All About Snow Fleas, a Wingless Insect

All About Snow Fleas, a Wingless Insect For the bug enthusiasts among us, its a happy day when we find snow fleas. At the end of a long, cold, nearly bug-free winter, we feel lucky to find a mass of tiny arthropods hopping about in the melting snow. Snow fleas are actually not  fleas  at all, but a kind of  springtail. Because theyre tiny and tend to jump, they remind people of fleas and thus were given this inaccurate name. What Do Snow Fleas Look Like? From even a short distance away, snow fleas look like bits of dirt or pepper on the surface of the snow. They catch peoples attention because they have a habit of jumping. At times, snow fleas gather in such large numbers they make the snow look black or blue. They tend to aggregate on the surface of the snow around the trunks of trees. Take a closer look, however, and youll find that snow fleas look similar to other springtails. Theyre quite small, reaching only 2-3 millimeters in length. The springtails we find flinging themselves across the snow are usually blue in color. In North America, the snow fleas were likely to find belong to the genus  Hypogastrura. Why and How Do Snow Fleas Jump? Snow fleas are wingless insects, incapable of flying. They move by walking and jumping. But unlike other famous jumping arthropods like  grasshoppers  or  jumping spiders, snow fleas dont use their legs to jump. Snow fleas catapult themselves into the air by releasing a spring-like mechanism called a  furcula, a sort of tail thats folded underneath its body - thus the name springtail. When the furcula releases, the snow flea is launched several inches in the air, a considerable distance for such a tiny bug. Its an effective way to flee potential predators quickly, although they have no way to steer. Why Do Snow Fleas Gather on the Snow? Snow fleas live in the soil and leaf litter, even in the winter months, where they munch away on decaying vegetation and other organic matter. Springtails are actually quite common and abundant, but theyre so tiny that they tend to blend in and go unnoticed. Remarkably, snow fleas dont freeze in the winter thanks to a special kind of protein in their bodies. This protein is rich in  glycine, an  amino acid, which enables the protein to bind to ice crystals and keep them from growing. It works much like the antifreeze we put in our cars. The antifreeze protein allows snow fleas to remain alive and active even in subzero temperatures. On warm and sunny winter days, particularly as we get closer to spring, snow fleas make their way up through the snow, perhaps in search of food. As they gather in numbers on the white surface, flinging themselves from place to place, they attract our attention. How Do I Get Rid of Snow Fleas? Why would you want to get rid of snow fleas? Theyre perfectly harmless. They dont bite, they cant make you sick, and they wont hurt your plants. In fact, they help improve your soil by breaking down organic material. Leave them be. Once the snow melts and spring arrives, youll forget theyre even there - unless you like bugs, in which case you may find yourself searching for them in the soil. Sources: Springtails, by Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University.Springtails and Snowfleas, Insect Diagnostic Laboratory, Cornell University.Snow fleas: helpful winter critters, by Katie Kline, Ecological Society of America, January 28, 2011.Structural Modeling of Snow Flea Antifreeze Protein, by Feng-Hsu Lin, Laurie A. Graham,  Robert L. Campbell, and Peter L. Davies,  Biophysical Journal, March 1, 2007.Snow fleas are conspicuous but harmless, by Jeff Hahn, University of Minnesota Extension, March 26, 2014.

Workplace Internet Abuse essays

Workplace Internet Abuse essays The technological explosion of the past few decades have taken society to heights never before dreamed possible. Today, Internet savvy users have the ability to manage stock portfolios, purchase travel, chat with friends and shop world wide all from the comfort of their computer. The Internet has become an entire society with social, professional and recreational aspects to its use. In recent years the topic of use has moved to the forefront as people become more expert in Internet navigation and have begun to rely on it more than ever before(Young, 2005). As with any positive element of life there is also a down side. Internet abuse at work is on the rise. Years ago people were disciplined at work if they had too many personal phone calls, however, today, an employee can get on the Internet and surf it without alerting everyone in the office. This costs the company time and money in lost employee production. To further complicate matters, many businesses need to have Internet access to perform their company duties, therefore the employees have to be trusted to use it for work purposes and wait to get home to play(Young, 2005). While there are constantly evolving spy programs with which supervisors can check the sites that an employee visited the company must also remain respectful of the employees privacy unless given reason to believe that employee is defying company policy regarding Internet use. The time has come to develop ethical responses to the workplace abuse of the Internet that will protect the integrity and productivity of the company while at the same time showing respect to those who work there. Recent research has reported that the average office employee spends an hour a day on the Internet for personal use. This can include stock trading, vacation booking, shopping or emailing friends. The latest estimates regarding the cost to companies caused by personal Internet use by employees is more than $35 million eac...

The Methods and Uses of Anthropological Demography Assignment

The Methods and Uses of Anthropological Demography - Assignment Example Subsequently, there are limited restrictions on the attendants of the facility since knowledge is open for all. This implies that issues such as religious restrictions, racial discrimination or economic restrictions are rarely exhibited in this facility. The library structure is sub-divided into four floors, each with a maximum carrying capacity of over five hundred individuals. This assists in identifying the working area in terms of the anticipated population, as well as the area of coverage (Hume 34). The determination of the appropriate time for conducting the anthropological study was quantified using the visualization of the behaviors exhibited by the target population (Rosenbaum, 45). This was defined by the common trends amongst the participants, as well as the economic patterns exhibited by the population. The aim of the research also contributed to the definition of the framework of time to be accepted for the study. The study sought to investigate the behaviors of the imme diate community. In this case, it was convenient to align the study time to the moments matching the extensive preferential in terms of the patterns of the community. On that note, the morning hours were most convenient. This implied that the study was to be performed during the morning session, from around eight o’clock to around one o’clock. The identification of this study period was based on the study patterns exhibited by the population. The students preferred to perform their study during the morning session and take a break by midday as they head for their midday meals. The senior populations also exhibited a preference for performing their study either in the morning or by the course of the day, especially from ten o’clock to twelve o’clock.