Biology Newsletter #7

Biology Department Newsletter Issue 7: week commencing 18 May 2020

Springwatch with Mr Coleman Butterflies

Butterflies are some of the most beautiful visitors to our gardens and you can spot up to twenty different species. During their short lifetime of four different stages, they undergo a complete change, or metamorphosis. Each one begins life as an egg, hatches into a caterpillar, pupates into a chrysalis and then emerges as an adult.

Butterflies need warmth to be active and fly, and they need to drink nectar for energy. Provide both, and you’ll have a butterfly haven. Try to plant plenty of different nectar plants that flower throughout spring, summer and autumn, in a sheltered, sunny spot. Why not try growing some flowers for butterflies?

RSPB Nature spotting all starts with the noticing but if you can identify some common species and learn their names then you will appreciate the encounter even more (note the male and female can differ in appearance for some species) Butterfly conservation or download the free app Butterfly app

Butterfly Challenge (open to staff and students) Can you identify all 5 species of butterfly here and answer the question with each photograph? Email Mr Coleman and the first fully correct answer will win a star prize!

Why is the colour blue so rare in nature?

What is so spectacular about this common summer species?

Where does the butterfly start and the flower end?

What is the connection between this butterfly and HABs?

Which predator has this butterfly evolved to mimic? Tip – look upside down!

Biology Department Newsletter Issue 7: week commencing 18 May 2020

Biology in the news with Mrs Oatridge First baby bison born in the wild since 1876 There used to be up to 60 million bison roaming across North America. These mighty beasts were driven to near-extinction 200 years ago. Conservationists are celebrating the birth as a historic turning point.

If you could bring back one extinct species, what would it be and why?

Can civilisation and wilderness co-exist?

In a new book, The Reality Bubble, science journalist Ziya Tong calls us to recognise that there are other intelligent and sensitive creatures on Earth, and the planet does not exist simply for our convenience.

To her, the chimpanzees’ behaviour demonstrates that “we are not the only problem-solvers, not the only communicators, and not the only animals capable of love or the appreciation of beauty”.

But she adds, “The truth is their experience is completely unknowable to us […]. Even our closest evolutionary relative might see and perceive a world completely different from our own.”

The book brims with extraordinary facts. It mentions beetles that navigate by the Milky Way; pigeons that can tell a painting by Picasso from one by Monet; dolphins that can hear an unborn child; a chimpanzee with a photographic memory!

The continued challenge of antibiotic-resistant bacteria coupled with the difficulty of developing new antibiotics has been frustrating scientists for years. However, the answer may have come in the unexpected form of artificial intelligence! Read all about it here MIT

Biology Department Newsletter Issue 7: week commencing 18 May 2020

Skylarks A skylark singing

The name Skylark is shared by the school magazine and a species of bird that has appeared in more poems than any other.

The song of the skylark can occasionally be heard from the school grounds as they nest in the rough grassland at the end of Elstree aerodrome's runway.

Skylarks are notable for a number of reasons. They are the first bird to start singing in the morning even before it gets light, hence the expression 'up with the lark'. Unlike most birds which sing from a perch, skylarks sing as they fly, a feat which requires a colossal amount of energy. Skylarks advertise their territories by a spectacular song-flight, during which the bird rises almost vertically with rapid wing-beats, hovering for several minutes and then parachuting down. Song flights of up to one hour have been recorded, and the birds can reach 1,000 feet before descending. It is often difficult to spot the source of the song because all that is visible is a speck high in the sky.

Skylarks are very widespread in Europe and are found in a wide range of open habitats including farmland, moorland, heathland and upland areas. However they population is in decline due to changes in farming practices.

In the UK, the population halved during the 1990s, and is still declining. In the preferred habitat of farmland, skylarks declined by 75% between 1972 and 1996. RSPB The main cause of this decline is considered to be the widespread switch from spring to autumn-sown cereals, which has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the number of chicks raised each year.

A skylark nest Autumn-sown cereals are taller and denser throughout the season. Fewer birds nest there, and those that do are unable to raise as many broods as birds in springsown crops. Many nesting attempts are on or close to tramlines (tractor tracks that are used to apply the many sprays to the crop), which makes the nests vulnerable to ground predators.

One solution is for farmers to create skylark plots in their fields. These small areas left unsown in winter cereals boost the nesting opportunities and food availability for skylarks.

Skylark plots need to be 16-24 metres square.

Just two skylark plots per hectare have significant benefits for the birds

Biology Department Newsletter Issue 7: week commencing 18 May 2020

Zoo news Zoos and wildlife parks have been struggling since lockdown Newsround. They rely on money from ticket sales to feed their animals, and without the doors being open, their revenue stream has ceased up. There is some good news, however, in the form of a number of new baby animals being born across the country. These babies are in the unusual position of not being exposed to many humans, unlike animals normally born in captivity which act as a special lure for zoo visitors.

I have a particular soft spot for pygmy hippos and hope that this video of a one week old baby wandering around in her enclosure at Colchester Zoo will warm your heart BBC news!

Pond update!

The first creatures have arrived in Mr Glanville's new pond - see issue 5. The creatures are about 5 mm long and they hang from the surface of the water, using a tube, and then swim downward in a figure of eight movement when anything gets close.

Can you suggest why Mr Glanville is hoping that some predators for these creatures arrive in his pond very soon?

What do you think the tube is used for? What do you think they feed on? How did they get into the pond?

Mr Glanville’s garden aviary The orange headed ground thrushes have three chicks! The parent birds have been feeding the chicks about every 10 minutes. The photograph shows the female brooding the chicks

Coronavirus news You may have read the reports suggesting why some people might be at greater risk of becoming seriously ill if they become infected with Covid-19. One possible explanation is that some people are more likely to have vitamin D deficiency. These sources will give you more information Nature National Geographic Science Daily