Tag Archive for 'Electroreception'

Sam J. England & Daniel Robert found that some terrestrial animals can detect the electric field emanating from their electrostatically charged predators and use this sense to initiate defensive behaviors. These photographs show four species investigated in the study: (A) the caterpillar of the cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) assuming a defensive coiling posture; (B) the caterpillar of the scarce vapourer moth (Telochurus recens) assuming a defensive coiling posture; (C) the caterpillar of the European peacock butterfly (Aglais io), midway through a defensive flailing motion; (D) the predatory common wasp (Vespula vulgaris). Image credit: Sam J. England & Daniel Robert, doi: 10.1073/pnas.2322674121.

Caterpillars Can Detect Predatory Wasps by Static Electricity They Emit, Study Suggests

May 24, 2024 by News Staff

Predatory wasps are charged, thus emit electric fields, and that caterpillars respond to such fields with defensive behaviors, according to new research...

A bumblebee covered in body hairs. Image credit: University of Bristol.

Bumblebees Use Vibrating Hairs to Detect Floral Electric Fields

May 31, 2016 by News Staff

Mechanosensory hairs may explain how bumblebees sense electric signals transmitted by flowers, says a team of scientists at the University of Bristol,...