Bug Population Change

If a sow bug is placed in a choice tray, and has access to decaying leaves, potatoes, grapes, and sow bug food, the sow bug will choose the decaying leaves over its other options. This hypothesis was based on research stating that a sow bug's main food source is decaying vegetation. This is the food they are accustomed to and therefore will select over the other three options which they rarely if ever would have access to.

Once the experiment concluded, a graph was made to show the changes over time of the number of Pill bugs found in each chamber.

Table 1. This chart shows that the observed number of sowbugs preferred grass 9 times, and sand 11 times. It also shows the expected data 10 for each preference.

The mealworms showed kinesis behavior because they did not all go away from either the fish food or the potato, they kept crawling through both of those chambers. If they were to show taxis behavior then the mealworms would find their way into the chamber they liked the best because taxis behavior is deliberate. The data shows that at 30 seconds the mealworms liked the fish food more than the potato because there were 8 mealworms in the chamber with the fish food and 0 with the potato. However as time went on the mealworms leveled out because at 10 minutes there was 6 in fish food, 5 in potato, and 4 in the control group. The data really doesn’t show if the mealworms liked one food choice over another, but the mealworms did tend to chose the fish food over the potatoes a little more. Overall, there wasn’t really any sources of error doing this, but if I were to do this again I wouldn’t chose to do potato and fish food again. The reason for this is because the mealworms didn’t react to those 2 options very well. I would prefer to do light vs. dark because I think that would actually affect the mealworms more. To improve this experiment I would have 30 mealworms instead of just 15 and I would increase the time we observe them to maybe get a better outcome in the

This experiment was conducted on pillbugs (Armadillidiidae) from the class Malacostraca and order Isopods. These bugs were used to preform a Natural Experiment to test their response and attraction to chocolate and/or vanilla flavored chips. During the experiment, the pill-bugs will have the opportunity to choose between the two kinds of chips and the favored flavor will be noted for each bug.

To stay consistent with and avoid error, the number of changing variables will be as close to 1 as possible; the only variable being externally manipulated in this experiment would be bean beetle size in two of the populations. (I.E: One group is a random control group of 10 beetles, one group is a variable group with the 10 smallest size beetles, and one groups is a variable group with the 10 largest size beetles.)

All of the species except for worms had the same relative abundance. Insecta Cleopetra feed on insects. Silk

Isopods are land dwelling crustaceans also known as pill bugs. In the lab the isopods will be studied on ethology which is the study of animal behavior. The taxis and kinesis will also be studied of the isopods. Taxis is when a certain factor attracts or repels an individual. Kinesis is when an individual randomly moves because of a certain factor.

The emperor moth, or Saturnia pavonia, is a species of moth most notable for its beautiful collection of four eyespots on its wings; two on its front wings and two on its back wings. Because the eyespots are so visible and prominent on the wings of the moth, it can be proposed that this trait was adapted by the moth to increase its chances of viability by intimidating or confusing predators, compared to the common heath moth Ematurga atomaria which is a simple brown or grey colour (i.e. no eyespots). Eyespots on an organism is an example of mimicry – when an organism evolves a specific trait that is similar to a different organism (usually a predator), which in turn can help to improve its chances of survival. The theory behind mimicry proposes that the certain traits that a species adapts (in this case, eyespots), appear as confusing to predators, therefore hindering the predator’s ability to accurately perceive the identity of the species which allows said species even the slightest chance to escape from harm’s way (Howse 2013). There is also proof that large eyespots, such as those on the Saturnia pavonia, are beneficial to the organism because they are visibly similar to the eyes of predators such as owls (Howse 2013). The results from one experiment conducted by Blest (1957) studied the number of averted attacks by birds on a butterfly with eyespots compared to the number of averted attacks on a butterfly with the eyespots concealed from rubbing the wings (Stevens).

Abstract: This experiment was exploring our curiosity of sowbugs and their preferences. Our main question was about how the sowbugs natural diet can affect their preference for sodium chloride also known as table salt and glucose which is also known as sugar. The experiment involved testing how much time each sowbug spent in each substance when in a tray with both salt and sugar on opposite sides.

In the article, “Loss of Dung Beetles Puts Ecosystems in Deep Doo-Doo”, the author discusses the effects dung beetles have on an ecosystem, and how these beetles cohabitate in their surrounding areas. The study was conducted to determine how dung beetles function in their environment, and what happens to them as a result. Additionally, researchers wanted to figure out if there was any loss of biodiversity or destruction of the ecosystem within the beetle population. Researchers placed a population of beetles in two different areas to observe their behaviors. One of the areas was a hydroelectric dam in a tropical forest of Venezuela, and the other was a much smaller island. The results indicated that the larger bees left the smaller islands

For the dark environment we cut out a sheet of black paper and taped it to the top of the observation chamber, for the light environment two flashlights were above the chamber. A funnel was used to put the bugs in the middle and keep them there until the timer was started. After thirty seconds when the pill bugs were released our group counted how many bugs were either in the neutral, dark, or light section of the observation chamber this is how the data was collected. This experiment had two trials, so the data, that was collected during both trials were averaged out. During the second experiment that was conducted the pill bugs were once again placed in the middle of the observation chamber with the funnel, but this time one section of the chamber had soil with three drops of water, while the other section of the chamber had soil with 3 drops of vinegar. Once thirty seconds had past after the bugs had been released each member of the group counted how many bugs were on each sections of the chamber. This experiment was done twice and then the data was averaged out the data. This method of collecting data was chosen because this was the simplest and most efficient way of collecting

In this lab, the class discovered the effects of different substrates and stimuli on red flour beetles. Red flour beetles eat flour and other grains and the female beetle deposits her eggs on flour, cereal, dry pet food, or other similar products. The larvae hatch and then begin to eat the material around them. In the article “Patch exploitation by Tribolium castaneum: Movement patterns, distribution, and oviposition”, it says that most of the activity from red flour beetles is spent in food sources (Campbell and Hagstrum). There are many factors that affect the red flour beetles ability to survive or reproduce, like temperature, food source, stress, and genetics (Biology 159). In “Humidity Reactions of Tribolium Castaneum (Herbst)”, it states that red flour beetles are attracted to different substrates due to their nutritional levels and moisture level of the substrate (Willis and Roth).

Bugs in Florida are a part of life. Thanks to the humid weather, South Florida residents often share their living space with many common household pests. Termites, fleas, ticks, roaches, and many other insects of Florida may have made your home into their home. Out of these house pests, fleas and ticks often hitch a ride on the family cat or dog in spring or summer, only to infest your home, lay eggs and inflict painful bites. Even worse, ticks can carry Lyme disease. Roaches love to chow down on small, unseen food crumbs or drink spills in the kitchen or living room area; they also love damp areas and may often be found under bathroom or kitchen sinks.

Predators and prey are organisms that interrelate, and they can influence on another’s success in reproduction. Predators are organisms that consume other organisms-their prey. These two organisms evolve together. They live in an environment where they must develop certain adaptations to survive. When an adaptation is developed, it gives an organism certain physical characteristics that create an advantage for survival and can come to dominate in a population. An adaptation aids survival by either decreasing a prey's chance of being eaten, or by increasing a predator's chance of obtaining food to survive and reproduce. Predators must fight for food. They face density-independent