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Slow and steady climbs the waterfall

Slow and steady climbs the waterfall © 2020. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd | Journal of Experimental Biology (2020) 223 OUTSIDE JEB doi:10.1242/jeb.214650 The new technique allowed the team to Flapping wings help identify a novel way for moths to prevent Taha, H. E., Kiani, M., Hedrick, T. L. and Greeter, insects stay stable themselves from toppling by precisely J. S. M. (2020). Vibrational control: a hidden stabilization mechanism in insect flight. Science synchronizing the oscillations of the body Robotics 5, eabb1502. https://robotics.sciencemag. and the wings. This synchronization org/content/5/46/eabb1502 generates turning forces, which are used Joy Putney (0000-0002-8736-4282) for correction when they tip unexpectedly Georgia Institute of Technology after encountering turbulence or colliding [email protected] with another object. Next, the team tested their revised model Combining farming of hawk moth flight to find out how well the real insects coped when tipped during practices drastically a collision by firing a pellet at individuals shrinks blue orchard bee as they approached an artificial flower. Filming the disturbances on high-speed populations 3D videos, the team then tracked the Insects are remarkably agile fliers capable wing and body motions as the moths of complex aerial manoeuvres and recovered, revealing that the predicted hovering in turbulent environments. In synchronizations occurred in real flight fact, conventional ways of generating lift, tests as hawk moths stabilized their flight. such as those used by airplanes, would not be sufficient to keep them airborne, so they rely on mechanisms such as bound Finally, the researchers used vortices on the leading edge of their wings chronological calculus to compare how to help them fly. Despite these exotic stability changes in seven other flying mechanisms, for years it was thought that organisms, from hummingbirds to fruit insects were unstable while hovering. flies, whose flapping frequencies varied Previous analyses of how they fly relied from tens to hundreds of wing beats per on averaging the forces produced by their second. For animals such as hawk moths flapping wings. Based on these methods, and hummingbirds, which flap their Blue orchard bees pollinate fruit trees it was thought that flapping fliers such as wings at approximately 20 to 30 wing in orchards across the United States. hawk moths would be vulnerable to beats per second, the effect of the However, multiple farming practices pose toppling head over heels because of this stabilization provided by the a threat to the bees’ survival. Though both instability. It was assumed that averaging synchronized body and wing oscillations pesticides and changing landscapes can the forces over time was a fine approach to is stronger than for fliers operating at affect survival of bees in the lab, little is study insect flight, as the frequency of the higher frequencies, such as the fruit fly. known about their combined effects in the flapping wings was much higher than the This demonstrates that sensory feedback wild. Recent work by Clara Stuligross and time scales of the body movements. still likely plays a role in stabilizing flight Neal Williams from the University of Therefore, it was thought that insects must for insects that really buzz about. California Davis, USA, suggests that the use sensory feedback – either perception harmful effects of pesticides are worsened of the body’s position in space or vision – Insects and other flapping fliers continue when bee food supplies are limited. to stabilize their flight. However, a team to amaze us with new revelations about of researchers based in the USA recently how they stay aloft. It turns out that the Stuligross and Williams first tested how reinvestigated the flight of a hawk moth very act of flapping helps them stabilize the number of flowers available for and found that they may be more stable against pitch disturbances that are likely foraging affects the bees’ reproduction. than previously thought. present in the windy skies they fly The team built flight cages in a North through. These findings could completely Central California field for the bees to live Haithem Taha and colleagues from the revise our understanding of how flapping in. Some cages had access to more flowers University of California Irvine, the fliers control and stabilize their flight. than the bees needed, while other cages University of North Carolina and the While insects still likely require active had just enough flowers for the bees’ Pacific Northwest National Laboratory control and sensory feedback to fly, survival. used a method called chronological perhaps their passive stabilization calculus, which allowed them to study mechanisms will inspire the mechanical The duo noticed that female bees in flight the time-varying effects inherent to the design of robotic fliers and relax their cages with fewer flowers not only took flapping of the wings during flight. computational requirements. longer to build their