scales trap air and keep these giant moths warm. Hawk moths shiver to warm up, and maintain high body temperatures (often 40 degrees Centigrade) to fly on cool nights.

The pink-spotted hawk moth (Agrius cingulata) visiting a blossom of Datura at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

Estimated populations of 11,000 moths are known to occur in the United States. Around the world, another 160,000 species of moths have been catalogued. A staggering 200,000 or more species of moths may exist, just waiting to be discovered. The number of moths far outnumbers the number of world’s species of butterflies (17,500 species). Not all moths are a drab brown or white. Many moths come clothed in a myriad of colors and patterns, some brighter than those flashy butterflies, and just as interesting. Like butterflies, minute scales cover the wings of moth, making them slippery to the touch. If you have ever held or tried to catch a butterfly or moth, the “powder” or “dust” that comes off on your fingers is their scales.

Some of the largest moths in the world belong to the hawk moth or Sphingid family within the order Lepidoptera (the animal order that includes butterflies and moths). These magnificent animals have long narrow wings and thick bodies. They are fast flyers and often highly aerobatic. Many species can hover in place. Some can briefly fly backwards or dart away. Hawk moths are experts at finding sweet-smelling flowers after dark. They are especially fond of Datura (Jimpson weeds), Mirabilis (Four O’clocks), and Peniocereus (Queen-of-the-night cactus) blossoms. These flowers are highly fragrant with long floral tubes concealing pools of thin but abundant nectar.

Adult hawk moth (Manduca rustica) with its proboscis (tongue) fully extended. These moths are super tankers that fly from blossom to blossom. They are especially fond of the fragrant flowers of sacred Datura in the southwest deserts.

Hawk moths have the world’s longest tongues of any other moth or butterfly (some up to 14 inches long). Charles Darwin knew of the star orchids (Angraecum spp.) from Madagascar that had nectar spurs over a foot in length. Darwin was ridiculed by other scientists of his day for predicting that these orchids would be pollinated by hawk moths. After his death, hawk moths with tongues long enough to sip of the nectar produced by the star orchids were discovered on the island of Madagascar.

The caterpillars (larvae) of hawk moths are the familiar green hornworms or tobacco worms, familiar to gardeners who plant tomatoes. Since some hawk moths are minor crop pests, aerial application of pesticides to protect crops sometimes affects their numbers. With the populations of all the sphinx moths affected by this agricultural practice there are fewer sphinx moths that pollinate rare plants, like the famous Queen-of-the-night cactus or the sacred Datura, which live in northern Mexico and along the border in the desert southwest.

Moths pick up pollen on their legs and wings when they visit flowers and deposit pollen (accidentally) on subsequent floral visits. Two kinds of small moths (Yucca moths and the Senita cactus moth) actually pick up pollen and jam a pollen ball onto the stigmas of their flowers in order to assure food, the resulting immature seeds, for their caterpillars. They are some of the only insects to pollinate flowers “purposefully”.

www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/...of-the.../hawk_ moths .shtml

Giant Saguaro Cactus and Lesser Long-tongued Bat

Each cactus flower lasts for only one night each spring. The flower’s large size, white color, strong scent and abundant nectar attract the bats. The bats lap up the nectar while pollen sticks to their faces. As they feed, they transfer the pollen from flower to flower.

Saguaros are covered with protective spines, white flowers in the late spring, and red fruit in summer.

Saguaros are found exclusively in the Sonoran Desert.

Most of the saguaros roots are only 4-6 inches deep and radiate out as far from the plant as it is tall. There is one deep root, or tap root that extends down into the ground more than 2 feet.

After the saguaro dies its woody ribs can be used to build roofs, fences, and parts of furniture. The holes that birds nested in or "saguaro boots" can be found among the dead saguaros. Native Americans used these as water containers long before the canteen was available.

http://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/oz/long-fact-sheets/Saguaro%20Cactus.php

The Lesser Long-Tongued Bat

Relatively small among bats, members of this species have a total length of 6 to 7 centimetres (2.4 to 2.8 in), a forearm around 3.5 centimetres (1.4 in) long, and weigh from 7 to 12 grams (0.25 to 0.42 oz); females are slightly larger than males. The tail is 6 to 9 millimetres (0.24 to 0.35 in) long, with the first half being embedded within the uropatagium, which is also partially supported by well developed calcars. The body is covered with thick hair that is dark brown to almost black in colour. As the common name for the species suggests, the muzzle is slender and elongated, although not unusually so among glossophagine bats, and is tipped with a triangular nose-leaf. The ears are rounded,

with curved folds along either edge, and a large tragus. The tongue is remarkably long, and can be extended even when the bat's jaws are closed, because of a wide gap between the front teeth, reaching up to 50% of the animal's entire body length. The tip of the tongue bears a small patch of bristles, which presumably helps the bat lap up nectar. The teeth are somewhat variable in form, but only the canines are prominent, with all the remaining teeth being small and delicate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_long-tongued_bat

