Sure, we all know they vex and annoy, but there's much more to learn about the tiny flying members of the family Culicidae.
This ancient pest is a bit more complex than you may have thought. (Photo: Tomatito/Shutterstock)
The oldest known mosquito similar to our modern species was found in a piece of amber in Canada dating back some 79 million years — meaning this pesky pest has been driving us crazy for a long time. And these days, they're annoying us more than ever as mosquito season is getting longer, especially along the East Coast and Midwest, due to a changing climate bringing warmer and more humid conditions.
As with any long, complex relationship, we now have a greater understanding of this interesting creature. Consider the following:
1. The smell of chocolate confuses them
The carbon dioxide we exhale excites and attracts mosquitoes, which is a bummer since we can’t exactly stop breathing to prevent their stealthy attacks. But researchers have found that certain scents — some of them minty, some fruity, and some that smell like caramelized chocolate — can stun the buzzing bugs' carbon dioxide sensors, thus making it harder to find their next dinner.
2. Mosquitoes buzz in our ears because …
Mosquitoes can sense carbon dioxide up to 100 feet away. Since human beings exhale carbon dioxide through the nose and mouth, mosquitoes are attracted to our heads, perhaps leading to more incidents of "self-slapping while sleeping" than any other cause.
Male mosquitoes are the ones out gathering nectar. (Photo: lostbear/Shutterstock)
3. Male mosquitoes are passive
Female mosquitoes are the ones that bite animals and feed on blood; while they're causing us misery, male mosquitoes are flitting about the flowers and feed on nectar.
4. Viruses increase their bloodlust
Female mosquitoes already have an unquenchable need for blood, but researchers have found that the dengue virus, which the mosquitoes transmit to humans, makes them even hungrier for the red stuff. The virus manipulates the insect's genes to make them thirstier for blood; it also activates genes to increase the mosquitoes' sense of smell to become better hunters. (What a brilliant and creepy virus!)
5. Parasites make them go nuts for dirty socks
Not only do parasites live on and feed from their hosts, but these clever creatures can manipulate the behavior of their hosts to increase their odds of spreading. Scientists have shown that mosquitoes infected with the malaria parasite want longer and more frequent blood meals than non-infected mosquitoes, all to better the chance of getting a human host. Other research has found that mosquitoes with malaria are also drawn to the smell of human sweat; as was evidenced in experiments with the use of a well-worn sock.
Mosquitoes' saliva makes it easier for them to get to our blood and it makes us itch. (Photo: mycteria/Shutterstock)
6. Mosquito spit is itchy
When a mosquito has set her sights on a target, she hones in, dive-bombs, and inserts her wee little proboscis into the victim's skin. As she sucks she leaves behind a dollop of saliva, which serves as an anticoagulant so that she may better feast. Unfortunately, most of us have a natural immune response to mosquito slobber that results in histamines and the dreaded itch.
7. Not all mosquitoes carry West Nile virus
Of the thousands of known mosquito species, the dreaded West Nile virus is found in around 60 of them. (It's also found in more than 200 vertebrates.) The virus usually cycles between Culex mosquito species and common urban birds like robins, northern cardinals and house sparrows. Nearly 80 percent of people who are infected with the virus will not show any symptoms, which range from mild irritation and stupor to coma and death.
One of the world's premier conquers, Alexander the Great may have been brought to his death by a lowly mosquito. (Photo: Ruthven/Wikimedia Commons)
8. Alexander the Great may have died from a mosquito bite
Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia and conqueror of the Persian Empire, never lost a battle and is considered one of history's most successful commanders, but he may have met his final defeat at the hands (or mouth) of a mosquito infected with West Nile virus. A paper published in 2003 argues that a lone mosquito infected with the virus was his ultimate undoing.
9. They're petite yet pokey
An average mosquito weighs 2 to 2.5 milligrams, which would seem to enable them to fly more swiftly, but not so. Mosquitoes fly at speeds between 1 and 1.5 miles per hour, making them one of the slowest flying insects of all.
