- Rozovsky wins prestigious NSF Early Career Award
- UD students meet alumni, experience 'closing bell' at NYSE
- Newark Police seek assistance in identifying suspects in robbery
- Rivlin says bipartisan budget action, stronger budget rules key to reversing debt
- Stink bugs shouldn't pose problem until late summer
- Gao to honor Placido Domingo in Washington performance
- Adopt-A-Highway project keeps Lewes road clean
- WVUD's Radiothon fundraiser runs April 1-10
- W.D. Snodgrass Symposium to honor Pulitzer winner
- New guide helps cancer patients manage symptoms
- UD in the News, March 25, 2011
- For the Record, March 25, 2011
- Public opinion expert discusses world views of U.S. in Global Agenda series
- Congressional delegation, dean laud Center for Community Research and Service program
- Center for Political Communication sets symposium on politics, entertainment
- Students work to raise funds, awareness of domestic violence
- Equestrian team wins regional championship in Western riding
- Markell, Harker stress importance of agriculture to Delaware's economy
- Carol A. Ammon MBA Case Competition winners announced
- Prof presents blood-clotting studies at Gordon Research Conference
- Sexual Assault Awareness Month events, programs announced
- Stay connected with Sea Grant, CEOE e-newsletter
- A message to UD regarding the tragedy in Japan
- More News >>
- March 31-May 14: REP stages Neil Simon's 'The Good Doctor'
- April 2: Newark plans annual 'wine and dine'
- April 5: Expert perspective on U.S. health care
- April 5: Comedian Ace Guillen to visit Scrounge
- April 6, May 4: School of Nursing sponsors research lecture series
- April 6-May 4: Confucius Institute presents Chinese Film Series on Wednesdays
- April 6: IPCC's Pachauri to discuss sustainable development in DENIN Dialogue Series
- April 7: 'WVUDstock' radiothon concert announced
- April 8: English Language Institute presents 'Arts in Translation'
- April 9: Green and Healthy Living Expo planned at The Bob
- April 9: Center for Political Communication to host Onion editor
- April 10: Alumni Easter Egg-stravaganza planned
- April 11: CDS session to focus on visual assistive technologies
- April 12: T.J. Stiles to speak at UDLA annual dinner
- April 15, 16: Annual UD push lawnmower tune-up scheduled
- April 15, 16: Master Players series presents iMusic 4, China Magpie
- April 15, 16: Delaware Symphony, UD chorus to perform Mahler work
- April 18: Former NFL Coach Bill Cowher featured in UD Speaks
- April 21-24: Sesame Street Live brings Elmo and friends to The Bob
- April 30: Save the date for Ag Day 2011 at UD
- April 30: Symposium to consider 'Frontiers at the Chemistry-Biology Interface'
- April 30-May 1: Relay for Life set at Delaware Field House
- May 4: Delaware Membrane Protein Symposium announced
- May 5: Northwestern University's Leon Keer to deliver Kerr lecture
- May 7: Women's volleyball team to host second annual Spring Fling
- Through May 3: SPPA announces speakers for 10th annual lecture series
- Through May 4: Global Agenda sees U.S. through others' eyes; World Bank president to speak
- Through May 4: 'Research on Race, Ethnicity, Culture' topic of series
- Through May 9: Black American Studies announces lecture series
- Through May 11: 'Challenges in Jewish Culture' lecture series announced
- Through May 11: Area Studies research featured in speaker series
- Through June 5: 'Andy Warhol: Behind the Camera' on view in Old College Gallery
- Through July 15: 'Bodyscapes' on view at Mechanical Hall Gallery
- More What's Happening >>
- UD calendar >>
- Middle States evaluation team on campus April 5
- Phipps named HR Liaison of the Quarter
- Senior wins iPad for participating in assessment study
- April 19: Procurement Services schedules information sessions
- UD Bookstore announces spring break hours
- HealthyU Wellness Program encourages employees to 'Step into Spring'
- April 8-29: Faculty roundtable series considers student engagement
- GRE is changing; learn more at April 15 info session
- April 30: UD Evening with Blue Rocks set for employees
- Morris Library to be open 24/7 during final exams
- More Campus FYI >>
9:07 a.m., March 30, 2009----On April 1, 1996, Taco Bell announced that it had bought the Liberty Bell from the federal government and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell -- which happens to be one of our personal favorite April Fools' gags. April 1 is just a few days away - are you ready with a practical joke or two?