The lesser long-nosed bat is on the endangered species list, so if you have a mind to leave some nectar out at night you may help these little fellows survive. If you turn out all the lights and watch out the window on a night of bright moonlight, you may be able to see these bats. Ours come in mid- to late-August, arriving shortly after sunset, generally about 8 p.m. Arizona time. (Binoculars can help even at night, especially if you are looking for the bats silhouetted against a cloudy sky.) These bats are an amazing sight, flying swiftly and quite silently. The hummingbirds don't seem to mind sharing as long as you refill the feeders promptly at dawn.

http://www.discoverseaz.com/Wildlife/LN_bats.html

Angraecoid Orchid and African Moth

What are those big, beautiful, fragrant flowers with the odd petal in the middle that you’ve seen in

corsages and wedding bouquets? Why, orchids, of course! Simply saying the name ignites images of

dazzling colors and shapes. The amazing variety of species (about 25,000 worldwide) staggers the

imagination.

From the moccasin-like lady’s slippers to the bespeckled oncidiums or the intricate little babyboot

orchids, these extravagant flowers are just variations on one basic theme that defines the orchid family.

One Basic Theme

Truly awe-inspiring, this bouquet of flower variations makes it possible for different orchids to be

adapted to different types of insect pollination. By “adapted,” I refer to structures precisely suited to

accomplish specific functions, such as specific chemicals that attract male wasps to a fly orchid. Most

other flowers separate these parts. Another unusual feature of orchids is that the third petal, called the

labellum or “lip,” is more elaborate than the other two. The lip sits on the lower side of the flower,

where it serves as a landing platform for pollinating insects. Instead of powdery pollen like other

flowers, orchids hold together their pollen in two waxy bundles (called the pollinia), which are attached

to a sticky pad.

When an insect lands on the lip in search of nectar, its mouth or body brushes the sticky pad, and the

pollinia are glued to the insect. When the insect lands on a different flower, the receptor on the new

flower’s central column snatches the pollen bundles.

Without this cross-fertilization between different flowers, the seeds couldn’t develop. And it’s essential

that more than just one seed develop at a time. Orchids store seeds in seed capsules, which cannot

mature unless most of the seeds are fertilized. Since these capsules contain thousands or even millions

of seeds (orchids have the smallest known seeds), getting all that pollen transferred at one time is vitally

important.

Simplicity of Adaptations

With everything stuck on one single column, orchids seem to have “less structure” with which to

accomplish pollination—at first glance, anyway. In fact, it has a more complex, more efficient basic

structure to transport the large number of pollen grains from one flower to another flower. This design

is also more adaptable than most other flowers.

The breathtaking spectrum of orchids arises largely through simple variations in a few features, such as

petal size and shape, coloration, curvature, growth rates, fragrances, and development of ridges, ruffles,

lobes, and nectar pockets. Demonstrating this plasticity, orchids are well known for wide crosses that

seamlessly blend stunning differences from several species into a single flower.

Eye-Popping Examples of Adaptations

Fly Orchid. In the photo of the fly orchid, what do you see? If it is an insect sitting on a flower, you are

wrong. It’s the orchid itself!

The column and lip form the head and body of the insect, and the two remaining petals suggest the

antennae. The flower produces an odor otherwise produced by females of certain digger wasps. The

flowers are ready to be pollinated precisely when the male wasps are ready to mate but before the

females are. The chemical attracts the male wasp to the flower, which physically resembles the female

well enough for the male to attempt to mate with the orchid. In the process, the pollinia stick to the

wasp’s head. By the time the wasp leaves in search of another “female,” the stalk of the pollinia dries

out and positions the pollinia so that it can be deposited when the wasp reaches the next flower.

Spurs. Many orchids have a tubular lobe, called a “spur,” on the back of the lip that fills with nectar.

Butterflies and moths, with their long coiled “soda straw” mouths, feed on the nectar. In particular,

night-flying hawk moths are attracted to white or pale yellow-green flowers that are visible at night. It is

common to find orchids with spurs two, three, or four inches long because many moths have mouths

that long when uncurled.

The real champion of long spurs is Angraecum sesquipedale, the comet orchid of Madagascar. Its spur is

about 12 inches long, though some have been found up to 16 inches. At the time Charles Darwin was

shown the comet orchid, no one knew what creature did the pollinating. Based on the idea of

adaptation, Darwin predicted that a Malagasy hawk moth would be found with an equally long mouth.3

Though people scoffed at him, the moth was actually discovered in 1903.

The fly orchid simulates the smell and appearance of a female wasp to attract male wasps for pollination. Only one moth—the Malagasy hawk moth—has a tongue long enough to draw nectar from the long spur of the comit orchid of Madagascar. The spur is 12-16 inches long. The lady slipper temporarily traps pollinating insects inside its large lip. Pollen sticks to the insect as it exits the back of the slipper.

