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Sexy orchids make lousy lovers & other unusual relationships PDF

228 Pages·2009·1.635 MB·English
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sexy orchids make lousy lovers S E X Y O R C H I D S M A K E M A R T Y C R U M P With illustrations by Alan Crump L O U S Y L V E R S other unusual relationships & The University of Chicago Press chicago & london marty crump is an adjunct professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Northern Arizona University. She is the au- thor of Headless Males Make Great Lovers and In Search of the Golden Frog, both published by the Press. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London Text © 2009 by The University of Chicago Illustrations © 2009 by Alan Crump All rights reserved. Published 2009 Printed in the United States of America 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 1 2 3 4 5 isbn-13: 978-0-226-12185-7 (cloth) isbn-10: 0-226-12185-2 (cloth) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Crump, Martha L. Sexy orchids make lousy lovers & other unusual relationships / Marty Crump; with illustrations by Alan Crump. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. isbn-13: 978-0-226-12185-7 (cloth: alk. paper) isbn-10: 0-226-12185-2 (cloth: alk. paper) 1. Animal behavior. 2. Animal-plant relationships. 3. Host-bacteria relationships. 4. Host-fungus relationships. I. Crump, Alan. II. Title. ql751.c8827 2009 577.8—dc22 2009011857 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum require- ments of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1992. For Karen and Robert, Marty’s grown children, and for Irma, Alan’s wife, with thanks for their encouragement, support, and inspiration Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xi 1 · whatever happened to baby booby? & Other Interactions among Animals of the Same Kind 1 Not Tonight, Honey 2 To Have and to Hold 8 You Scratch My Back, I’ll Scratch Yours 13 Bubble Blowers, Pothole Plugs, and Other Group Hunting Roles 18 The Babysitters’ Club 24 Sound the Alarm! 30 An Intimate Act 35 Whatever Happened to Baby Booby? 40 2 · taken to the cleaners, & Other Interactions between Animal Species 48 Hunting Partners 49 Taken to the Cleaners 58 She’s Got a Ticket to Ride 64 Houseguests, Unlike Dead Fish, Don’t Always Smell in Three Days 69 Be It Ever So Humble 76 Raising the Devil’s Spawn 83 Defense Contracts 89 Cow Pie No. 5 95 Audacious Pirates and Sneaky Burglars 101 3 · green, green plants of home, & Other Interactions between Animals and Plants 107 Sexy Orchids Make Lousy Lovers, and Other Orchid Contrivances 108 A Seedy Neighborhood 114 Green, Green Plants of Home 120 Powerful Plant Products 126 There’s the Rub 133 Ants and Plants 137 4 · invasion of the body snatchers, & Other Interactions with Fungi and Bacteria 145 Intestinal Microbes and the Gas We Pass 146 Deadly Dragon Drool 151 Mighty Mushrooms and Other Good Fungus among Us 156 Bombarded by Bacteria 163 A Cloak of Antibiotics 168 Invasion of the Body Snatchers 172 Body Snatchers Revisited 177 Conserve Interactions, Not Just Species 185 Glossary 187 References Consulted and Suggested Reading 189 Index 205 Preface “g ross!” What I had thought to be a sleeping weevil, poised on a twig in the Ecuadorian rain forest, was in fact a corpse. Its “sleepiness” was rigor mortis, and its posture expressed pure agony. Cottony white fi la- ments smothered the weevil’s contorted body. From its back sprouted a stiff, wire-like black thread, ending in a pinhead. A parasitic fungus had invaded and taken over the beetle’s body. Before killing its victim, the fungus induced the weevil to move to an exposed twig, where the fungus’s spores could be tossed to the wind. That night and for many nights after- ward, I had vivid nightmares of suffering the same fate, smothered with cottony fi laments. A grotesque, giant mushroom always sprouted from between my shoulder blades. Nightmares aside, the interaction between insect and fungus is as natural as bluebird parents feeding their hungry chicks. Living organisms everywhere interact with members of the same and different species. Few relationships are as nightmarish as the parasitic fungus-insect interaction; many are win-win relationships breeding good fellowship on both sides. Join me in celebrating the diversity of relationships. I’ve arranged this diversity into four groupings. The fi rst involves inter- actions between individuals of the same species. For example, male long- tailed macaques “pay” females for sex, vampire bats share blood meals, and unborn sand sharks kill their siblings. The second section focuses on interactions between animal species. Examples include fi sh that form hunting partnerships, mites that hitch- hike in hummingbird nostrils, and mosquitoes that steal food from ants. Interactions between plants and animals comprise the third section. You may be surprised at some animals that use plants for medicines, stimulants, and hallucinogens. Find out why “Mexican jumping beans” jump, and why sexy orchids make lousy lovers for wasps and fl ies. The fourth section addresses interactions between the “lowly” organisms—bacteria and fungi—and plants and animals. Did you

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