10. Mosquitoes are the deadliest animals in the world
Beware the dangers of tigers, sharks, snakes? Actually, fear the mosquito, the most lethal creature on the planet. More deaths are caused by mosquitoes than any other animal, thanks to bugs' aid in spreading malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever and encephalitis. A single malarial mosquito can infect more than 100 people; and according to the World Health Organization, malaria kills a child every 45 seconds in Africa.
For further information log on website : https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-mosquitoes
These herbs and flowers can shoo pests from your garden and skin.
Lavender is among the plants that act as natural insect repellents. (Photo: Fred/flickr)
Are you an insect magnet? If you aren’t, you probably know one. Insect magnets attract annoying insects the second they walk outdoors — or so it seems.
If this describes you, take comfort in knowing that one of the ways you can fight back against mosquitoes, gnats, flies, no-see-ums and other pesky bugs doesn’t have to involve covering yourself with a sticky spray or engaging in chemical warfare. To help you enjoy going outdoors, try strategically placing insect-repelling plants in your garden or on your patio.
Essential oils in these plants act as nature’s bug repellent. Insects tend to avoid them. You can even use some of these plants to make your own natural bug repellent.
But know that simply including insect-repelling plants in your landscape will not in itself ensure your garden is insect free.
“There’s not enough research in this area to support that,” says Dr. Bodie Pennisi, an associate professor and extension landscape specialist at the University of Georgia’s Griffin campus. “The concentration of oils is not there to offer that kind of protection.”
There may be fewer insects, but no one’s done the research into how many plants, planted how close together, would be effective in repelling insects to any great extent, says Pennisi. One of the best things people can do to hold down mosquito populations, she advises, is to eliminate any standing water, which is where mosquitoes breed.
For those who would like to give the natural route a try, we’ve described six easy-to-find herbs readily available at most nurseries that are said to repel mosquitoes and other annoying insects. The smell from fragrant herbs is the result of the distribution of tiny globules that contain oils. High temperatures, for example, can cause the globules to become volatile, evaporating the essential oils and turning them into vapors, Pennisi says. The many globules on the underside of rosemary leaves (seen at right) are one of the best examples of this.
We’ve included our take on five ornamental flowers that can help keep plant-attacking insects at bay. Keeping your growing areas as insect free as possible will help your vegetable garden stay productive and your ornamental beds attractive. In addition, we’ve included a carnivorous plant that eats insects which you can also include in your eco-friendly insect barrier.
First, the herbs
Basil
You can keep basil in pots to repel insects or make it into a repellent spray. (Photo: arifm/flickr)
Repels house flies and mosquitoes. Plant basil in containers by your house doors and in outdoor areas where you like to relax or entertain. Basil is delicious in salads, in many pork and chicken recipes and with a variety of soups. Basil also improves the flavors of certain vegetables, include tomatoes, peppers and asparagus. You also can use fresh basil to make an insect repellent spray. A simple recipe calls for pouring 4 ounces of boiling water into a container holding 4 to 6 ounces of clean, fresh basil leaves (stems can be attached), letting the leaves steep for several hours, removing the leaves and squeezing all of the leaves’ moisture into the mixture. Then thoroughly mix 4 ounces of (cheap!) vodka with the basil-water mixture. Store in the refrigerator and apply as a spray when going outdoors. Be sure to keep the spray away from your eyes, nose and mouth.
Lavender
Place dried lavender is bundles to keep flies out of your home. (Photo: Tatiana Mihaliova/Shutterstock)
Repels moths, fleas, flies and mosquitoes. Lavender has been used for centuries to add a pleasantly sweet fragrance to homes and clothes drawers. Although people love the smell of lavender, mosquitoes, flies and other unwanted insects hate it. Place tied bouquets in your home to help keep flies outdoors. Plant it in sunny areas of the garden or near entryways to your house to help keep those areas pest free. You can also use oil extracted from the flowers as a mosquito repellent you can apply to exposed skin when going into the garden or patio. The Everything Lavender website has a guide for extracting the oil and making a lavender-infused body oil. Added benefits are that lavender oil nourishes the skin and has a calming effect that induces sleep.