Trap of the Lady’s Slipper. One type of orchid temporarily traps the pollinating insect. The lip of the

lady’s slipper orchid is a complex “one-way street.” Nectar inside attracts small bees, wasps, or flies that

enter through the large opening of the “slipper.” Once inside, however, the bee can’t easily fly back out.

Trying to climb up the smooth inner walls and curled edge, the pollinator usually falls to the floor of the

“slipper.” Here it finds traction on hairs that direct it to two windows in the back of the slipper. To get to

the holes, it must first squeeze past the pollen receptor (which grabs any pollinia on the bee, and pick up

new pollinia as it slips out the exit hole). The dimensions of each passageway match the size of the

insect species that visits that species of orchid.

www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v4/n1/ orchids

Moths

Industrial Melanism

Industrial melanism is a classic example of adaptation, and a classic case took place in the British Isles involving the moth species Biston betularia. The coloring of the peppered moth, so called for its dark mottling, allows it to rest during the day undetected by predators on lichen-covered trees. During the 19th century, however, in areas where severe air pollution killed off the lichen, solid black peppered moths began appearing; within a century they made up 90 percent of the local population. With the lichens gone, the mottled peppered moths stood out against the tree

bark and fell prey to birds. Individual moths with darker coloration were more apt to survive and pass on that trait, evolving eventually into the solid black form.

Flight Aerodynamics

Moths have adaptations that make them incredible fliers. Narrow wings and streamlined abdomens give these moths the ability to fly rapidly and for sustained periods of time. Hawk moths are the strongest fliers of any moth; some species can fly as fast as 30 mph, while others can hover over flowers much like hummingbirds.

Camouflage and Mimicry

Moths that can blend into their surroundings during rest have a distinct advantage for survival from predation, as exhibited by the peppered moth. This adaptation is known as camouflage. Another moth adaptation is mimicry, which confuses or frightens off predators. Moths that are automimics have evolved markings such as wing patterns that look like large eyes; this tricks predators into thinking the moth is a much larger animal. Batesian mimics adapt their appearance to resemble another moth species that is dangerous or unpalatable to predators. Birds or other predators confuse the mimic species for the toxic or untasty species and won't attack.

http://www.ehow.com/info_8288620_adaptations-moths.html

Fig Tree and Wasp

Fig Tree

The importance of the fig tree lies in the fact that it can withstand severe climatic conditions in arid and semi arid regions with a low rainfall resulting in low soil humidity, high temperature and high soil calcium carbonate content. It grows on even rocks and gravel. The tree is not affected by moderately cold winters.

http://ressources.ciheam.org/om/pdf/c13/96605643.pdf

The fig tree has been around since the earliest recorded history. It has been a staple for many populations both rich and poor. It has become the symbol of abundance, fertility and sweetness. The fig tree is part of the Moraceae family along with mulberries, and its common name is Fig in English, Higo in Spanish, Figue in French, Feige in German and Fico in Italian.

1. Characteristics

o The fig tree is a deciduous tree. The fruit of the fig tree are the seeds within inverted flowers. The fig tree typically grows between 10 to 30 feet tall, but can grow as tall as 50 feet. Their abundance of leaves and fruit make them great shade trees as little sun passes through their branches. They need plenty of room around them due to their size and their root system will travel beyond the reach of the branches. As of 2010, a wild fig tree in South Africa holds the record for the deepest tree roots amongst all trees with roots reaching down 400 feet.

Care

o Fig trees require a fair amount of water and full sunlight to ripen the fruit of the tree. Insufficient water will cause the leaves to turn yellow and fall off. Though they require full sun, the bark is sensitive to excessive heat and may require a whitewash if exposed. Pruning is only

required during the first few years of the tree's life, and heavy winter pruning can result in a loss of fruit production. Pests are attracted to either the roots or the fruit, so some pest control is required including keeping the ground clear of fallen fruit.

History

o The fig most likely originated in Asia Minor. The fig tree was first recorded on the tablets of Lagash in 2738-2371 BC and it appears in ancient Greek and Egyptian records. It was first cultivated in India in the 14th century, and is now grown worldwide. The fig appears throughout the Bible beginning with Adam and Eve, who used fig leaves to cover themselves.

Health Benefits

o Figs are higher in fiber than any other common fruit or vegetable, and they also contain iron, calcium and potassium. Figs are a natural mild laxative and have been used as such since the Ancient Egyptians. The fruit has also been used as a mouth cleaner and to relieve chest congestion. The black fig pulp has been used as an ingredient in facial masks to tighten the skin. The juice from the leaves has been used on insect bites and stings, corns and warts. External use of the juice is not recommended for everyone as sensitive skin can develop ulcerations.

Miscellaneous Facts

o Fig trees are very adaptable as demonstrated in the dense Philippines rain forests where the fruit grows off the trunk instead of the branches. Figs have been used as a coffee substitute, and, due to its high alkalinity, it is eaten as an aid to those who wish to quit smoking. The fig was first used in a commercial product in 1892 in Fig Newtons cookies.

http://www.ehow.com/about_6390465_interesting-fig-trees.html

Wasp

Interesting & Amazing Information About Wasps

The wasp is known for its poisonous sting, which can be very painful. Wasp stings can also be fatal as some people are allergic to them. The stung area can swell and form a lump that takes a few days to soothe.

