ABSTRACTS

LEAF-WRAPPING BATS Flute-nosed bats from Australia and Papua New Guinea are almost impossible to find. Sometimes they hide in clusters of dead leaves or in the enclosed nests of scrub wrens. Martin Schulz, of the School of Resource Science and Management at Australia's Southern Cross University, recently discovered another method of concealment: the little bats wrap themselves in the tree [eaves. When Schulz released several bats in a northeastern Queens[and forest, they immediately flew into trees, and each bat chose a leaf as its wraparound blanket. Hanging upside down, the bats positioned themselves on a leaf's underside, grasped an edge with hind foot and thumb, and pulled the leaf around their bodies--effectively hiding from predaceous birds. Once wrapped up, the bats did not move for the rest of the day. Members of a related group known as tent-making bats cut and score larger leaves, then roost inside the folded "tents." ("Leaf-wrapping behavior in the flute-nosed bat Murina florium," Bat Research News 40 [1], 1999)

UV-B, Bluebells, and Bees If depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer allows more ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation to reach Earth, the relationship between plants such as the desert bluebell (Phocelia companuloria) and native ground-nesting bees that rely on them could be disrupted. U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers Blair Sampson and James Cane grew bluebells under five different UV-B intensities in a greenhouse. More intense ultraviolet delayed the onset of blooming, shortened the flowering period, and reduced the number of flowers produced. In nature, bees could emerge in spring to find little to eat and few provisions for their larvae. ("Impact of enhanced ultraviolet-B radiation on flower, pollen, and nectar production," American Journal of Botany 86, 1999)

ALIEN INVASION According to Thomas J. Stohlgren, of the U.S. Geological Survey in Fort Collins, Colorado, and his team of ecologists, five species-rich forests and meadows in the Colorado Rockies were recently invaded and colonized by exotic plants. Why these particular locales? Because their soils are rich in carbon and nitrogen, and exotics prefer the same, highly fertile areas that foster high diversity among native species. The researchers predict that "exotic plant species will eventually cause a decline in native plant species and ecosystem diversity" by crowding out the long-established plants. ("Exotic Plant Species Invade Hot Spots of Native Plant Diversity," Ecological Monographs 69 [1], 1999)

DEAF-MUTE CRICKETS Chirping crickets seeking mates are part of summer's symphony in most places. In western Australia, however, an entire genus of bushcrickets is silent--both deaf and mute. One species, Phasmodes ranatriformis, has recently been studied by entomologist W. J. Bailey, of the University of West Australia, and T. Lebel, a botanist from Oregon State University. Females of this sticklike insect are almost twice the size of mates, and both sexes feed on pollen and nectar. During their reproductive season in early spring, bushcrickets do not actively seek mates by chirping and signaling movements, but both are attracted to the nectar of the kangaroo paw plant.

Once a male has practically stumbled over a female in his search for nectar, he may have to compete for the right to copulate by jousting with nearby rivals. Females may mate again within twenty-four hours--if another "strong silent" type should discover them. ("The mating biology of Phasmodes ranatrifomis [Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Phasmodinae], a mute genus of bushcricket from Western Australia," Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 81 [3], 1998)

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