Lemongrass
Lemongrass contains citronella, a natural oil often found in insect-repelling candles. (Photo: Iqbal Osman/flickr)
Repels mosquitoes. You’ve no doubt seen citronella candles in stores during the summer and read how citronella will keep mosquitoes away. Citronella is a natural oil found in lemongrass, an ornamental that can grow up to 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide in one season. This grass with wonderful culinary uses is hardy only in South Florida (Zone 10), so almost everyone will have to grow it as an annual. It does well in a pot or in the ground in a sunny, well-drained location. Use its fragrant, narrow leaves in chicken and pork dishes and to flavor soups and salad dressing. Many Asian recipes call for lemongrass.
Lemon thyme
Bruise the leaves on this hardy plant to repel mosquitoes. (Photo: Andrea_44/flickr)
Repels mosquitoes. This hardy herb can adapt to dry or rocky, shallow soil and will thrive in your herb garden, a rock garden or a front border as long as these are in sunny locations. The plant itself will not repel pesky mosquitoes. To release its chemicals, you must first bruise the leaves. To do this, simply cut off a few stems and rub them between your hands. Before you do that, though, it’s advisable to make sure the plant’s natural properties will not adversely affect you. Determine your tolerance by rubbing crushed leaves on a small area on your forearm for several days.
Mint
Mint spreads aggressively so it's best grown in pots unless you want it to take over your yard. (Photo: Edsel Little/flickr)
Repels mosquitoes. Mint is best grown in pots rather than the ground because it spreads aggressively. Once established in the garden, it can be difficult to remove. Cuttings of mint in mulch can help broccoli, cabbage and turnips. The leaves are commonly used to flavor minty iced tea. The aromatic properties found in the leaves are also present in the stems and flowers. With a little work, the plant’s aromatic oils can be extracted and combined with apple cider vinegar and cheap vodka (or witch hazel) to make a mosquito repellent. Containers of mint strategically placed in the garden or on the patio will help keep nearby plants insect free.
Rosemary
Home cooks love rosemary as much as insects hate it. (Photo: Alice Henneman/flickr)
Repels mosquitoes and a variety of insects harmful to vegetable plants. Rosemary is available in various forms. Plants can be grown in containers on a patio and shaped into ornamental pyramids, grown in herb gardens or planted in landscaped beds, where some varieties can grow quite large. Rosemary’s oils are as delicious to home cooks who use herbs as they are unpleasant to many insects. The plant itself and its cuttings are effective repellents. You can make a simple repellent spray by boiling 1 quart of dried rosemary in a quart of water for 20 to 30 minutes and then straining the liquid into a container at least a half-gallon in size that contains a quart of cool water. Put a cap on the combined liquid and store it in the refrigerator. Add the repellent to small squirt bottles as needed when going outdoors. Discard the remaining repellent in the refrigerator when it no longer has a strong telltale smell of rosemary.
Otherherbs
Bay leaves: Repel flies. When you grow this plant, you won’t have to rely on the dried leaves from stores to add flavor to roasts and soups. Just pick the leaves as you need them.
Chives: Repel carrot flies, Japanese beetle and aphids.
Oregano: Repels many pests and will provide ground cover and humidity for peppers.
Parsley: Repels asparagus beetles.
Thyme: Repels whiteflies, cabbage loopers, cabbage maggots, corn earworms, whiteflies, tomato hornworms and small whites.
Next up: Ornamental flowers
Alliums
Beautiful tall alliums will keep insects out of your vegetable garden. (Photo: Toshihiro Gomo/flickr)
Plants in the Allium family, such as the dramatic Allium giganteum whose flower heads adorn stalks up to 6 feet tall, are regarded as a broad-spectrum natural insecticide. They repel numerous insects that plague vegetable gardens, including slugs, aphids, carrot flies and cabbage worms. Plants that will benefit from the proximity of alliums include tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, cabbage, broccoli, kohlrabi and carrots. They also will keep aphids off rose bushes. Alliums include small-growing herbs such as chives and garlic chives, leeks and shallots.
