The honeybee brain hosts over 600,000 neurons, at a density higher than that of mammalian brains:
"Our estimate of total brain cell number for the European honeybee (Apis mellifera;
≈ 6.13 × 10^5, s = 1.28 × 10^5; ...) was lower than the existing estimate from brain sections ≈ 8.5 × 10^5"
"the highest neuron densities have been found in the smallest respective species examined (smoky shrews in mammals; 2.08 × 10^5 neurons mg^−1 [14] and goldcrests in birds; 4.9 × 10^5 neurons mg^−1 [16]). The Hymenoptera in our sample have on average higher cell densities than vertebrates (5.94 × 10^5 cells mg^−1; n = 30 species)."
Ants, on the other hand ...
"ants stand out from bees and wasps as having particularly small brains by measures of mass and cell number."
Regarding nutrient and oxygen flow, would be interesting to compare the brains of a large bee like Xylocopa violacea (violet carpenter bee [1]) with that of a small bat like Craseonycteris thonglongyai (bumblebee bat [2]).
These two species are of about the same size (3-5 cm), yet one is an insect and the other is a mammal. Actually, the bee is larger than the bat! I wonder which one has more neurons.
More updates will follow, and if you like my projects, a coffee is appreciated: https://ko-fi.com/metinseven ☕😊 But I'm already happy with a favorite and/or boost. 🙂
Thanks to @BatsInLavender I found out today is International Bat Appreciation Day! As someone who likes to explore caves, I've long had a fondness for bats. The ones living here are small and eat insects, helping to keep mosquitoes and crop pests under control. Here's a couple photos from some white nose syndrome research trips to look at gray bats in a federally protected cave in the southeast US. They're so cute!! One photo of me for scale. #Bats#BatAppreciationDay
-Displacing the #Maasai (The Atlantic)
-The death of an #Alabama#pastor (Esquire)
-Alaska's little brown #bats (Hakai Magazine)
-A dispatch from an #AI conference (n+1)
-Remembering #ShaunOfTheDead (British GQ)
"Reimer has spent over a decade specializing in chiropterology, the study of the species with 'winged hands.' She was drawn to study bats, in part, because of the way they’ve evolved to fill ecological niches, pollinating specific flowers, distributing fruit and tree seeds that help sustain and regenerate forests, and regulating insect populations." —Trina Moyles for @hakaimagazine
There was a late night kerfuffle near the garage light, which was a horror show of little bugs last night.
Pic is under the bat house, clearly they are eating well.
These are very likely to be Little Brown Bats, so I'm always happy to see them return after surviving another winter without dying of White Nose Disease
In the summer, in my rural home, ladies would cover their heads, when bats swoop to catch the mosquitoes that the carbon dioxide of your body attracts.
I have an old home, the wood that bats are attracted to, like old barns, the wood is 100+ years old.
When I replaced windows, I had to go around and manually gather the bats and put them out before the new window. That was 2008. I bought a bat hotel for them. Never saw one since. One year, all our #bats disappeared.
So, came out to the lake after being away for a week and found this squatter sleeping in my living room.
Not sure how to deal with a bat. I'd hate to toss him out in the cold... its only about 2 C.
Minn DNR says: "It is unlawful to possess or transport injured wildlife for greater than 24 hours unless permitted to do so."
Got a call back from a pest control guy who will grab it with a glove and kill it for $200. Meh.
Current plan, if rescue folks cant help very soon, is to catch it and release it outside. It will likely die in the cold unless it remembers how to get back in.
My spouse says its not allowed to stay.
I like #bats, so I wish I had better options for it.
Final update. I took the bat down, placed it in a box. Then a Batworld.org called me back. They have no rescuers near me, but were ready to arrange free transport to the nearest rescuer. We determined together, though, that this bat had died hanging. So no need for transport. An uneventful end to the whole affair, but #TIL about bat rescue.
Where will all the microbats go when the NSW forests are logged and clear-felled?
Decline of rare UK bat linked to tree felling for British empire’s fleets
"Rife deforestation 500 years ago aligns with western barbastelle slump, finds study of bat DNA."
"The examples of flora and fauna disappearing because of human excesses over the past 50 years are manifold, but research has found that the decline of a characterful bat began in the UK when its trees were felled for shipbuilding 500 years ago."
"“These bats usually roost in mature oak and beech trees, and move around every few nights – so they benefit from areas with substantial woodland cover. Our findings reveal that the northern and southern British populations have declined over several centuries, beginning about 500 years ago. This coincides with a period of widespread tree-felling to supply wood for colonial shipbuilding. It is likely that the decline we found was triggered by this loss of woodland – which has continued since that period.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/14/decline-of-rare-uk-bat-linked-to-tree-felling-for-british-empires-fleets
Bats are in trouble. That’s not good for anyone who likes mezcal, rice or avocado (lighthouse-eco.co.za)
If you’ve ever enjoyed coffee, tomatoes, corn, bananas, mangoes, walnuts, chocolate, tequila or mezcal, you may just owe bats a thank-you.