nests, but also spent Outside JEB reports on the most exciting developments in experimental biology. The articles are written by a team of active research scientists highlighting the papers that JEB readers can’t afford to miss. STABILIZATION ECOPHYSIOLOGY Journal of Experimental Biology OUTSIDE JEB Journal of Experimental Biology (2020) 223 less time at them and their brood were also detected in the researchers’ analyses; wanted to know which goby was the a little smaller. These effects might be however, the scientists are concerned that better mountaineer and why. because there was only enough food even tiny doses could have a significant available to keep the adults alive and not impact on bee health. Racing requires a racetrack, so the enough to feed the larvae or to give the researchers set a 2.4 m ramp at a 45 deg bees the energy needed to tend to their Farming practices should include ways to angle, lined it with sandpaper and young. This suggests that farming protect the bees that pollinate farm crops pumped water over it. Both gobies practices that reduce the number of because multiple stressors can combine managed to climb the simulated flowers could harm bee reproduction. to have catastrophic effects on bee waterfall, but overall, the tortoise-like populations. If there are fewer blue orchard S. lagocephalus climbed three times faster Next, the researchers examined the effects bees pollinating farmers’ trees, there will than the hare-like C. acutipinnis. of an insecticide – imidacloprid, be less fruit to go round for all of us. Though C. acutipinnis could easily out- commonly used in California fruit sprint S. lagocephalus, it wasn’t enough doi:10.1242/jeb.214635 orchards – on the female bees’ nesting to make up for the extra time spent resting: behaviours. Stuligross and Williams C. acutipinnis spent over 90% of its Stuligross, C. and Williams, N. M. (2020). Pesticide and resource stressors additively drenched the soil in the flight cages with time sitting motionless, whereas impair wild bee reproduction. Proc. R. Soc. B the maximum amount of imidacloprid S. lagocephalus only spent about 287, doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.1390 allowed in Californian orchards before two-thirds of its time on breaks. Gina Mantica (0000-0001-5329-3896) letting the bees inside. Similar to bees Tufts University with less food, bees exposed to Next, the researchers focused on the [email protected] imidacloprid took longer to make their muscle powering their gobies’ nests and spent less time there. This might movements, hypothesizing that their be because the chemical is known to slow physiology would match their climbing the development of females’ ovaries, style. They predicted that slow and Slow and steady climbs which could affect the hormones that sustained exercise, like the steady inching the waterfall trigger nesting behaviours and egg laying. of S. lagocephalus, would be powered Yet, larval bees exposed to imidacloprid by aerobic pathways. In contrast, the fast were larger than those not endangered by and explosive ‘power burst’ style of the chemical. The researchers think that C. acutipinnis should rely on anaerobic this difference in size might be because pathways. Supporting these predictions, insecticide-affected bees had fewer the slowly inching S. lagocephalus had offspring and thus had the opportunity to higher activities of enzymes involved give each of their surviving progeny more in carbohydrate metabolism – citrate food than their pesticide-free synthase, pyruvate kinase and lactate counterparts. dehydrogenase – than C. acutipinnis. The muscles of S. lagocephalus had Stuligross and Williams then tested how bigger metabolic engines for aerobic pesticide use and the number of flowering activity – exactly what they needed to plants might work together to affect the keep on keeping on. bees’ reproduction, and found that When Aesop penned his famous tale of pesticide use and food limitation the tortoise and the hare, he probably Finally, the researchers examined the combined reduce the number of larvae by wasn’t thinking about the waterfall- fuels needed to power the muscle’s nearly 60%. If there are fewer offspring, climbing gobies of Reunion Island. Not metabolic engine: glycogen and fats, as then the number of adult bees in a colony one, but two species of Sicydiinae gobies well as lactate, which is produced when will shrink over time and this decline is call this place home, embarking on an muscles dip into anaerobic pathway. Both worsened by the fact that pesticides result arduous journey upstream (literally!) to gobies had similar amounts of glycogen in a population of almost all male larvae. find safe, freshwater pools in which to and fats in their muscle, suggesting that Without females, blue orchard bees spawn. Slow and steady, Sicyopterus running out of oxygen didn’t explain the cannot reproduce, worsening the decline lagocephalus inches its way up, secured lengthier pauses of C. acutipinnis. Both of the adult bee population. Taken to the slick rocks by sticky suckers on its species also kept lactate levels low, even together, these results