Chrysanthemums
The ingredient in chrysanthemums that makes them so effective as an insect repellent is pyrethrum. (Photo: Costel Slincu/flickr)
Repel roaches, ants, Japanese beetles, ticks, silverfish, lice, fleas, bedbugs, spider mites, harlequin bugs and root-knot nematodes. The ingredient in chrysanthemums that makes them so effective as an insect-repelling companion plant is pyrethrum. Because pyrethrums can kill flying and jumping insects, they are used in America’s most commonly available home and garden insecticide and are frequently used in indoor sprays, pet shampoos and aerosol bombs. Although chrysanthemum flowers can be used to make an insecticidal spray, pyrethrum can be carcinogenic to humans and care should be taken in using them in this form. Make sure you know the risks.
Marigolds
Aphids, mosquitoes and even rabbits don't like the smell of marigolds. (Photo: Swaminathan/flickr)
The scent from various types of marigolds repels aphids, mosquitoes and even rabbits. The roots of marigolds are well-known among farmers to repel nematodes, though those qualities require a year to take effect. Grow marigolds as an annual in most parts of the country, mixed in along the border of your flower beds or interspersed throughout your vegetable garden as they can also spur on the growth of certain plants, especially roses. Although marigolds are easy to grow in sunny locations, they can fall victim to gray mold, several types of leaf spot, powdery mildew, damping off and root rot.
Nasturtiums
Nasturtiums release an airborne chemical that repels insects. (Photo: Christian Guthier/flickr)
Repel whiteflies, squash bugs, aphids, many beetles and cabbage loopers. Nasturtiums could be considered the poster child for companion planting, which is growing a variety of plants close to one another for the benefits each brings to the others. Nasturtiums release an airborne chemical that repels predacious insects, protecting not just the nasturtium but other plants in the grouping. Because many of the insects nasturtiums repel favor vegetables — tomatoes, cucumbers, kale, kohlrabi, collards, broccoli, cabbage and radishes — nasturtiums are an idea choice for planting along the edges of vegetable gardens. Fortunately, nasturtiums do not repel the all-important pollinator — the bumblebee.
Petunias
Some people think of petunias as nature’s pesticide. (Photo: Wendy Cutler/flickr)
Repel aphids, tomato hornworms, asparagus beetles, leafhoppers and squash bugs. Some people think of petunias as nature’s pesticide. They are popular mostly because they are available in a variety of bright colors, require such minimal maintenance they are almost foolproof to grow and can be grown in garden beds, containers or hanging baskets. Plant them in sunny areas near vegetables and herbs such as beans, tomatoes, peppers and basil.
Other ornamental flowers
Common lantanas: Repel mosquitoes.
Four o’clocks: Attract but poison Japanese beetle.
Geraniums: Repel leafhoppers.
Narcissus: Repel moles.
Then the carnivorous plants
Pitcher plants
Pitcher plants trap and eat insects. (Photo: Eric Sonstroem/flickr)
Trap and ingest insects. Pitcher plants are the largest group of carnivorous plants. These exotic-looking plants lure insects into their “pitcher,” actually a specialized leaf, through a combination of nectar, fragrance and color. Once inside the pitcher, the insect finds itself on a slippery surface with downward-facing hairs. The insect then either slips or falls into a pool of water. Once in the water, it drowns or dies of exhaustion in trying to escape, which is impossible because of the downward-facing hairs. The plant then digests the insect. Insects that most often fall prey to North American pitcher plants are ants, flies, wasps, bees, beetles, slugs and snails. Pitcher plants, which grow in bogs in the wild, need a sunny area that stays moist, generally a difficult combination for home gardeners. Growing them in pots sitting in a saucer of water is easier. However, don’t keep the growing medium too wet. It just needs to be moist.
Others
Venus flytrap: Consumes ants and other insects.
Rosemary globules photo: Courtesy Bodie Pennisi
For further information log on website : https://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/12-plants-that-repel-unwanted-insects
The patented Nesting Post targets bird species in need of habitat.
Wildlife biologist and Nesting Post inventor Steve Barlow stands by a utility right-of-way marker. (Photo: Nesting Post)
Wild animals around the world are running low on real estate. Even in places without lots of people, ecosystems are being altered en masse to make space for human priorities like farmland, gas fields, highways and pipelines.