An interesting thing about wasps is that when these insects die, they release a smell (called a pheromone). This smell warns the other wasps of the lurking danger and is an indicator that help is needed.

Just like many other species of insects, wasp is known to be a social animal. As many as 10,000 wasps are believed to inhabit one nest. The queen wasp, who is the only breeding female, builds the nest using a papery substance made of chewed wood and plants.

Wasps are predated upon by different animals, which can include birds, amphibians, reptiles and various species of mammal. This is despite of their bright colors, which can serve to deter the predators.

Wasps, being omnivorous animals, eat a mixture of plants and other animals. They prefer to eat sweeter plants and feed on nectars, fruits and honey. However, they also eat insects and even large caterpillars.

Wasps are believed to become very aggressive during the months from August to October. During this period, their food preference shifts from insects to food and garbage. This is also the time when they can come in contact with humans and attack them.

Since wasps predate on caterpillars, they are considered as beneficial to farmers. They could comb the whole area to find food and pick caterpillars, which can damage the crops.

Wasps are active only during the daylight and they can be usually found resting in their nests during the night time. If one wants to eradicate the wasps permanently, night time is considered to be the best.

All female wasps are not fertile and the first group of wasps to be born is one of sterile wasps. The queen wasp is helped by some fertile wasps in increasing the population of the nest in the beginning. The other fertile wasps lay eggs in the beginning but eventually become sterile, when there are enough wasps in the nest.

http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/facts-about-wasps-7317.html

California Buckeye and butterflies

The California buckeye, Aesculus californica, begins to bloom in April or May, depending on location and on the duration of the winter rains. The tree is perhaps about ten to twelve feet tall when it grows in the full sun of chaparral. Chaparral is a plant community adapted to the summer-dry, winter-wet Mediterranean climate of Coastal Range California. In moister areas, such as the canyons and ravines of the Coast Range, the California buckeye may grow larger, perhaps reaching a height of 25 feet. The tree has a rounded crown and a spreading habit.

The inflorescences of the California buckeye range from white to pink in color. Some people say they smell good, but some say their smell is unpleasant. In any case, they are composed of many florets each with long stamens that hang out of the flower, and arranged in a spike about five or six inches long. The leaves of the buckeye tree are palmate, long serrate ovals of dark green above and a paler green below. The juvenile foliage is often downy, especially on the underside, but becomes smoother with maturity.

The flowers, fruit, and seeds of the California buckeye are poisonous. Various tribes of Native Americans, whom the Spanish called collectively Costanoans (which may be translated as "coastal dwellers"), exploited this attribute when they placed the seeds in pools of water to stun fish, which they then gathered, cooked, and ate. When some "Costanoan" tribes could not find other food, they reportedly leached the poison out of the seeds with repeated soaking and boiling, and then cooked and ate them.

Because of the poison, the USDA suggests that honeybees not be allowed to gather nectar from California buckeye trees. Deer do eat the young shoots, without apparent harm, and squirrels do gather and store the ripe seeds, which resemble chestnuts in appearance. The California buckeye is a member of the horse-chestnut family.

Because it essentially does not rain at all in California in the summer, the ground dries out. At some point in the summertime, the dryness of the soil reaches a point that signals the California buckeye to begin shedding its leaves. This is obviously an adaptation to the particular climate, like the thick waxy moisture-retaining leaves of many other members of the chaparral plant community. The California buckeye becomes leafless months sooner than other local deciduous florae, with the precise timing of its leaf fall dependent upon weather. The gray-barked tree often appears to be dead to people unfamiliar with local conditions, until sufficient winter moisture causes it to leaf out again in late fall or early winter.

http://www.helium.com/items/1065641-the-california-buckeye

Butterfly

Butterflies feed primarily on nectar from flowers. Some also derive nourishment from pollen, tree sap, rotting fruit, dung, decaying flesh, and dissolved minerals in wet sand or dirt. Butterflies are important as pollinators for some species of plants although in general they do not carry as much pollen load as bees. They are however capable of moving pollen over greater distances. Flower constancy has been observed for at least one species of butterfly. As adults, butterflies consume only liquids which are ingested by means of their proboscis. They sip water from damp patches for hydration and feed on nectar from flowers, from which they obtain sugars for energy as well as sodium and other minerals vital for reproduction. Several species of butterflies need more sodium than that provided by nectar and are attracted by sodium in salt; they sometimes land on people, attracted by the salt in human sweat.

Butterflies use their antennae to sense the air for wind and scents. The antennae come in various shapes and colours; the hesperids have a pointed angle or hook to the antennae, while most other families show knobbed antennae. The antennae are richly covered with sensory organs known as sensillae. A butterfly's sense of taste, 200 times stronger than humans, is coordinated by chemoreceptors on the tarsi, or feet, which work only on contact, and are used to determine whether an egg-laying insect's offspring will be able to feed on a leaf before eggs are laid on it. Many butterflies use chemical signals, pheromones, and specialized scent scales (androconia) and other structures (coremata or 'Hair pencils' in the Danaidae) are developed in some species.