suggest that belly and mouth. In contrast, Cotylopus after an intense climb, suggesting that combining harmful pesticides with fewer acutipinnis leaps ahead by flicking its tail their chosen rest periods were enough to flowering plants could cause bee and pectoral fins, much like Aesop’s avoid overexerting their muscle. The data populations to decline and, eventually, hare. Unfettered by its oral sucker, also hinted at an interesting aspect of goby go extinct. C. acutipinnis covers a lot of ground in life history – neither species had a short time, but takes long rest periods impressive fuel reserves, suggesting that However, the researchers only detected between leaps. Considering these wild gobies probably snacked on their imidacloprid in the pollen that the bees radically different approaches to life’s way to the top. brought home in two out of the eight obstacles, Raphaël Lagarde, currently a flight cages. Imidacloprid might have postdoctoral fellow at the University of Slow and steady wins the race, whether occurred at such low levels in the pollen Perpignan, France, and colleagues from you are a tortoise or a waterfall-climbing that the bees consumed that it was not Reunion Island, Madagascar and Canada goby. Sicyopterus lagocephalus METABOLISM Journal of Experimental Biology OUTSIDE JEB Journal of Experimental Biology (2020) 223 crawled across the finish line ahead of dead branches and leafy plants to locate slingshot spiders get to take advantage C. acutipinnis, supported by a more the spiders and their webs in their natural of their silk to go on their whippingly sustainable form of locomotion and more habitat. With high-speed cameras trained fast rides. powerful metabolic machinery. As both on the spiders, the researchers snapped doi:10.1242/jeb.214627 species search for breeding sites their fingers close to the webs to trigger throughout the year, the quick pace of the spiders into releasing the tension line Alexander, S. L. M. and Bhamla, M. S. (2020). Ultrafast launch of slingshot spiders using conical S. lagocephalus may lead to competitive and catapulting their webs forward. silk webs. Curr. Biol. 30, R928-R929. doi:10. advantage. Like another old proverb, 1016/j.cub.2020.06.076 perhaps the early fish gets the pool. After analysing 15 videos of four spiders Jan Stenum (0000-0002-0088-8703) releasing their webs, the team found that doi:10.1242/jeb.214643 Johns Hopkins University the spiders used the springiness of their [email protected] webs to achieve impressively high speeds. Lagarde, R., Ponton, D., Borie, G., Hiebert, A. and LeMoine, C.M.R. (2020). Climbing During the slingshot motion, the web waterfalls: how metabolism and behaviour reached a whopping acceleration of up to impact locomotor performance of tropical −2 Birds ruffled by big-city 1300 m s , which is roughly 130 g forces climbing gobies on Reunion Island. Physiol. Biochem. Zool. 93, 376-383. doi:10.1086/ or about 10 times the top acceleration lights experienced by a cheetah at the start of a standstill sprint. From this massive Brittney G. Borowiec (0000-0003-0087- 7577) acceleration, the web reached a top speed −1 Wilfrid Laurier University of 4.2 m s in just 6 ms – only a fraction [email protected] of the time it takes to blink an eye – allowing the spiders to catch unsuspecting insects as the web shoots forward. Whoosh! Springy-bounce spider webs Nimbleness is key here, with the spider making use of all eight of its legs – and then some. As the spider sits on the back side of the web facing the tension line, its four hindlimbs hold onto the web while all four forelegs grab the tension line. To set the web in motion, the spider lets go of The blazing lights of Times Square in the tension line, which releases the web, New York City may be impressive for allowing it to shoot forward. However, tourists, yet this blindingly bright attraction with all of its legs already on duty, the can cause problems for urban wildlife. spider allows the tension line to slide Artificial light at night, typical of cities and between its pedipalps – small leg-like suburban areas around the globe, can cause appendages near the jaws – which allows problems for the animals that we share it to quickly grab a hold of the line to space with, although the impact on local Slingshot spiders certainly live up to their restart the process anew. wildlife is often disregarded. Given the names. Weaving webs in the shape of a current global COVID-19 pandemic, satellite dish with the middle caved in, the But how does the spider engineer its understanding how stressors, such as finishing touch is a single silk thread, ballistic web to reach such impressive artificial nocturnal light, alter infectious running from the middle of the web to a speeds? Analysing the springiness of disease transmission is now even more nearby location to anchor the structure in the spiders’ web lines, the team found pressing. So, Daniel Becker and colleagues place. This line – the tension line – works that the silk was particularly efficient at from Indiana University in the USA delved like a bungee cord that the spider stretches converting stretch into