The origin and early evolution of circadian clocks are far from clear. It is now widely believed that the clocks in cyanobacteria and the clocks in Eukarya evolved independently from each other. It is also possible that some Archaea possess clock - at least they have clock genes, thought to have arived there by lateral transfer from cyanobacteria.[continued under the fold]
It is not well known, though, if the clocks in major groups of Eukarya - Protista, Plants, Fungi and Animals - originated independently or out of a common ancestral clock. On one hand, the internal logic of the clock…
Invertebrates
grrlscientist | June 5, 2006
Female thorn bug or thorn treehopper, Umbonia crassicornis (Insecta: Hemiptera: Membracidae).
Have you ever seen an insect evolved to look like a thorn? This not-quite-sharp photo is one I took during the 2004 NABA biennial meeting in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Image (resized): by frequent reader, Biosparite.
This is a group-living herbivorous insect that lives in the southern USA. They communicate with each other using vibrations and females provide parental care (predator defense) for their nymphs.
If you are interested to learn more about communication in this, and other,…
grrlscientist | April 23, 2006
Predaceous Diving Beetle.
This image appears here with the kind permission of the photographer, Bev Wigney.
Recently, some bird pals of mine have been discussing some "large bugs" that have been making their appearance "everywhere". They finally settled on the insect's identity as a Predaceous Diving Beetle, which is a member of the insect family, Dytiscidae.
Coincidentally, Bev has been photographing and video taping one of these "bugs", as you will see here and here at her delightful blog, Burning Silo. Go have a peek at her excellent photographs and video of this interesting insect.…