LadybugMarch 01, 2014 – There are about 5,000 different species of ladybugs in the world. These much loved critters are also known as lady beetles or ladybird beetles. They come in many different colors and patterns, but the most familiar in North America is the seven-spotted ladybug, with its shiny, red-and-black body. In many cultures, ladybugs are considered good luck. Most people like them because they are pretty, graceful, and harmless to humans. But farmers love them because they eat aphids and other plant-eating pests. One ladybug can eat up to 5,000 insects in its lifetime! Most ladybugs have oval, dome-shaped bodies with six short legs. Depending on the species, they can have spots, stripes, or no markings at all. Seven-spotted ladybugs are red or orange with three spots on each side and one in the middle. They have a black head with white patches on either side. Ladybugs are colorful for a reason. Their markings tell predators: "Eat something else! I taste terrible." When threatened, the bugs will secrete an oily, foul-tasting fluid from joints in their legs. They may also play dead. Birds are ladybugs' main predators, but they also fall victim to frogs, wasps, spiders, and dragonflies. Ladybugs lay their eggs in clusters or rows on the underside of a leaf, usually where aphids have gathered. Larvae, which vary in shape and color based on species, emerge in a few days. Seven-spotted ladybug larvae are long, black, and spiky-looking with orange or yellow spots. Some say they look like tiny alligators. Larvae grow quickly and shed their skin several times. When they reach full size, they attach to a leaf by their tail, and a pupa is formed. Within a week or two, the pupa becomes an adult ladybug. Ladybugs are happy in many different habitats, including grasslands, forests, cities, suburbs, and along rivers. Seven-spotted ladybugs are native to Europe but were brought to North America in the mid-1900s to control aphid populations. Ladybugs are most active from spring until fall. When the weather turns cold, they look for a warm, secluded place to hibernate, such as in rotting logs, under rocks, or even inside houses. These hibernating colonies can contain thousands of ladybugs. The name "ladybug" was coined by European farmers who prayed to the Virgin Mary when pests began eating their crops. After ladybugs came and wiped out the invading insects, the farmers named them "beetle of Our Lady." This eventually was shortened to "lady beetle" and "ladybug." NASA even sent a few ladybugs into space with aphids to see how aphids would escape in zero gravity.
Abu Dhabi FalconryApril 18, 2011 – Get a glimpse into the centuries-old sport of falconry, as practiced today in Abu Dhabi.
10 Chocolate Chip Cookies to Travel ForJanuary 18, 2013 – The chocolate chip cookie is about as American as it gets. Urban Insider Annie Fitzsimmons got the scoop from local luminaries around the U.S. on the must-eat cookies in their cities.
The Greatest Travelers of All TimeNovember 20, 2012 – A handful of history’s boldest travelers staged epic journeys that crossed new lands, broke cultural barriers, and revealed the radical diversity of the world. In doing so, these trailblazers confirmed that wanderlust is part of the human condition — and made us want to follow in their footsteps, and even blaze a few trails of our own. We’ve come up with our top 10 great travelers — past and present. Now we want to know who you’d add to the list.
Daring DiversAugust 01, 2012 – Champion divers but clumsy landers, doting parents but hostile neighbors—northern gannets abound in contradictions. Long tied to maritime cultures, they’re flourishing today in crowded colonies around the North Atlantic.
The Powder Highway Road Trip – Dispatch #7 – Haines, Alaska (Video + Photos)May 08, 2013 – See previous dispatches >> A cold, dark winter subsides as the days grow longer and the sun’s rays intensify. The inevitable change in seasons triggers an innate response in all living creatures—bears awake from hibernation, birds take flight, and fish swim upstream. Migration is a matter of survival for certain animal species while select humans…
New virulent strain of flu found in healthy Korean pigsSeptember 12, 2012 – If flu viruses have favoured hook-up spots, then pig pens would be high on the list. Their airways contain molecules that both bird flu viruses and mammalian flu viruses can latch onto. This means that a wide range of flu strains can infect pigs, and if two viruses infect the same cell, they can shuffle […]
Inside Darwin’s TumorJanuary 12, 2012 – Cancer evolves. Those two words may sound strange together. Sure, birds evolve. Bacteria evolve. But cancer? The trouble arises from the fact that cancers, unlike birds and bacteria, are not free-living organisms. They start out as cells inside a person’s body and stay there, until they’re either wiped out or the person dies.* Yet the […]
To work out why fish swim together, tempt a predator with virtual preyAugust 17, 2012 – Since as long as I can remember, nature documentaries and textbooks have said that flocking birds and shoaling fish gather in large coordinated groups to protect themselves from predators. That explanation makes complete sense. After all, many eyes can spot danger more easily, and many bodies can confuse the senses of hunters. But common sense […]
Forillon National ParkJuly 06, 2011 – Forests, flora, and hundreds of bird species fill Forillon National Park in Quebec.
Trailblazing Haiti: Scouting the Country’s First Pro Mountain Biking Race – Part 3June 29, 2012 – This spring, a small team of Americans scouted a course for the first professional mountain biking stage race in Haiti. The terrain was beyond any of their wildest expectations. Award-winning adventure travel writer Jayme Moye reports in this three-part series. Photographs by Steve Zdawczynski Part III I woke to the sound of birds chirping in Haiti’s lush La…
How orangutan engineers build safe and comfy treetop bedsApril 16, 2012 – We normally think of nests as the creations of birds, but our ape cousins build nests too. Orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos all build tree beds, by weaving branches, twigs and leaves together into a bowl-shaped cradle. These nests may provide safety from predators, or help the apes to sleep warm.* But it seems that […]
Alaska’s Cat MayorAugust 28, 2012 – When I arrived in Talkeetna, Alaska, Mayor Stubbs was lounging near a pile of Beanie Babies, fighting to keep his eyes open. His office, on the top floor of Nagley’s General Store, was filled with knickknacks and cages full of screeching green birds. A little girl with tumbling blonde pigtails leaned over Stubbs and whispered, “I can’t believe this is the mayor!” Neither could I. A cat – as mayor!
Love BugsFebruary 13, 2012 – Traditionally, it's the birds and the bees that get all the attention—unless you're an entomologist. Then it's the bees and the bees, not to mention the flies and the wasps and the moths. National Geographic Emerging Explorer Dino Martins gives us a look into the love lives of his favorite subjects.
Villahermosa ValentinesFebruary 14, 2012 – There is no such thing as a kissing bird. Although for a few seconds in the park at Villahermosa, I was convinced there just might be. Walking under the towering palm trees, I was surrounded by an outlandish chorus of tropical birdsong. Among the chirps and whistles and cackles and hoots, I heard the very…
DisorientedMay 28, 2012 – Sometimes, I forget where I am. I wake up in the morning and blink my eyes, hoping for hints. What color is the sky outside my window? What birds can I hear? The traffic might offer clues, too: in Mexico, I the wailing hydraulics of aging trucks. In Paris, I hear mopeds. Our bodies move…