Page 95 - World of Animals - Issue #31

Animal answers

Why does the female mantises may not be
Female praying
praying mantis eat the the villains they have
been made out to be
male after mating?

Surprisingly, this is a myth! It has been said for a long time that the female
will detach and consume the head of her mate during, or immediately
after, copulation as a vital source of protein to help produce lots of
healthy eggs. However, the truth is more complicated. In 1984, a group of
entomologists closely watched 30 pairs of praying mantises and not one
of the males suffered post-coital decapitation. This has also been noted
by numerous other scientists, further debunking the misleading myth.
The males aren’t quite out of the danger zone, though. On rare occasions,
females do turn on their mates, but only in captivity when the female has
not been fed enough. There have been some documented cases of a
male offering himself to the female to ensure she passes on his genes.

Why are moths attracted to light?
Goldfi sh remember more
than we fi rst thought
Some species of moth are positively and draw them closer. But this
phototactic, meaning they move doesn’t explain why the insects
towards light sources. Negatively like to linger around the light. Many
phototactic species move away have a strong attraction to light
from light, such as cockroaches. sources that emit UV wavelengths
The reason for these behaviours is and moths will be more attracted to
up for debate. white light than yellow or orange.
Many creatures, moths included, Again, scientists still aren’t really
use the light emitted from the Moon sure why this is. It’s really hard to
and stars as a source of navigation, design an experiment to test why
and artificial light sources are likely an insect makes certain choices

to interfere with this. Once the but the theory is that since flowers

moth has ventured close enough, reflect UV light, the insects may

the light is enough to confuse them associate the light source with food.

Do goldfish really have Moths actively

bad memories? move towards
light, even to
their detriment
For a long time it was generally accepted and even recall the knowledge a„er a

that goldfish couldn’t remember much period as long as 12 days.

about their surroundings and only had Goldfish have also been trained to

three-second memories. However, it has press a lever at a certain time of day to Q. Why do
since been discovered they can remember obtain food, demonstrating a certain level
more than we thought, especially when of intelligence. Your goldfish may even

compared to other fish. The three-second remember you, as there is evidence to Japanese macaques
myth has been debunked numerous times show they remember their keepers and

and experiments have shown that goldfish are able to have a favourite – usually the like to take baths?
are able to learn and retain information, person who feeds them!
Find out at…
animalanswers.co.uk

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