bounce, even into this question, looking at how to extend the parabolic shape and then outperforming other biological and persistent artificial light at night alters releases to make the web spring forward, man-made materials designed to be immunity and infection risk in wild animal trapping insects in its path to ensure the elastic. So while the spiders may be communities. spider’s next meal. For many years, exceptionally imaginative to use their scientists have been interested in slingshot webs so creatively, credit must also Becker and colleagues suspected that spiders, but relatively little was known go to the springy silk that puts bounce migratory species may be especially about how the spiders work the tension into the structure. vulnerable to artificial nocturnal light, as line to make their webs bounce. To learn they frequently migrate at night and use more, Symone Alexander and Saad Alexander and Bhamla provide new urban and suburban habitats as resting Bhamla from the Georgia Institute of insight into how the slingshot spider uses spots along their route. To test this theory, Technology in Atlanta, USA, decided to its web like a catapult to catch insects. The the team chose to study the dark-eyed take a closer look at the catapulting team is also curious to learn more about junco (Junco hyemalis), a songbird which spiders. the molecular structure that makes the silk has populations that migrate and others so springy in the hope that we can use the that stay put to breed. Both of these In the Peruvian Amazon rainforest, lesson to engineer materials with superior population types are susceptible to blood- Alexander and Bhamla searched among springiness. As it currently stands, only borne parasites during their summer PREDATION LIGHT POLLUTION Journal of Experimental Biology OUTSIDE JEB Journal of Experimental Biology (2020) 223 breeding season that are transmitted Throughout this time, the researchers The negative impacts of artificial light at by blood-sucking insects (such as looked for signs of changes in the birds’ night on wildlife in urban and suburban mosquitoes), that initially cause a short immunity (by looking at the number of areas could be minimized by urban infection, but can then remain dormant for white blood cells in their blood) as well as planners devising alterations to city lights months before rearing their ugly head the risk of infection relapse, by keeping in collaboration with physiologists. when the host is either stressed or busy track of the number of parasites in the Possibilities include shifting street with other tasks, such as reproduction. birds’ blood over time. lighting to a yellower or redder tone, The researchers suspected that the stress reorienting lighting structures to project associated with artificial nocturnal light Becker and colleagues found that light down, rather than up, and restricting could make the birds more vulnerable to nocturnal artificial light increased the the use of bright lighting at night during infection relapses, and that these effects total number of white blood cells in both key times of year – such as those would be stronger in the migratory birds resident and migratory birds, indicating coinciding with annual migrations – to than in their stay-at-home counterparts, as that their immune systems were surging, reduce the impacts of man-made light on migration can suppress the immune and when the researchers looked at the nocturnal wildlife in and around our system. birds’ parasite numbers, these spikes cities. weren’t surprising. Following exposure doi:10.1242/jeb.214668 To test these ideas, the researchers to man-made nocturnal light, the number rounded up resident and migratory juncos of parasites in the birds’ blood also Becker, D. J., Singh, D., Pan, Q., Montoure, J. D., from their summer-time roosts in the boomed. This effect could be due to Talbott, K. M., Wanamaker, S. M., and Appalachian Mountains, USA, before changes in the hormone melatonin, Ketterson E. D. (2020). Artificial light at night transporting them back to an indoor which is secreted when it is dark and amplifies seasonal relapse of haemosporidian aviary at Indiana University. For over boosts the immune system. Artificial parasites in a widespread songbird. Proc. R. Soc. B 287. doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.1831 6 months, half of the migrants and stay- light at night may suppress melatonin at-home birds were exposed to artificial production, thus supressing the immune Lauren Nadler (0000-0001-8225-8344) light at night, while the remaining birds system and increasing susceptibility to Nova Southeastern University experienced a natural light cycle. infections. [email protected] Journal of Experimental Biology http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Experimental Biology The Company of Biologists

Slow and steady climbs the waterfall

G., Borowiec, Brittney
Journal of Experimental Biology , Volume 223 (23) – Dec 1, 2020
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The Company of Biologists
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© 2021 The Company of Biologists. All rights reserved.