Vision is well developed in butterflies and most species are sensitive to the ultraviolet spectrum. Many species show sexual dimorphism in the patterns of UV reflective patches. Color vision may be widespread but has been demonstrated in only a few species. Some butterflies have organs of hearing and some species are also known to make stridulatory and clicking sounds.

Monarch butterflies

Many butterflies, such as the Monarch butterfly, are migratory and capable of long distance flights. They migrate during the day and use the sun to orient themselves. They also perceive polarized light and use it for orientation when the sun is hidden. Many species of butterfly maintain territories and actively chase other species or individuals that may stray into them. Some species will bask or perch on chosen perches. The flight styles of butterflies are often characteristic and some species have courtship flight displays. Basking is an activity which is more common in the cooler hours of the morning. Many species will orient themselves to gather heat from the sun. Some species have evolved dark wingbases to help in gathering more heat and this is especially evident in alpine forms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly

Passiflora plant and Heliconius butterfly

Passiflora plant (passion flower)

The passion flowers have a unique structure, which in most cases requires a large bee to effectively pollinate. In the American tropics, wooden beams are mounted very near passionfruit plantings to encourage carpenter bees to nest. The size and structure of flowers of other Passiflora species is optimized for pollination by hummingbirds, bumble bees, wasps or bats, while yet others are self-pollinating. The Sword-billed Hummingbird with its immensely elongated bill has co-evolved with certain passion flowers.

Yellow Passion Flower pollen is apparently the only pollen eaten by the unusual bee. However, these bees simply collect the pollen, but do not pollinate the flowers. Passiflora species are important sources of nectar for many insects. The leaves are used as food plants by the larva of the swift moth and many longwing butterflies. Well-known species among the latter are the American Sara Longwing and the Asian Leopard Lacewing.

To prevent the butterflies from laying too many eggs on any single plant, some passion flowers bear small colored nubs which resemble the butterflies' eggs and seem to fool them into believing that more eggs have already been deposited on a plant than actually is the case. Also, many Passiflora species produce sweet nutrient-rich liquid from glands on their leaf stems. These fluids attract ants which will kill and eat many pests that they happen to find feeding on the passion flowers.

www.altmd.com/Articles/Passionflower--Encyclopedia-of-Alternative-Medicin

Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata ) is a creeping perennial vine with white, purple-tinged flowers and

orange berries that grows to a height of up to 30 ft (9 m). First used by Native Americans and the Aztecs

of Mexico as a sedative, passionflower has been a popular folk remedy for centuries in Europe and

North America. Other names for passionflower include maypop, granadilla, passion vine, and apricot

vine. The herb, which is generally used today to alleviate anxiety and insomnia , received its curious

name from the Spanish conquistadors. While there are over 400 species belonging to the genus

Passiflora, the variety used for medicinal purposes is called incarnata, which can be translated

"embodied." The plant is obtained primarily from the southern United States, India, and the West Indies,

though passionflower also grows in Mexico as well as Central and South America. Only the parts of the

plant that grow above the ground are used as a drug, in fresh and dried form.

Some investigations of passionflower have been conducted in humans; in addition, animal and other

studies suggest that the herb has sedative, anxiolytic, and antispasmodic properties. The German

Commission E, considered an authoritative source of information on alternative remedies, reported that

passionflower appears to reduce restlessness in animals. In a 1988 study involving rats that was

published in a German journal of pharmacology, passionflower was shown to prolong sleep, reduce

motor activity, and protect the rodents from convulsions. Despite findings such as these, researchers

have been unable to identify the herb's active ingredients. Attention has focused on flavonoids

(medicinal passionflower contains up to 2.5% of these chemicals); maltol; and harmala alkaloids such as

harman, harmine,

harmaline, and harmalol. (The Germans attempted to use harmine as a truth serum during World War II

because of the chemical's reputation for inducing a euphoria-like state.) Some researchers speculate

that it is the interaction, or synergy, of several chemicals in passionflower that is responsible for the

herb's therapeutic effects.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/passionflower.aspx

Butterflies feed primarily on nectar from flowers. Some also derive nourishment from pollen, tree sap, rotting fruit, dung, decaying flesh, and dissolved minerals in wet sand or dirt. Butterflies are important as pollinators for some species of plants although in general they do not carry as much pollen load as bees. They are however capable of moving pollen over greater distances. Flower constancy has been observed for at least one species of butterfly. As adults, butterflies consume only liquids which are ingested by means of their proboscis. They sip water from damp patches for hydration and feed on nectar from flowers, from which they obtain sugars for energy as well as sodium and other minerals vital for reproduction. Several species of butterflies need more sodium than that provided by nectar and are attracted by sodium in salt; they sometimes land on people, attracted by the salt in human sweat. Some butterflies also visit dung, rotting fruit or carcasses to obtain minerals and nutrients.