These modified habitats may be weaker, but many still host a surprising amount of wildlife. And despite the urgency of preserving big, pristine wilderness for animals that need it, conservationists are also looking for ways to help more species thrive in places claimed by people. As Florida wildlife biologist Steve Barlow argues, these places could support richer biodiversity — along with its many benefits — if our infrastructure drew a little more inspiration from the wilderness it replaced.
It's sort of like the idea of universal design, but even more universal.
And Barlow has a plan to demonstrate what he means. He invented a birdhouse that can easily be added to utility marker poles, those ubiquitous signposts that mark the right-of-way for pipelines, cables and other underground utilities. Called Nesting Post, it's meant to restore lost habitat for certain cavity-nesting birds, and on a massive scale thanks to the posts' prevalence across North America. It wouldn't interfere with the markers' original purpose, he notes, so it should be a win for everyone.
"We've got hundreds of millions of these markers out there," Barlow says. "Why not make them more useful than just marking the right of way?"
His plan targets secondary cavity-nesting birds, species that raise their chicks in hollow trees or other nooks, yet lack the ability to create those spaces on their own, instead relying on pre-existing cavities. It began with an epiphany in the 1990s, and after 20 years of incubating the idea, Barlow secured a U.S. patent in late 2017. If his project takes off, it could not only boost dozens of cavity-nesting species — similar to the nest-box campaign that helped bluebird populations rebound last century — but also an array of ecosystems and communities enriched by their presence.
'If you build it, they will come'
A prototype of the Nesting Post, designed to integrate with utility right-of-way markers. (Photo: Steve Barlow/Nesting Post)
This quest is personal for Barlow, who traces it back to his childhood in rural northern Florida. The region's wildness sparked his love of nature — "it was really a playground for an aspiring biologist, which I was by the time I was 10," he says — but its booming human population also started to worry him over time.
"I was lucky that I grew up in a very biologically diverse area," he adds. "But there is also rampant development with humans moving in, and that really made an impact on me. This habitat is being lost, and you face a reality where you're not going to stop it. People are going to move to Florida, and they're going to love Florida for the same reasons I love Florida. That reality kind of shaped my life."
At age 15, Barlow began volunteering with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). He served five years in the U.S. Army after high school, then used the GI bill to attend college, receiving a bachelor of science in biology and chemistry, followed by a master of science from the University of Florida in environmental sciences and wildlife ecology.
Barlow's first job with the FWC involved designing and building bat houses, something that fascinated him. His father had been a builder, so he grew up with construction skills, and now he had a perfect way to use them. "It really is a passion for me," he says. "When you create a nesting or roosting structure, you're creating habitat. And when you do it to attract a specific species, and then you see them use it, to me that's almost like a miracle. It's like 'if you build it, they will come.'"
Thinking outside the nest box
The seed for Barlow's invention was planted even earlier, while he was still in college. One day in the late '90s, he was watching a pair of bluebirds nest in a hollow tree when an idea struck him: "Most of the nest boxes we build are square with dimensional lumber. And I thought, 'Why not build some round ones?'" That might help a nest box appeal to some cavity-nesting birds, he reasoned, by more closely mimicking their natural nest sites. He experimented with plastic pipes, which offered roundness as well as resistance to squirrels and woodpeckers.
"The first one I built was in 1997. The birds really took to it well, so I put up a couple dozen of these in a few places," he says. "They were basically maintenance-free, and woodpeckers couldn't enlarge the hole like they do on a wooden house."
Barlow may not be the first person to build a round birdhouse, but that was just part one of his breakthrough. Part two came a couple years later. "Around 2000, I was putting some [nesting poles] up along a right of way, and it just so happened that at the same time a crew was coming through putting in fiber-optic cable," he says. "They put up a marker pole right beside one of my nesting poles, and I immediately I could see that it would be easy to incorporate a nesting cavity into one of these poles."