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0022-0949
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0022-0949
DOI
10.1242/jeb.214643
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Abstract

© 2020. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd | Journal of Experimental Biology (2020) 223 OUTSIDE JEB doi:10.1242/jeb.214650 The new technique allowed the team to Flapping wings help identify a novel way for moths to prevent Taha, H. E., Kiani, M., Hedrick, T. L. and Greeter, insects stay stable themselves from toppling by precisely J. S. M. (2020). Vibrational control: a hidden stabilization mechanism in insect flight. Science synchronizing the oscillations of the body Robotics 5, eabb1502. https://robotics.sciencemag. and the wings. This synchronization org/content/5/46/eabb1502 generates turning forces, which are used Joy Putney (0000-0002-8736-4282) for correction when they tip unexpectedly Georgia Institute of Technology after encountering turbulence or colliding [email protected] with another object. Next, the team tested their revised model Combining farming of hawk moth flight to find out how well the real insects coped when tipped during practices drastically a collision by firing a pellet at individuals shrinks blue orchard bee as they approached an artificial flower. Filming the disturbances on high-speed populations 3D videos, the team then tracked the Insects are remarkably agile fliers capable wing and body motions as the moths of complex aerial manoeuvres and recovered, revealing that the predicted hovering in turbulent environments. In synchronizations occurred in real flight fact, conventional ways of generating lift, tests as hawk moths stabilized their flight. such as those used by airplanes, would not be sufficient to keep them airborne, so they rely on mechanisms such as bound Finally, the researchers used vortices on the leading edge of their wings chronological calculus to compare how to help them fly. Despite these exotic stability changes in seven other flying mechanisms, for years it was thought that organisms, from hummingbirds to fruit insects were unstable while hovering. flies, whose flapping frequencies varied Previous analyses of how they fly relied from tens to hundreds of wing beats per on averaging the forces produced by their second. For animals such as hawk moths flapping wings. Based on these methods, and hummingbirds, which flap their Blue orchard bees pollinate fruit trees it was thought that flapping fliers such as wings at approximately 20 to 30 wing in orchards across the United States. hawk moths would be vulnerable to beats per second, the effect of the However, multiple farming practices pose toppling head over heels because of this stabilization provided by the a threat to the bees’ survival. Though both instability. It was assumed that averaging synchronized body and wing oscillations pesticides and changing landscapes can the forces over time was a fine approach to is stronger than for fliers operating at affect survival of bees in the lab, little is study insect flight, as the frequency of the higher frequencies, such as the fruit fly. known about their combined effects in the flapping wings was much higher than the This demonstrates that sensory feedback wild. Recent work by Clara Stuligross and time scales of the body movements. still likely plays a role in stabilizing flight Neal Williams from the University of Therefore, it was thought that insects must for insects that really buzz about. California Davis, USA, suggests that the use sensory feedback – either perception harmful effects of pesticides are worsened of the body’s position in space or vision – Insects and other flapping fliers continue when bee food supplies are limited. to stabilize their flight. However, a team to amaze us with new revelations about of researchers based in the USA recently how they stay aloft. It turns out that the Stuligross and Williams first tested how reinvestigated the flight of a hawk moth very act of flapping helps them stabilize the number of flowers available for and found that they may be more stable against pitch disturbances that are likely foraging affects the bees’ reproduction. than previously thought. present in the windy skies they fly The team built flight cages in a North through. These findings could completely Central California field for the bees to live Haithem Taha and colleagues from the revise our understanding of how flapping in. Some cages had access to more flowers University of California Irvine, the fliers control and stabilize their flight. than the bees needed, while other cages University of North Carolina and the While insects still likely require active had just enough flowers for the bees’ Pacific Northwest National Laboratory control and sensory feedback to fly, survival. used a method called chronological perhaps their passive stabilization calculus, which allowed them to study mechanisms will inspire the mechanical The duo noticed that female bees in flight the time-varying effects inherent to the design of robotic fliers and relax their