\u3ci\u3eOwlet Caterpillars of Eastern North America.\u3c/i\u3e David L. Wagner, Dale F. Schweitzer, J Bolling Sullivan & Richard C. Reardon. 2011. Princeton University Press, 576 pp., soft cover, 8 by 10.

(excerpt) You may be wondering what an owlet caterpillar is, since “owlet” is not mentioned in some books about insects. It is a general name for moths in the family Noctuidae and is nicely defined by Marshall (2006) as: “nocturnal moths are sometimes called owlet moths (noctua means owl in Latin) because of the way their eyes pick up and reflect the smallest amount of light, shining brightly in contrast with the usually inconspicuous body and forewings”

Full alignment of colloidal objects by programmed forcing

By analysis and simulation we demonstrate two methods for achieving complete orientational alignment of a set of identical, asymmetric colloidal objects dispersed randomly in a fluid. Sedimentation or electrophoresis in a constant field can lead to partial alignment, in which the objects rotate about a common body axis, but the phases of rotation for these objects are random. We show that this phase disorder can be removed by two forms of programmed forcing. First, simply alternating the forcing between two directions reduces the statistical entropy of the orientation arbitrarily. Second, addition of a small rotating component to the applied field in analogy to magnetic resonance can lead to phase locking of the objects' orientation. We identify conditions for alignment of a broad class of generic objects and discuss practical limitations.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Longevity and Weight Loss of Free-flying Male Cecropia Moths, \u3ci\u3eHyalophora Cecropia\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae)

During their spring flight season, free-ranging male cecropia moths lived a maximum of 12 days (one of 124 recaptured moths of 387 released moths). The number of survivors declined precipitiously after day five; five to seven days is probably the usual life span. The recaptured moths did not have different initial weights than those that were not recaptured. The larger the moth the more absolute weight it lost and the faster it lost weight during the first few days. A moth lost about 20% of its weight during the first night of flight and accumulated about a 40% weight loss during the remainder of its life

Reversed impacts by specialist parasitoids and generalist predators may explain a phase lag in moth cycles : a novel hypothesis and preliminary field tests

Among cyclic populations of herbivores, inter-specific temporal synchrony has been attributed to both climatic factors and trophic interactions. In northern Europe, winter and autumnal moths undergo regular 9–11 year population cycles. The winter moth cycle has typically been phase-locked with that of the autumnal moth, but with a 1–3- year phase lag. We examined potential effects of natural enemies on this phase lag using field experiments and observational data. We found that larval parasitism was significantly higher in autumnal than in winter moths. Conversely, pupal predation by generalist invertebrates was clearly greater in winter than in autumnal moths. The difference in parasitism rates may contribute to the earlier collapse of the autumnal moth cycle. In addition, the phase lag may be strengthened by higher pupal mortality in winter moths in the early increase phase of the cycles. As a consequence, we put forward a hypothesis on reversed effects of natural enemies, providing a potential explanation for phase-lagged population cycles of these moth species

Expansion of the winter moth outbreak range : no restrictive effects of competition with the resident autumnal moth

1. Both direct and indirect competition can have profound effects on species abundance and expansion rates, especially for a species trying to strengthen a foothold in new areas, such as the winter moth (Operophtera brumata) currently in northernmost Finland. There, winter moths have overlapping outbreak ranges with autumnal moths (Epirrita autumnata), who also share the same host, the mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii). Competitive interactions are also possible, but so far unstudied, are explanations for the observed 1–3 years phase lag between the population cycles of the two moth species. 2. In two field experiments, we studied host plant-mediated indirect inter-specific competition and direct interference/exploitation competition between autumnal and winter moths. The experimental larvae were grown either with the competing species or with the same number of conspecifics until pupation. Inter-specific competition was judged from differences in pupal mass (reflecting lifespan fecundity), larval development time and larval survival. 3. Larval performance measurements suggested that neither direct nor indirect interspecific competition with the autumnal moth reduce the growth rate of winter moth populations. Winter moths even had a higher probability of survival when reared together with autumnal moths. 4. Thus, we conclude that neither direct nor indirect inter-specific competition is capable of suppressing the spread of the winter moth outbreak range and that both are also an unlikely cause for the phase lag between the phase-locked population cycles of the two moth species

Responses of generalist invertebrate predators to pupal densities of autumnal and winter moths under field conditions

1. Generalist natural enemies are usually not considered as being capable of causing population cycles in forest insects, but they may influence the population dynamics of their prey in the low density cycle phase when specialist enemies are largely absent. 2. In the present field study, the total response of the generalist invertebrate predator community to experimentally established pupal densities of the closely related autumnal (Epirrita autumnata) and winter moths (Operophtera brumata) was analysed. 3. Due to the high amount of variation in the dataset, the exact shape of the response curve could not be convincingly estimated. Nevertheless, two important conclusions can be drawn from the analyses. 4. Firstly, the natural invertebrate predator community seems to become saturated at rather low densities of both autumnal and winter moth pupae. Secondly, the predator community seems to become saturated at much lower densities of autumnal than of winter moth pupae. 5. Furthermore, pupal mass was significantly negatively correlated with invertebrate predation probability in autumnal moth pupae. 6. These results indicate that differences in the predator assemblage being able to consume pupae of the two moth species, as well as different handling times, could be responsible for the substantially higher predation rates in winter than in autumnal moth pupae. 7. As a consequence, the population dynamics of autumnal moths might be less affected by generalist invertebrate predators than those of winter moths, as autumnal moths seem able to escape from the regulating influence of generalist predators at much lower population densities than winter moths

Moths and How to Rear Them. Paul Villiard. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1969. xiv, 242 pp. $10.00.

Excerpt: W.J.B. Crotch\u27s A Silkmoth Rearer\u27s Handbook (1956) and Wild Silk Moths of the United States by Michael Collins and Robert Weast (1961) have been standard rearers\u27 manuals for some time, but both are limited to one group of large moths, and there has been a decided need for a low-priced guide covering rearing procedures for a much wider range of Lepidoptera. For a number of reasons, Villiard\u27s book falls short of this goal

Genesis lunar outpost: An evolutionary lunar habitat

Students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Department of Agriculture undertook a series of studies of lunar habitats during the 1989 to 1990 academic year. Undergraduate students from architecture and mechanical and structural engineering with backgrounds in interior design, biology and construction technology were involved in a seminar in the fall semester followed by a design studio in the spring. The studies resulted in three design alternatives for lunar habitation and an integrated design for an early stage lunar outpost