Pipeline markers like these have untapped potential as bird habitat, Barlow says. (Photo: Steve Barlow/Nesting Post)
Barlow knew this was a good idea, but it wasn't his top priority at the time. He was still working on bat houses, too, developing roomier designs to host larger colonies and serve as educational spectacles for people. In 2006, he founded a company called Wildlife Integration, which specializes in community-sized bat houses for its mission of "bringing wildlife and people together in a positive way." This remains a big focus for Barlow, but his other invention also began to gnaw at him.
"To be quite honest, I sat on the idea for a while," he says. "This idea was just in the back of my head for seven or eight years, and there just comes a point where you're like, 'You know what, I'm just gonna do it.'"
Pole position
Pipeline routes are among the rights-of-way where Nesting Posts could be used. (Image: U.S. Department of Transportation)
Working with designers and engineers, Barlow developed a way to incorporate his Nesting Posts into utility markers with minimal changes. That's important for affordability, he explains, but also for preserving the markers' original purpose: warning people not to disturb sensitive underground utilities.
"We've got a design that can integrate very easily into any marker pole system, usually without replacing the actual pole," he says. "The color of the enhancer on top marks what's under there. Orange is communication, yellow is gas lines, sometimes red denotes liquid petroleum or electric. So they are color-coded, but the color doesn't really affect the use by birds. It would still have all the warnings, so it really won't interfere with the pragmatic purpose of why that marker is there."
The plan was promising enough that Barlow decided to apply for a patent, a process that took a few more years. He finally received his patent in November 2017, and now he's in talks with potential partners, including energy and communications companies as well as a manufacturer of the marker poles themselves. Nesting Posts would not represent a big expense, Barlow says, since companies are required to mark the rights-of-way for these underground assets anyway.
There's also another perk for utility companies: Nesting Posts could help boost their conservation cred, especially if they broadcast the results on the internet. "With webcams, I think that's a great opportunity to help get people involved because then anybody can see it online," Barlow says. "It's a good way for the industry to kind of demonstrate some positive things that are happening on their right-of-ways."
Many of those corridors are already good successional habitat, he adds, hosting a variety of pollinators, grassland birds and other native wildlife. "And so by adding a nest cavity on that right-of-way, you're really adding what's the missing link in a lot of cases. It makes the habitat even more diverse."
Founding feathers
A tree swallow feeds its chicks at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Washington state. (Photo: Jason Crotty/Flickr)
The Nesting Post could benefit at least 28 species of cavity-nesting birds, Barlow says, and many of those species are well-equipped to return the favor.
"All of these birds play a role in the environment. Most of them are eating insects, and so obviously that's a good thing for the most part, since it helps balance the insect populations," he says. "And nesting cavities are a limiting factor for [the birds'] populations. So ecologically, this would probably be a benefit for cavity-nesting species, but also having these species around is a benefit for most farming operations. It's just a good thing to have more animals consuming insects."
The targeted bird species include:
Eastern bluebird
Mountain bluebird
Western bluebird
Black-capped chickadee
Boreal chickadee
Carolina chickadee
Chestnut-backed chickadee
Ash-throated flycatcher
Great crested flycatcher
Brown-headed nuthatch
Pygmy nuthatch
Red-breasted nuthatch
White-breasted nuthatch
Elf owl
Tree swallow
Violet-green swallow
Black-crested titmouse
Bridled titmouse
Juniper titmouse
Oak titmouse
Tufted titmouse
Lucy's warbler
Bewick's wren
Carolina wren
House wren
A great crested flycatcher looks out of a nest hole in Pennsylvania. (Photo: Tom Reichner/Shutterstock)
Nesting Posts are an intriguing idea for bird conservation, says Jennifer McCarthey Tyrrell, bird-friendly communities coordinator for Audubon South Carolina.
"Since available nesting cavities can be a limiting factor for secondary cavity-nesting species, these houses are a great way to utilize existing structures to create more cavities," she writes via email. "I do wonder about chicks successfully fledging from the nest, if they're not able to grip the slick PVC surface inside of the cavity to climb out if the nest isn't close enough to the hole for them to hop out."
It's also ideal to remove old nest material after nesting season, she notes, to help reduce the threat of parasites to nestlings. "But I think it's a great idea to help populations that are limited by cavity availability," she adds, "and have declined due to our habits of clearing dead snags for aesthetic purposes."
