Page 2 - 2003 DT 12 Issues
P. 2
Top Gun ○ ○ but they fly in a sudden downward spi- ○ Contributions to a memorial fund
ral that helps them avoid capture, Yager have been collected by Friends and the
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heres a bogey at 2 oclock, hot ○ ○ says. The power dive succeeds in foil- ○ ○ Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Assn. A
on your tail. Hes about to toast ○ ○ ing capture about 80 percent of the time. ○ tile will be placed for Landis on the
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Tyou. In a desperate but clever ma- ○ Many other insects such as grass- ○ Dedication Walkway, and a memorial
neuver, you dive straight toward the ○ ○ hoppers, green lacewings and tiger ○ plaque on the lower pavilion wall.
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ground. The attacker follows, but youve ○ beetles have evolved a bat sensitive ○ Landis will be remembered for his
dropped from his radar. He must break off ○ ○ ear. Research to determine how the ○ ○ kindness, gentle humor and great
the pursuit or . . . splat! You live to fly an- ○ ○ mantis ear works has revealed ○ ○ chicken wings. We will miss him.
other day. ○ ○ that the signal, traveling to ○ ○
Just like Tom Cruise, the praying ○ the brain through the ○
○ ○ 3rd Annual
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mantis engages fighter pilot tactics to ○ a u d i t o r y nerve, al-
○ lows the ○ Red Rock Canyon
elude one of its main nocturnal preda-
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tors, a hungry bat. Bats hunt with a series insect to ○ ○ Art Contest
of ultrasonic pulses that bounce hear the in- ○ ○
back off objects in their creasing pulses ○ ○
path. The reflected sig- and calculate the right ○ ○ he theme of this years art con-
nal that tells the bat moment to dive. Surpris- ○ test, sponsored by the Bureau of
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where it is in ingly, 300 milliseconds before the ○TLand Management, Friends of
relation to its bat hits the mantis, the insects audi- ○ Red Rock Canyon and the Red Rock
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surroundings and tory nerve goes completely dead. Yager ○ ○ Canyon Interpretive Assn. will be Our
to a tasty air- borne meal. ○ ○ suspects the nerve shuts down just after ○ ○ Mojave Wildlife. All entries must be
As the bat gets closer to dinner, the call ○ ○ triggering the dive response. As it en- ○ ○ received no later than March 8, 2003.
rate increases, climaxing in a feeding ○ ters the dive, its visual system, or possi- ○ ○ ¨Students, grades 6-12, by grade level.
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buzz as it gets ready to pounce. ○ bly its minuscule hairs that serve as wind ○ ¨Any two-dimensional format
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The mantis, a large, slender carnivo- ○ detectors, may influence adjustments to ○ (paint, crayon, chalk, etc) is acceptable.
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rous insect with two grasping legs, a ○ ○ the dive that the scientists call last ○ No photography.
freely moving head and large, bulbous ○ ○ chance maneuvers. ○ ○ ¨Artwork
Nature insures that the mantis, like
eyes uses its ultrasonic detector to warn ○ ○ every creature under attack, uses all ○ MUST be 12"
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of an approaching bat. It is classic air- ○ ○ ○ X 18".
borne combat, worthy of Hollywoods ○ available means to save its life.Na- ○ ¨Artwork
○ tional Geographic News; D. Yager, U. of
best cinematographers. ○ ○ must be original
○ Maryland;
As a graduate student at Cornell Uni- ○ ○ in concept and
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versity, in Ithaca, NY, University of ○ ○ In Memoriam ○ ○ not in violation
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Maryland, neuroscientist David Yager ○ ○ of U.S. copy-
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discovered that the praying mantis is an ○ ○ andis Graden was a familiar face ○ right law.
auditory cyclops, with a single ear lo- ○ around the Visitor Center, clean- ○ ○ ¨Each entry must be labeled on
cated in the center of its chest capable ○ ○Ling and fussing over floors, walls, ○ back with students name, contact phone
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of picking up frequencies above 20,000 ○ restrooms and anything else that needed ○ number, grade, school and instructor.
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Hertz, just beyond the range of human ○ his critical attention. ○ ○ ¨Send or deliver entries to Red
hearing. Mantises hear almost exclu- ○ ○ On November 16, Landis suffered a ○ ○ Rock Canyon Visitor Center, HCR 33
sively ultrasound, and some species are ○ ○ stroke while working at the Visitor Cen- ○ Box 5500, Las Vegas, NV 89124 (363-
sensitive to frequencies as high as 130 ○ ter. Rangers Kathy August and Scott ○ ○ 1921) or the School-Community Part-
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kHz (130,000 Hertz), higher than any ○ Behan administered emergency medical ○ nership Program, Clark County School
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other known insect. ○ assistance and comfort to Landis while ○ District, 4350 E. Sunset Rd., #205,
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The attack sequence of pulses a bat ○ awaiting the ambulance. Landis passed ○ Henderson, NV 89014 (799-6560).
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emits is very complex. When they away on November 25, with his family ○ ¨Entries may be sent through
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(mantises) hear a bat, they keep flying, in attendance. ○ ○ school mail.
Page 2 FORRC/January, 2003
