Page 110 - BBC Wildlife - August 2017 UK

Dormice can live
WHAT in unexpected
places, but
IS IT? unbroken tree
and shrub cover
is essential.

The not-so-
illuminating
lantern fly.

Q BRITISH MAMMALS
es:Jurgen & Chr st ne Sohns/FLPA Sap-sucking bugs aren’t generally the A What makes good

showiest of insects. But lanternflies
– relatives of aphids and spittle bugs –
dormouse habitat?
areasbig and beautiful as butterflies.
The 500-odd species are named after
their outrageous headgear, erroneously
antern bug: Edw n G esbers/NPL; dormouse: Bengt Lundberg/NPL; ch lantern is so grotesquely swollen in dormice makes them unable to process is undoubtedly a factor in dormouse
thoughttoglow in the dark. The
The digestive physiology of hazel
declines. Recent tracking studies show
some species that the head resembles
that dormice sometimes try to cross roads,
tough grasses or leaves. Instead, they
a mis-shapen potato. Its function is
but how common this risky behaviour is
require high-energy food such as nectar,
mysterious – possibilities include sexual
insects and fruit, which theygather in the
remains unclear because roadkill dormice
signalling, camouflage, mimicry or sound
canopies of trees and shrubs under cover
are likely to be obliterated before they
amplification. Lanternflies must drink
of darkness.The best dormouse habitat
are recorded. Wildlife bridges offer some
a lot of sap to get enough protein. That
hope, and a Japanese design being tested
thus has a range of food sources and closely
means ingesting excess sugar, which
by the PTES appears to be well used.
linked shrubs through which the animals
they squirt from their rear ends in a
Work is ongoing to see how such
can travel easily, even in the dark.
continual stream of droplets. Certain
Such connectivity is also vital
gaps that threaten this beguiling species.
treats before they hit the ground. SB
fragmentation of the British landscape
Amy-Jane Beer
Q moths specialise in intercepting these for dispersal, and the increasing structures might help to heal the habitat
BOTANY
A Chillies belong to the Capsicum genus in the
Are other nightshade family. There are five domesticated
species, but most of the cultivars we use in
animals affected cooking have been bred from Capsicum annuum.
Only mammals are susceptible to the chemical
compounds, known as capsaicinoids, in
by chilli heat? membrane surrounding the seeds (not in
a chilli. These are concentrated in the
the seeds, as is often thought). The level of
these chemicals varies depending on the
variety of chilli and how it is grown.
Wild chillies have evolved to attract
birds, which are completely unaffected
by capsaicinoids. Studies have found that
birds not only disperse the seeds, but also
improve them. Scientists at the University
of Washington discovered that the seeds of
Capsicum chacoense were cleansed of pathogens
such as fungi as they passed through the avian
digestive system, making them less attractive
Unlike birds, we feel the
heat of chillies, measured to predators and increasing their chances of
using the Scoville scale. survival by 370 per cent. Christina Harrison
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