cages with fewer flowers not only took flapping of the wings during flight. computational requirements. longer to build their nests, but also spent Outside JEB reports on the most exciting developments in experimental biology. The articles are written by a team of active research scientists highlighting the papers that JEB readers can’t afford to miss. STABILIZATION ECOPHYSIOLOGY Journal of Experimental Biology OUTSIDE JEB Journal of Experimental Biology (2020) 223 less time at them and their brood were also detected in the researchers’ analyses; wanted to know which goby was the a little smaller. These effects might be however, the scientists are concerned that better mountaineer and why. because there was only enough food even tiny doses could have a significant available to keep the adults alive and not impact on bee health. Racing requires a racetrack, so the enough to feed the larvae or to give the researchers set a 2.4 m ramp at a 45 deg bees the energy needed to tend to their Farming practices should include ways to angle, lined it with sandpaper and young. This suggests that farming protect the bees that pollinate farm crops pumped water over it. Both gobies practices that reduce the number of because multiple stressors can combine managed to climb the simulated flowers could harm bee reproduction. to have catastrophic effects on bee waterfall, but overall, the tortoise-like populations. If there are fewer blue orchard S. lagocephalus climbed three times faster Next, the researchers examined the effects bees pollinating farmers’ trees, there will than the hare-like C. acutipinnis. of an insecticide – imidacloprid, be less fruit to go round for all of us. Though C. acutipinnis could easily out- commonly used in California fruit sprint S. lagocephalus, it wasn’t enough doi:10.1242/jeb.214635 orchards – on the female bees’ nesting to make up for the extra time spent resting: behaviours. Stuligross and Williams C. acutipinnis spent over 90% of its Stuligross, C. and Williams, N. M. (2020). Pesticide and resource stressors additively drenched the soil in the flight cages with time sitting motionless, whereas impair wild bee reproduction. Proc. R. Soc. B the maximum amount of imidacloprid S. lagocephalus only spent about 287, doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.1390 allowed in Californian orchards before two-thirds of its time on breaks. Gina Mantica (0000-0001-5329-3896) letting the bees inside. Similar to bees Tufts University with less food, bees exposed to Next, the researchers focused on the [email protected] imidacloprid took longer to make their muscle powering their gobies’ nests and spent less time there. This might movements, hypothesizing that their be because the chemical is known to slow physiology would match their climbing the development of females’ ovaries, style. They predicted that slow and Slow and steady climbs which could affect the hormones that sustained exercise, like the steady inching the waterfall trigger nesting behaviours and egg laying. of S. lagocephalus, would be powered Yet, larval bees exposed to imidacloprid by aerobic pathways. In contrast, the fast were larger than those not endangered by and explosive ‘power burst’ style of the chemical. The researchers think that C. acutipinnis should rely on anaerobic this difference in size might be because pathways. Supporting these predictions, insecticide-affected bees had fewer the slowly inching S. lagocephalus had offspring and thus had the opportunity to higher activities of enzymes involved give each of their surviving progeny more in carbohydrate metabolism – citrate food than their pesticide-free synthase, pyruvate kinase and lactate counterparts. dehydrogenase – than C. acutipinnis. The muscles of S. lagocephalus had Stuligross and Williams then tested how bigger metabolic engines for aerobic pesticide use and the number of flowering activity – exactly what they needed to plants might work together to affect the keep on keeping on. bees’ reproduction, and found that When Aesop penned his famous tale of pesticide use and food limitation the tortoise and the hare, he probably Finally, the researchers examined the combined reduce the number of larvae by wasn’t thinking about the waterfall- fuels needed to power the muscle’s nearly 60%. If there are fewer offspring, climbing gobies of Reunion Island. Not metabolic engine: glycogen and fats, as then the number of adult bees in a colony one, but two species of Sicydiinae gobies well as lactate, which is produced when will shrink over time and this decline is call this place home, embarking on an muscles dip into anaerobic pathway. Both worsened by the fact that pesticides result arduous journey upstream (literally!) to gobies had similar amounts of glycogen in a population of almost all male larvae. find safe, freshwater pools in which to and fats in their muscle, suggesting that Without females, blue orchard bees spawn. Slow and steady, Sicyopterus running out of oxygen didn’t explain the cannot reproduce, worsening the decline lagocephalus inches its way up, secured lengthier