An eastern bluebird emerges from a natural nesting cavity in a tree. (Photo: Steve Byland/Shutterstock)
These are good points, Barlow says, and ones he's considered, too. "I have experimented with both roughening the interior of the pipes just below the entrance hole with horizontal grooves and simply leaving them slick," he says. "Though my observations on prototype boxes are anecdotal at best, I have observed no difference between these two variables."
The depth of the nest box may be even more important, he adds. "I ensure the boxes are not too deep from the entrance hole for more than one reason. First, it would likely be too more difficult for the new nestlings to fledge if they were too deep in a box. I also believe larger depth encourages non-native house sparrow use. I prefer a box of about 5.5 to 6 inches in depth for most secondary cavity-nesting species."
A pair of cavity-nesting elf owls share a meal in Arizona. (Photo: Ed Schneider/Shutterstock)
Barlow has heard many concerns that Nesting Posts might be used by house sparrows, Eurasian invaders that outcompete many North American birds. It's a valid concern, he says, but shallower nest boxes and careful siting can deter house sparrows. And in urban areas where house sparrows are unavoidable, he adds, "there is still educational value for an urban child to experience nesting birds."
As for annual cleaning, Barlow agrees it's a best practice but says it isn't vital. "I have never cleaned my prototypes in Florida and they continue to fledge birds every year since 1998. But in a best-case scenario, a local scouts group or Audubon volunteers/chapter could adopt a section of utility right of way to maintain and monitor the cavities annually. I would certainly endeavor for this type of maintenance not only to benefit the birds but also to get people involved."
Flocking together
And that brings up one of Barlow's main goals for Nesting Post. While the project is ostensibly focused on restoring lost avian habitat, it isn't just for the birds.
"This is about people as much as it is about wildlife," he says. By helping these secondary cavity-nesting birds live closer to people, and by installing webcams in Nesting Posts, he hopes to help more people — especially children — have the kind of life-changing experiences with nature that he had as a kid.
"What if there's one kid there watching that, and it sparks that kid to kind of follow in our field and do something for wildlife in their life," he says. "Every day I think about that. Not a day that goes by that I don't think about not only the wildlife using the structure, but also that some person will observe that."
For further information log o n website : https://www.mnn.com/green-tech/research-innovations/blogs/steve-barlow-nesting-post
Industri penggergajian kayu baik skala kecil, menengah dan besar banyak beroperasi di Indonesia. Pada saat mengkonversi dolok menjadi kayu gergajian menghasilkan limbah kayu berupa potongan kecil dan serbuk gergaji. Potongan kecil kayu merupakan bahan berlignoselulosa yang berpotensi untuk menghasilkan etanol. Tulisan ini mempelajari kemungkinan pemanfaatan potongan kecil limbah kayu sengon untuk menghasilkan bioetanol. Pembuatan etanol, dilakukan dengan metode substrat konsentrasi tinggi dengan menghidrolisis substrat konsentrasi tinggi, yaitu 15, 25, dan 35% dan dua konsentrasi enzim (12,5 dan 15 FPU/g substrat). Hasil penelitian menunjukkan, perlakuan konsentrasi substrat 25% dan selulase 15 FPU/g substrat menghasilkan gula pereduksi tertinggi sebesar 248,3 mg/mL; sedangkan konsentrasi substrat 35% menghasilkan kadar etanol tertinggi sebesar 17,7% dengan rendemen sebesar 38,4%. Dapat disimpulkan bahwa metode substrat konsentrasi tinggi dapat menghasilkan kadar etanol yang tinggi pada limbah kayu sengon.
Keywords
Limbah kayu sengon; lignoselulosa; hidrolisis; kadar etanol
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Male mosquitoes are the ones out gathering nectar. (Photo: lostbear/Shutterstock)
Mosquitoes' saliva makes it easier for them to get to our blood and it makes us itch. (Photo: mycteria/Shutterstock)
One of the world's premier conquers, Alexander the Great may have been brought to his death by a lowly mosquito. (Photo: Ruthven/Wikimedia Commons)
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