PNB 2XB3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Petri Dish, Amotz Zahavi, Iridescence
12 Nov 2017
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Document Summary
Animals are quiet all winter long- but each spring, this situation changes dramatically. The first sign of spring: sound of male birds singing each morning. As it gets still warmer, we hear field crickets and then hundreds of male tree frogs calling in a loud chorus on warm, humid evenings. Sex. the silence of winter gives way to the sounds of animals attracting mates. Every 13-17 a brood of periodical cicadas emerge from underground, where they have been feeding on the root of plants, to mate. Cicadas are hemipterans (true bug) and north america is home to seven periodical species. 2011, two 13 year species emerged, and our region became awash with cicadas. Millions of males were calling females each day. It was so loud that we couldn"t spend much time outside, because the sound level frequently exceeded 90 decibels- the equivalent of a jackhammer.