In the insect world, getting punked isn't exclusive to April 1. A number of insects have developed evolutionary strategies that are designed to fool their predators, says Brian Kunkel, an entomologist with University of Delaware Cooperative Extension.
And some are just as dramatic, in their own right, as Taco Bell's big stunt. Take the hoverfly, a native fly that, like bees, feeds on nectar and pollen. And, like the bee, it has yellow and black stripes. From a distance (and who wants to get too close to a bee, anyway?) the hoverfly looks a lot like a bee.
Which is precisely the point, says Kunkel. “The hoverfly's mimicry of the bee is an effective way to ward off predators,” says Kunkel.
If you want to be sure it's a hoverfly and not a bee, watch the way the insect flies. Hoverflies, as their name implies, have a characteristic flight pattern -- hovering in one spot, suddenly moving forwards or sideways, and then hovering again.
Other insects that engage in mimicry include the viceroy butterfly, which is an almost perfect copycat of the brilliantly colored monarch butterfly. The monarch has wings of red, orange, yellow and/or gold, with veins of black running through them. The viceroy has very similar markings, except for the fact that it has a black band crossing its lower hind wings.
For a long time it was thought that the viceroy was a Batesian mimic - which means it's a species that is palatable to predators but mimics the look of another species that isn't so tasty, such as the monarch. (Birds throw up if they happen to eat a monarch butterfly.) But research conducted in the 1990s demonstrated that viceroys taste just as nasty as monarchs do, which means they are referred to as Mullerian mimics.
As for why this was only recently discovered, Kunkel says that entomologists don't enjoy eating butterflies any more than the next person. But, as part of his doctoral defense, Kiunkel's professors made him eat a few viceroys. (Do you think Kunkel is punking us?)
In addition to mimicry, camouflage and deceptive behavior are two other common strategies that insects use to fool predators.
The walking sticks are an order of insects, more technically known as Phasmida, that look like -- you guessed it - sticks that can walk. Found in Europe, the U.S. and Australia, the insect's appearance resembles the plant life of the region in which it resides.
Walking sticks don't fly well and most don't even have wings. Those that do have wings keep them tucked in close to their body when not in use - giving them the appearance of a shriveled leaf. When they move, they rock back and forth as if being buffetted by the wind, just the way a twig on a tree would.
The larvae of the spicebush swallowtail butterfly take camouflage a (gross) step further. Early stages of the larvae are bumpy, blackish green and have white spots - making them look like bird droppings, and thus, certainly nothing a predator would want to dine on.
The mature spicebush swallowtail doesn't utilize camouflage but it does exhibit mimicry behavior. The lower edges of its bottom wings have tails that extend out from the wing margin just laterally to red eye-spots. These tails and eye spots are mimics of the butterfly's real antennae and eye structures. An attacking bird often grabs onto this false head, which gives the spice swallowtail enough time to fly away, minus, perhaps, a portion of its wing. (Even with missing lower wings, spicebush swallowtails are still capable of flight.)
One of Kunkel's personal favorite “tricky” insects is the underwing moth, which employs a two-pronged strategy involving both camouflage and deception. The moth's drab-colored forewings look like tree bark, which keeps most predators from investigating further. But if a predator does get close, the moth suddenly flashes its hindwings - which, at rest, lie tucked beneath its forewings. These hindwings are brilliant shades of red and yellow, colors that deceive the predator into believing that danger is imminent. The startled bird flees - and the underwing moth lives to see another day.
Article by Margo McDonough