Tagged With: wildlife
Species of the week: the parasitic barnacle Sacculina
Krystal Deutsch describes a parasite which chemically castrates its host Sacculina is a parasitic barnacle that depends on crabs for its growth and reproduction. A female Sacculina larva finds a crab, sheds its hard outer layer and injects her soft inner body through a joint in the crab’s shell, entering the crustacean’s body and using … Continue reading
Environmentalism- what are our motivations?
Lauren is a recent graduate in microbiology interning at the Society of Biology until June 2013. She is interested in a career in science communication and writes for her own blog, Science Says as well as for the Student Hubs blog. When probed on my motivations for trying to live sustainably, my standard reply is … Continue reading
Feeding Life – Photography Competition 2013
Jenni Lacey from the Society of Biology explores inspiration for this year’s photography competition Like most people my taste and eating habits have dramatically changed over the years. Influenced first by family habit, tradition and what was put in front of me, and later by new surroundings, culture and choice, I’ve thankfully now developed a … Continue reading
Are neonicotinoids distracting us from the bigger picture?
by Rebecca Nesbit, Society of Biology The much awaited vote by EU member states on the potential neonicotinoid ban takes place on Monday. There has been strong environmental lobbying to encourage Environment Minister Owen Patterson to vote in favour of a ban, but to what extent is the fate of bees really hanging on this … Continue reading
Flying Ant Survey – spread the word!
The weekend’s sunshine made it almost possible to imagine the summer flying ant season, so we’re gearing up for a second flying ant survey and are hoping to enlist even more support. We need data from multiple years to help us understand whether the pattern we saw in 2012 (two peaks in flying ant activity) … Continue reading
Alien species – where are you from?
by Tatiana Moreno, freelance journalist, @Tatiana_Moreno Domestic cats, the common wall lizard and horseradish are all found in England, but in fact they were once alien species. Britain alone has over 3,000 non-native species, as stated by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Where have our hedgehogs gone?
by Amy Whetstone, Qualification and Skills Officer at the Society of Biology The European hedgehog, Erinaceus europaeus, has long been a welcome visitor to our gardens and green spaces in the UK. Our unmistakeable spiny friends were once frequent guests to my back garden, but over the years I’ve noticed a definite decline in sightings. … Continue reading
Species of the week: Bottlenose dolphin
by Pippy Downs, a Year 11 work experience pupil from The Folkestone School for Girls Bottlenose dolphins are well known for being able to perform complex tricks. They have a friendly, permanent smile from their curved bottle like noses. Most people call them ‘dolphins’ however the scientific family name for dolphins is Delphinidae. They are … Continue reading
The peculiarities of the jellyfish nervous system
Guest post from Joseph Jebelli, a PhD student at UCL What is it like to be a jellyfish? These beautifully mesmerising creatures are so bizarre, so alien to us in so many respects that one can easily be forgiven for struggling to come up with a good answer. Biologically, jellyfish have long been thought of … Continue reading
Bad news for pollination – a decline in Britain’s larger moths
by Rebecca Nesbit ‘Moths are declining rapidly in the UK’ was, unsurprisingly, the message from the State of Britain’s Larger Moths report launched last Friday by Butterfly Conservation. In a week when the controversial topic of bees and neonicotinoids was headline news, it was interesting to hear about the fates of a different group of … Continue reading