Butterflies use their antennae to sense the air for wind and scents. The antennae come in various shapes and colors; the hesperids have a pointed angle or hook to the antennae, while most other families show knobbed antennae. The antennae are richly covered with sensory organs known as sensillae. A butterfly's sense of taste, 200 times stronger than humans, is coordinated by chemoreceptors on the tarsi, or feet, which work only on contact, and are used to determine whether an egg-laying insect's offspring will be able to feed on a leaf before eggs are laid on it. Many butterflies use chemical signals, pheromones, and specialized scent scales (androconia) and other structures (coremata or 'Hair pencils' in the Danaidae) are developed in some species.

Vision is well developed in butterflies and most species are sensitive to the ultraviolet spectrum. Many species show sexual dimorphism in the patterns of UV reflective patches. Color vision may be widespread but has been demonstrated in only a few species. Some butterflies have organs of hearing and some species are also known to make stridulatory and clicking sounds.

Monarch butterflies

Many butterflies, such as the Monarch butterfly, are migratory and capable of long distance flights. They migrate during the day and use the sun to orient themselves. They also perceive polarized light and use it for orientation when the sun is hidden. Many species of butterfly maintain territories and actively chase other species or individuals that may stray into them. Some species will bask or perch on chosen perches. The flight styles of butterflies are often characteristic and some species have courtship flight displays. Basking is an activity which is more common in the cooler hours of the morning. Many species will orient themselves to gather heat from the sun. Some species have evolved dark wingbases to help in gathering more heat and this is especially evident in alpine forms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly

Orchids and Meganosed fly

Orchids

What are those big, beautiful, fragrant flowers with the odd petal in the middle that you’ve seen in

corsages and wedding bouquets? Why, orchids, of course! Simply saying the name ignites images of

dazzling colors and shapes. The amazing variety of species (about 25,000 worldwide) staggers the

imagination.

From the moccasin-like lady’s slippers to the bespeckled oncidiums or the intricate little babyboot

orchids, these extravagant flowers are just variations on one basic theme that defines the orchid family.

One Basic Theme

Truly awe-inspiring, this bouquet of flower variations makes it possible for different orchids to be

adapted to different types of insect pollination. By “adapted,” I refer to structures precisely suited to

accomplish specific functions, such as specific chemicals that attract male wasps to a fly orchid. Most

other flowers separate these parts. Another unusual feature of orchids is that the third petal, called the

labellum or “lip,” is more elaborate than the other two. The lip sits on the lower side of the flower,

where it serves as a landing platform for pollinating insects. Instead of powdery pollen like other

flowers, orchids hold together their pollen in two waxy bundles (called the pollinia), which are attached

to a sticky pad.

When an insect lands on the lip in search of nectar, its mouth or body brushes the sticky pad, and the

pollinia are glued to the insect. When the insect lands on a different flower, the receptor on the new

flower’s central column snatches the pollen bundles.

Without this cross-fertilization between different flowers, the seeds couldn’t develop. And it’s essential

that more than just one seed develop at a time. Orchids store seeds in seed capsules, which cannot

mature unless most of the seeds are fertilized. Since these capsules contain thousands or even millions

of seeds (orchids have the smallest known seeds), getting all that pollen transferred at one time is vitally

important.

Simplicity of Adaptations

With everything stuck on one single column, orchids seem to have “less structure” with which to

accomplish pollination—at first glance, anyway. In fact, it has a more complex, more efficient basic

structure to transport the large number of pollen grains from one flower to another flower. This design

is also more adaptable than most other flowers.

The breathtaking spectrum of orchids arises largely through simple variations in a few features, such as

petal size and shape, coloration, curvature, growth rates, fragrances, and development of ridges, ruffles,

lobes, and nectar pockets. Demonstrating this plasticity, orchids are well known for wide crosses that

seamlessly blend stunning differences from several species into a single flower.

Eye-Popping Examples of Adaptations

Fly Orchid. In the photo of the fly orchid, what do you see? If it is an insect sitting on a flower, you are

wrong. It’s the orchid itself!

The column and lip form the head and body of the insect, and the two remaining petals suggest the

antennae. The flower produces an odor otherwise produced by females of certain digger wasps. The

flowers are ready to be pollinated precisely when the male wasps are ready to mate but before the

females are. The chemical attracts the male wasp to the flower, which physically resembles the female

well enough for the male to attempt to mate with the orchid. In the process, the pollinia stick to the

wasp’s head. By the time the wasp leaves in search of another “female,” the stalk of the pollinia dries

out and positions the pollinia so that it can be deposited when the wasp reaches the next flower.

Spurs. Many orchids have a tubular lobe, called a “spur,” on the back of the lip that fills with nectar.

