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NC State News and Information » Grooming Helps Insects Keep Their Senses Sharpened

NC State News and Information » Grooming Helps Insects Keep Their Senses Sharpened | Research from the NC Agricultural Research Service | Scoop.it
CALS Research, NCSU's curator insight, February 5, 2:41 PM

Like a self-absorbed teenager, insects spend a lot of time grooming.

 

In a study that delves into the mechanisms behind this common function, North Carolina State University researchers show that insect grooming – specifically, antennal cleaning – removes both environmental pollutants and chemicals produced by the insects themselves.

 

The findings, published online this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that grooming helps insects maintain acute olfactory senses that are responsible for a host of functions, including finding food, sensing danger and even locating a suitable mate.

 

The findings could also explain why certain types of insecticides work more effectively than others, leading to new pesticides.

 

Read the paper in PNAS here:

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/01/29/1212466110.abstract

 

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Short Sharp Science: Belly button samples reveal wonderland of fluffy fauna

Short Sharp Science: Belly button samples reveal wonderland of fluffy fauna | Research from the NC Agricultural Research Service | Scoop.it

On Rob Dunn's Wildlife of the Body Citizen Science in The Belly Button Project:

 

"If you were told you had an ecosystem living in your belly button, it might come as a bit of shock. Well, you probably do. These are just a few of the samples that Belly Button Biodiversity (BBB), a group of scientists from North Carolina University in Raleigh and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, have taken from themselves as well as students, science bloggers and others.

BBB want to strike down the "bad bacteria" stereotype and teach the world that many bacteria are harmless, helpful and a lot of times just hanging around, mooching off your body."

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Going Deep: Soliciting Explanations for the Mysteries of the Wild Life of Your Belly Button | Guest Blog, Scientific American Blog Network

Going Deep: Soliciting Explanations for the Mysteries of the Wild Life of Your Belly Button | Guest Blog, Scientific American Blog Network | Research from the NC Agricultural Research Service | Scoop.it

Scientists give you all their data in the hopes that you will outsmart them  ...So you want to be a scientist? Here is your chance...."

 

Dr. Rob Dunn blogs in Scientific American on the first release of data from the Belly Button Project, his team's Citizen Science project, charting new territory in the study of the microbiology and ecology of the human navel ...

 

Belly Button Diversity 2.0

http://bbdata.yourwildlife.org/

 

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