pauses of C. acutipinnis. Both of the adult bee population. Taken to the slick rocks by sticky suckers on its species also kept lactate levels low, even together, these results suggest that belly and mouth. In contrast, Cotylopus after an intense climb, suggesting that combining harmful pesticides with fewer acutipinnis leaps ahead by flicking its tail their chosen rest periods were enough to flowering plants could cause bee and pectoral fins, much like Aesop’s avoid overexerting their muscle. The data populations to decline and, eventually, hare. Unfettered by its oral sucker, also hinted at an interesting aspect of goby go extinct. C. acutipinnis covers a lot of ground in life history – neither species had a short time, but takes long rest periods impressive fuel reserves, suggesting that However, the researchers only detected between leaps. Considering these wild gobies probably snacked on their imidacloprid in the pollen that the bees radically different approaches to life’s way to the top. brought home in two out of the eight obstacles, Raphaël Lagarde, currently a flight cages. Imidacloprid might have postdoctoral fellow at the University of Slow and steady wins the race, whether occurred at such low levels in the pollen Perpignan, France, and colleagues from you are a tortoise or a waterfall-climbing that the bees consumed that it was not Reunion Island, Madagascar and Canada goby. Sicyopterus lagocephalus METABOLISM Journal of Experimental Biology OUTSIDE JEB Journal of Experimental Biology (2020) 223 crawled across the finish line ahead of dead branches and leafy plants to locate slingshot spiders get to take advantage C. acutipinnis, supported by a more the spiders and their webs in their natural of their silk to go on their whippingly sustainable form of locomotion and more habitat. With high-speed cameras trained fast rides. powerful metabolic machinery. As both on the spiders, the researchers snapped doi:10.1242/jeb.214627 species search for breeding sites their fingers close to the webs to trigger throughout the year, the quick pace of the spiders into releasing the tension line Alexander, S. L. M. and Bhamla, M. S. (2020). Ultrafast launch of slingshot spiders using conical S. lagocephalus may lead to competitive and catapulting their webs forward. silk webs. Curr. Biol. 30, R928-R929. doi:10. advantage. Like another old proverb, 1016/j.cub.2020.06.076 perhaps the early fish gets the pool. After analysing 15 videos of four spiders Jan Stenum (0000-0002-0088-8703) releasing their webs, the team found that doi:10.1242/jeb.214643 Johns Hopkins University the spiders used the springiness of their [email protected] webs to achieve impressively high speeds. Lagarde, R., Ponton, D., Borie, G., Hiebert, A. and LeMoine, C.M.R. (2020). Climbing During the slingshot motion, the web waterfalls: how metabolism and behaviour reached a whopping acceleration of up to impact locomotor performance of tropical −2 Birds ruffled by big-city 1300 m s , which is roughly 130 g forces climbing gobies on Reunion Island. Physiol. Biochem. Zool. 93, 376-383. doi:10.1086/ or about 10 times the top acceleration lights experienced by a cheetah at the start of a standstill sprint. From this massive Brittney G. Borowiec (0000-0003-0087- 7577) acceleration, the web reached a top speed −1 Wilfrid Laurier University of 4.2 m s in just 6 ms – only a fraction [email protected] of the time it takes to blink an eye – allowing the spiders to catch unsuspecting insects as the web shoots forward. Whoosh! Springy-bounce spider webs Nimbleness is key here, with the spider making use of all eight of its legs – and then some. As the spider sits on the back side of the web facing the tension line, its four hindlimbs hold onto the web while all four forelegs grab the tension line. To set the web in motion, the spider lets go of The blazing lights of Times Square in the tension line, which releases the web, New York City may be impressive for allowing it to shoot forward. However, tourists, yet this blindingly bright attraction with all of its legs already on duty, the can cause problems for urban wildlife. spider allows the tension line to slide Artificial light at night, typical of cities and between its pedipalps – small leg-like suburban areas around the globe, can cause appendages near the jaws – which allows problems for the animals that we share it to quickly grab a hold of the line to space with, although the impact on local Slingshot spiders certainly live up to their restart the process anew. wildlife is often disregarded. Given the names. Weaving webs in the shape of a current global COVID-19 pandemic, satellite dish with the middle caved in, the But how does the spider engineer its understanding how stressors, such as finishing touch is a single silk thread, ballistic web to reach such impressive artificial nocturnal light, alter infectious running from the middle of the web to a speeds? Analysing the springiness of disease transmission is now even more nearby location to anchor the structure in the spiders’ web lines, the team found pressing. So, Daniel