Butterflies and moths, with their long coiled “soda straw” mouths, feed on the nectar. In particular,

night-flying hawk moths are attracted to white or pale yellow-green flowers that are visible at night. It is

common to find orchids with spurs two, three, or four inches long because many moths have mouths

that long when uncurled.

The real champion of long spurs is Angraecum sesquipedale, the comet orchid of Madagascar. Its spur is

about 12 inches long, though some have been found up to 16 inches. At the time Charles Darwin was

shown the comet orchid, no one knew what creature did the pollinating. Based on the idea of

adaptation, Darwin predicted that a Malagasy hawk moth would be found with an equally long mouth.3

Though people scoffed at him, the moth was actually discovered in 1903.

The fly orchid simulates the smell and appearance of a female wasp to attract male wasps for pollination. Only one moth—the Malagasy hawk moth—has a tongue long enough to draw nectar from the long spur of the comit orchid of Madagascar. The spur is 12-16 inches long. The lady slipper temporarily traps pollinating insects inside its large lip. Pollen sticks to the insect as it exits the back of the slipper.

Trap of the Lady’s Slipper. One type of orchid temporarily traps the pollinating insect. The lip of the

lady’s slipper orchid is a complex “one-way street.” Nectar inside attracts small bees, wasps, or flies that

enter through the large opening of the “slipper.” Once inside, however, the bee can’t easily fly back out.

Trying to climb up the smooth inner walls and curled edge, the pollinator usually falls to the floor of the

“slipper.” Here it finds traction on hairs that direct it to two windows in the back of the slipper. To get to

the holes, it must first squeeze past the pollen receptor (which grabs any pollinia on the bee, and pick up

new pollinia as it slips out the exit hole). The dimensions of each passageway match the size of the

insect species that visits that species of orchid.

www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v4/n1/ orchids

Fly

The meganosed fly (Moegistorhynchus longirostris) of southern Africa, like its literarycounterpart, Pinocchio, has a bizarre appearance that reveals an underlying truth. Its proboscis,which looks like a nose but is actually the longest mouthpart of any known fly, protrudes asmuch as four inches from its head—five times the length of its bee-size body. In flight theungainly appendage dangles between the insect’s legs and trails far behind its body.

To an airborne fly, an elongated proboscis might seem a severe handicap (imagine walkingdown the street with a twenty-seven-foot straw dangling from your mouth). Apparently, though,the handicap can be well worth its aerodynamic cost. The outlandish proboscis gives the

meganosed fly access to nectar pools in long, deep flowers that are simply out of reach toinsects with shorter mouthparts.

But that poses a conundrum: why would natural selection favor such a deep tube in a flower?After all, nectar itself has evolved because it attracts animals that carry pollen, the sperm of thefloral world, from one plant to another. And since pollinators perform such an essential servicefor the flower, shouldn’t evolution have favored floral geometries that make nectar readilyaccessible to the pollinators?

Yet the story of the long proboscis of the meganosed fly and the long, deep tubes of the flowerson which it feeds is not quite so straightforward. There are subtle advantages, it turns out, tomaking nectar accessible to only a few pollinators, and nature factors those advantages into theevolutionary equation as well. In fact, the evolution of those two kinds of organisms, pollinatorand pollinated, presents an outstanding example of an important evolutionary phenomenonknown as coevolution. Coevolution can explain the emergence of bizarre or unusual anatomieswhen no simple evolutionary response to natural selection is really adequate. It can helpconservationists identify species that could be vital in maintaining a given habitat. And it canhelp naturalists investigating novel plants predict what kinds of animals might pollinate theirflowers.

Like all other long-nosed flies, the meganosed fly is the sole pollinator to a group of unrelatedplant species; such a group is known as a guild. The plant guild of the meganosed fly includesspecies from a wide variety of plant families, including geraniums, irises, orchids, and violets.Even though guild members may be only distantly related, all of them have roughly the samecharacteristics. For example, plants in the long-nosed fly guild all have long, straight floral tubesor spurs; brightly colored flowers that are open during the day; and no scent. The defining traitsof a guild together form what botanists call a pollination syndrome. For example, bird-pollinatedflowers are typically large, red, and unscented, whereas moth-pollinated flowers are more likelyto be long, narrow, white, and scented in the evening.

The most important trait in the pollination syndrome of the long-nosed fly (and indeed, in allpollination syndromes of long-nosed insects) is a deep, tubular flower or floral spur. One of us(Johnson) and Kim E. Steiner of the Compton Herbarium in Claremont, South Africa, studied theorchid Disa draconis, a southern African plant with a deep, tubular floral spur. The twoinvestigators artificially shortened the spurs of some orchids in a habitat where the onlypollinators present were long-nosed flies. The plants whose spurs remained long got morepollen, and were more likely to produce fruits, than the ones whose spurs were shortened.Yet short floral spurs are not necessarily a reproductive disadvantage. Shorter spurs would make it possible for a wider range of pollinators to access the nectar, if various potentialpollinators are present. Instead, longer spurs only seem to be an advantage when long-tonguedinsects are the sole pollinators.

http://www.explorebiology.com/documents/EXCR_NatHist-FlowerAndFly.pdf

Leafcutter ants and Fungus

Leafcutter Ants

Leafcutter ants, a non-generic name, are any of 47 species of leaf-chewing ants.These species of tropical, fungus-growing ants are all endemic to South, Central America, Mexico and parts of the southern United States. Leafcutter ants "cut and process fresh vegetation (leaves, flowers, and grasses) to serve as the nutritional substrate for their fungal cultivars."

