Meniscus ascent by thrips (Thysanoptera)

Meniscus climbing using a fixed body posture has been well documented for various aquatic and neustonic insects, but is not known from small flying insects that inadvertently become trapped on water surfaces. Here, we show that thrips (order Thysanoptera) can ascend a meniscus by arching their non-wetting bodies to translate head-first and upward along a water surface; if initially oriented backwards, they can turn by 180° to ascend head-first, and climb upward on a surrounding boundary. Using variable-concentration sucrose solutions, we show that translational and climbing speeds during meniscus ascent vary inversely with fluid viscosity. Becoming trapped in water is a frequent event for flying insects, and given that most of them are very small, dedicated behaviours to escape water may be commonplace among pterygotes

The interaction of temperature and sucrose concentration on foraging preferences in bumblebees

Several authors have found that flowers that are warmer than their surrounding environment have an advantage in attracting pollinators. Bumblebees will forage preferentially on warmer flowers, even if equal nutritional reward is available in cooler flowers. This raises the question of whether warmth and sucrose concentration are processed independently by bees, or whether sweetness detectors respond to higher sugar concentration as well as higher temperature. We find that bumblebees can use lower temperature as a cue to higher sucrose reward, showing that bees appear to process the two parameters strictly independently. Moreover, we demonstrate that sucrose concentration takes precedence over warmth, so that when there is a difference in sucrose concentration, bees will typically choose the sweeter feeder, even if the less sweet feeder is several degrees warmer