Seabird makes citrusy bug repellant.Alaskan seabirds called crested auklets carry a citrus-smelling chemical in their feathers that could be one of the few examples ever found of a homegrown home·grown adj. 1. Raised or grown at home. 2. Originating in or characteristic of a locality: "Rock is homegrown music in the United States, evolved from blues and country and Tin Pan Alley" avian avian /avi·an/ (a´ve-an) of or pertaining to birds. a·vi·an adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of birds. pest repellant. Birds rub on themselves all kinds of substances alleged to repel re·pel v. re·pelled, re·pel·ling, re·pels v.tr. 1. To ward off or keep away; drive back: repel insects. 2. pests, but biologists have found few species that grow their own chemical defenses, says Hector D. Douglas of the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. Such a substance has never turned up before in a seabird or in any bird that nests in big colonies. Crested auklets forage forage Vegetable food, including corn and hay, of wild or domestic animals. Harvested, processed, and stored forage is called silage. Forage should be harvested in early maturity to avoid a decrease in protein and fibre content as crops mature. in far northern waters, their thick, bright orange beaks contrasting with gray feathers. A distinctive forelock forelock in maned animals the most anterior part of the mane, hanging down between the ears and onto the forehead. In sheep refers to the wool in a similar situation. curves down between their eyes. Auklet feathers contain a potentially repellant cocktail of organic compounds, Douglas and his colleagues report in the August NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN. Two of the components, octanal and hexanal, show up in insect-gland secretions known to repel predatory insects. Such a substance might play a role in auklet mating, the researchers speculate. Its scent could give auklets a way to pick the least-parasite-prone partner, just by a whiff of his bug repellant. |
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