The Acromyrmex and Atta ants have much in common anatomically; however, the two can be identified by their external differences. Atta ants have three pairs of spines and a smooth exoskeleton on the upper surface of the thorax, while Acromyrmex ants have four pairs and a rough exoskeleton. Next to humans, leafcutter ants form the largest and most complex animal societies on Earth. In a few years, the central mound of their underground nests can grow to more than 30 metres (98 ft) across, with smaller, radiating mounds extending out to a radius of 80 metres (260 ft), taking up 30 to 600 square metres (320 to 6,500 sq ft) and containing eight million individuals.

Winged females and males leave their respective nests en masse and engage in a nuptial flight known as the revoada. Each female mates with multiple males to collect the 300 million sperm she needs to set up a colony. Once on the ground, the female loses her wings and searches for a suitable underground lair in which to found her colony. The success rate of these young queens is very low, and only 2.5% will go on to establish a long-lived colony. To start her own fungus garden, the queen stores bits of the parental fungus garden mycelium in her infrabuccal pocket, which is located within her oral cavity.

Their societies are based on an ant-fungus mutualism, and different species of ants use different species of fungus, but all of the fungi the ants use are members of the Lepiotaceae family. The ants actively cultivate their fungus, feeding it with freshly cut plant material and keeping it free from pests and molds. This mutualistic relationship is further augmented by another symbiotic partner; a bacterium that grows on the ants and secretes chemicals, - essentially the ants use portable antimicrobials. Leaf cutter ants are sensitive enough to adapt to the fungi's reaction to different plant material, apparently detecting chemical signals from the fungus. If a particular type of leaf is toxic to the fungus, the colony will no longer collect it. The only two other groups of insects that utilize fungus-based agriculture are ambrosia beetles and termites. The fungus cultivated by the adults is used to feed the ant larvae, and the adult

ants feed off the leaf sap. The fungus needs the ants to stay alive, and the larvae need the fungus to stay alive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leafcutter_ant

Fungus (Fungi=plural)

Fungi are not plants. Living things are organized for study into large, basic groups called kingdoms. Fungi were listed in the Plant Kingdom for many years. Then scientists learned that fungi show a closer relation to animals, but are unique and separate life forms. Now, Fungi are placed in their own Kingdom.

It is a hidden kingdom. The part of the fungus that we see is only the “fruit” of the organism. The living body of the fungus is a mycelium made out of a web of tiny filaments called hyphae. The mycelium is usually hidden in the soil, in wood, or another food source. A mycelium may fill a single ant, or cover many acres. The branching hyphae can add over a half mile (1 km) of total length to the mycelium each day. These webs live unseen until they develop mushrooms, puffballs, truffles, brackets, cups, “bird’s nests,” “corals” or other fruiting bodies. If the mycelium produces microscopic fruiting bodies, people may never notice the fungus.

Most fungi build their cell walls out of chitin (ky-tin). This is the same material as the hard outer shells of insects and other arthropods. Plants do not make chitin.

Fungi feed by absorbing nutrients from the organic material in which they live. Fungi do not have stomachs. They must digest their food before it can pass through the cell wall into the hyphae. Hyphae secrete acids and enzymes that break the surrounding organic material down into simple molecules they can easily absorb.

Fungi have evolved to use a lot of different items for food. Some are decomposers living on dead organic material like leaves. Some fungi cause diseases by using living organisms for food. These fungi infect plants, animals and even other fungi. Athlete’s foot and ringworm are two fungal diseases in humans. The mycorrhizal fungi live as partners with plants. They provide mineral nutrients to the plant in exchange for carbohydrates or other chemicals fungi cannot manufacture.

You probably use fungal products every day without being aware of it. People eat mushrooms of all shapes, sizes and colors. Yeasts are used in making bread, wine, beer and solvents. Drugs made from fungi cure diseases and stop the rejection of transplanted hearts and other organs. Fungi are also grown in large vats to produce flavorings for cooking, vitamins and enzymes for removing stains.

GLOSSARY

hyphae (hí - fee) plural: the threads that form the body of a fungus (mycelium) mycelium (my - sée - lee - um): see hyphae mycorrhiza (my - koh - rý - zuh) singular; mycorrhizae (my - koh - rý - zee) plural: a beneficial

combination between a fungus and a living plant root symbiosis (sim - by - óh - sis) singular; symbioses (sim - by - óh - sees) plural: a partnership

formed between two living organisms.

http://herbarium.usu.edu/fungi/funfacts/kingfact.htm