Becker and colleagues place. This line – the tension line – works that the silk was particularly efficient at from Indiana University in the USA delved like a bungee cord that the spider stretches converting stretch into bounce, even into this question, looking at how to extend the parabolic shape and then outperforming other biological and persistent artificial light at night alters releases to make the web spring forward, man-made materials designed to be immunity and infection risk in wild animal trapping insects in its path to ensure the elastic. So while the spiders may be communities. spider’s next meal. For many years, exceptionally imaginative to use their scientists have been interested in slingshot webs so creatively, credit must also Becker and colleagues suspected that spiders, but relatively little was known go to the springy silk that puts bounce migratory species may be especially about how the spiders work the tension into the structure. vulnerable to artificial nocturnal light, as line to make their webs bounce. To learn they frequently migrate at night and use more, Symone Alexander and Saad Alexander and Bhamla provide new urban and suburban habitats as resting Bhamla from the Georgia Institute of insight into how the slingshot spider uses spots along their route. To test this theory, Technology in Atlanta, USA, decided to its web like a catapult to catch insects. The the team chose to study the dark-eyed take a closer look at the catapulting team is also curious to learn more about junco (Junco hyemalis), a songbird which spiders. the molecular structure that makes the silk has populations that migrate and others so springy in the hope that we can use the that stay put to breed. Both of these In the Peruvian Amazon rainforest, lesson to engineer materials with superior population types are susceptible to blood- Alexander and Bhamla searched among springiness. As it currently stands, only borne parasites during their summer PREDATION LIGHT POLLUTION Journal of Experimental Biology OUTSIDE JEB Journal of Experimental Biology (2020) 223 breeding season that are transmitted Throughout this time, the researchers The negative impacts of artificial light at by blood-sucking insects (such as looked for signs of changes in the birds’ night on wildlife in urban and suburban mosquitoes), that initially cause a short immunity (by looking at the number of areas could be minimized by urban infection, but can then remain dormant for white blood cells in their blood) as well as planners devising alterations to city lights months before rearing their ugly head the risk of infection relapse, by keeping in collaboration with physiologists. when the host is either stressed or busy track of the number of parasites in the Possibilities include shifting street with other tasks, such as reproduction. birds’ blood over time. lighting to a yellower or redder tone, The researchers suspected that the stress reorienting lighting structures to project associated with artificial nocturnal light Becker and colleagues found that light down, rather than up, and restricting could make the birds more vulnerable to nocturnal artificial light increased the the use of bright lighting at night during infection relapses, and that these effects total number of white blood cells in both key times of year – such as those would be stronger in the migratory birds resident and migratory birds, indicating coinciding with annual migrations – to than in their stay-at-home counterparts, as that their immune systems were surging, reduce the impacts of man-made light on migration can suppress the immune and when the researchers looked at the nocturnal wildlife in and around our system. birds’ parasite numbers, these spikes cities. weren’t surprising. Following exposure doi:10.1242/jeb.214668 To test these ideas, the researchers to man-made nocturnal light, the number rounded up resident and migratory juncos of parasites in the birds’ blood also Becker, D. J., Singh, D., Pan, Q., Montoure, J. D., from their summer-time roosts in the boomed. This effect could be due to Talbott, K. M., Wanamaker, S. M., and Appalachian Mountains, USA, before changes in the hormone melatonin, Ketterson E. D. (2020). Artificial light at night transporting them back to an indoor which is secreted when it is dark and amplifies seasonal relapse of haemosporidian aviary at Indiana University. For over boosts the immune system. Artificial parasites in a widespread songbird. Proc. R. Soc. B 287. doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.1831 6 months, half of the migrants and stay- light at night may suppress melatonin at-home birds were exposed to artificial production, thus supressing the immune Lauren Nadler (0000-0001-8225-8344) light at night, while the remaining birds system and increasing susceptibility to Nova Southeastern University experienced a natural light cycle. infections. [email protected] Journal of Experimental Biology

Journal

Journal of Experimental Biology – The Company of Biologists

Published: Dec 1, 2020

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