THE GREEN THUMB FESTIVAL 2010 - Pictures of the Day

I went to the Green Thumb Fest as I do every year. I found it to be as enjoyable as each and every other year. The prices this year appeared to be better and people were buying as if there was a plant shortage.


If fact, it appeared to me to have been the busiest year that I can remember. So many people had their arms and wagons full of beautiful, healthy plants. I wondered why so many people were there this year and buying so much and then it dawned on me. There was such tremendous cold damage to a massive amount of plants this year and they needed to be replaced, and what better place to go!

So here are some pictures of my little adventure at the Green Thumb Fest, I hope you went and if not, go next year!

 

This guy was taking a quick nap

  A holding area for people to claim their plants

And after a long day of plants and pictures......

Slàinte !

Pulling Power Points the Way to World's Strongest Insect -- A Dung Beetle

(Mar. 24, 2010) — Following months of gruelling tests and trials, scientists now reveal the World's strongest insect to be a species of dung beetle called Onthophagus taurus.

In an experiment to find out why animals vary so much in strength and endurance, Dr Rob Knell from Queen Mary, University of London and Professor Leigh Simmons from the University of Western Australia found the strongest beetle could pull an astonishing 1,141 times its own body weight -- the equivalent of a 70kg person lifting 80 tonnes (the same as six full double-decker buses).

Writing in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the scientists also found these insect athletes need to pay just as much attention to their diet as human athletes. Even the strongest beetles were reduced to feeble weaklings when put on a poor diet for a few days.

"Insects are well known for being able to perform amazing feats of strength," explained Dr Knell from Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, "and it's all on account of their curious sex lives. Female beetles of this species dig tunnels under a dung pat, where males mate with them. If a male enters a tunnel that is already occupied by a rival, they fight by locking horns and try to push each other out." Knell and Simmons tested the beetles' ability to resist a rival by measuring how much weight was needed to pull him out of his hole.

"Interestingly, some male dung beetles don't fight over females," said Dr Knell. "They are smaller, weaker and don't have horns like the larger males. Even when we fed them up they didn't grow stronger, so we know it's not because they have a poorer diet.

"They did, however, develop substantially bigger testicles for their body size. This suggests they sneak behind the back of the other male, waiting until he's looking the other way for a chance to mate with the female. Instead of growing super strength to fight for a female, they grow lots more sperm to increase their chances of fertilising her eggs and fathering the next generation."

Does Promiscuity Prevent Extinction?

(Feb. 26, 2010) — Promiscuous females may be the key to a species' survival, according to new research by the Universities of Exeter and Liverpool. Published February 25 in Current Biology, the study could solve the mystery of why females of most species have multiple mates, despite this being more risky for the individual.

These are Drosophila pseudoobscura mating. A new study by the Universities of Exeter and Liverpool, UK, on these fruitfly suggests promiscuous females may be the key to a species' survival. (Credit: University of Exeter)

Known as 'polyandry' among scientists, the phenomenon of females having multiple mates is shared across most animal species, from insects to mammals. This study suggests that polyandry reduces the risk of populations becoming extinct because of all-female broods being born. This can sometimes occur as a result of a sex-ratio distortion (SR) chromosome, which results in all of the Y chromosome 'male' sperm being killed before fertilisation. The all-female offspring will carry the SR chromosome, which will be passed on to their sons in turn resulting in more all-female broods. Eventually there will be no males and the population will die out.

For this study, the scientists worked with the fruitfly Drosophila pseudoobscura. They gave some populations the opportunity to mate naturally, meaning that the females had multiple partners. The others were restricted to having one mate each. They bred several generations of these populations, so they could see how each fared over time.

Over fifteen generations, five of the twelve populations that had been monogamous became extinct as a result of males dying out. The SR chromosome was far less prevalent in the populations in which females had the opportunity to have multiple mates and none of these populations became extinct.

The study shows how having multiple mates can suppress the spread of the SR chromosome, making all-female broods a rarity. This is because males that carry the SR chromosome produce only half as many sperm as normal males. When a female mates with multiple males, their sperm will compete to fertilise her eggs. The few sperm produced by males carrying the SR chromosome are out-competed by the sperm from normal males, and the SR chromosome cannot spread.

Lead author Professor Nina Wedell of the University of Exeter said: "We were surprised by how quickly -- within nine generations -- a population could die out as a result of females only mating with one partner. Polyandry is such a widespread phenomenon in nature but it remains something of an enigma for scientists. This study is the first to suggest that it could actually save a population from extinction."

This study was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.