The impact of insects on the natural world is colossal. Without them, the Earth would be a very different place and most terrestrial vertebrates that depend on them directly as food would become extinct. The loss of bees alone might cause the extinction of a quarter of all life on Earth. A total loss of insects would be devastating for the human population.
After 25 years as an academic at Oxford University, George McGavin became an award-winning television presenter. He is an Honorary Research Associate of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, an Honorary Principal Research Fellow at Imperial College, and an Honorary Life Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society. As well as his many TV documentaries, George has written numerous books on insects and other animals. In 2019 he became the President of the Dorset Wildlife Trust.
George gave this live online lecture on 4 November 2020 and responded to questions asked by people watching at the time. You can watch a recording of What have insects ever done for us? on youtube.
Elaine Charwat has been on a journey into the attic storerooms behind the scenes of the Museum to discover 19th-century wax models of parasites. A strange occupation you might think, but it’s all part of her doctoral research programme with the Arts and Humanities Research Council to learn about the use of models and replicas in science, past and present. In the podcast above Elaine meets Mark Carnall, Zoology Collections Manager at the OUMNH, who talks about the differences between models and the thousands of specimens he looks after, and Dr Péter Molnár, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto, who offers important insights into current research using mathematical models.
Different types of models and replicas are everywhere in the Museum, and they tell us much about the organisms they represent or reconstruct, but even more about processes in research and science. Made to communicate and produce data, these larger-than-life objects are as fascinating as their subjects…
Top image: Wax models of Sarcoptes scabiei (itch mite) produced by Rudolf Weisker, Leipzig (Germany), probably late 1870s or early 1880s. These models are listed as having been on public display at the Museum in 1911, labelled: “Sarcoptes scabiei: enlarged wax models, male & female + mouth parts”.
Elsa Panciroli recently joined the Museum research team as an Early Career Leverhulme Research Fellow. Elsa is a Scottish palaeontologist, whose studies focus on the early evolutionary origins of mammals, working extensively on fossils from the Isle of Skye. Here she tells us how her work will combine studies of mammal evolution with stunning new fossil finds from Scotland.
We are mammals. This means we share a common ancestor with creatures as different as hippos, opossums and platypuses. All of us are united in one taxonomic group by a suite of characteristics in our bodies, but principally, that we feed our young on milk. Every mammal from a baboon to a blue whale produces milk for their offspring, and this makes us unique among animals alive on Earth today.
Wareolestes rex is a Middle Jurassic mammal, illustrated here by Elsa Panciroli
But not all mammals bring their young up in the same way; raising a kitten is nothing like raising a kangaroo or a platypus. Kittens are born stumbling around with their eyes closed, while platypus babies are laid in eggs – yes eggs – and when they hatch they look like little scampi. Both are underdeveloped at birth or hatching, but that’s nothing compared to kangaroos. They leave the womb only millimetres in length, and wriggle their way like living jellybeans toward a teat in the marsupial pouch, where they latch on. Only after two months of milk-drinking are they able to hop for themselves and leave the pouch.
The different ways that mammals are born and grow is a huge area of scientific research. But there are still some major questions to answer about the evolution of these growth patterns. When did the ancestors of mammals stop laying eggs? Were they born defenceless, or able to fend for themselves? How quickly did they grow up and how long did they live?
The Rock Hyrax (Procavia capensis) is a terrestrial mammal native to Africa and the Middle East
Over the next three years at the Museum, I’ll be looking for evidence in the fossil record to help us try and answer some of these questions. I’ll study living mammals to understand how they are born and grow, combining this information with data from some of the amazing fossils being found on the Isle of Skye. With collaborators in South Africa I’ll try and work out how the ancestors of mammals developed, and what this means for the bigger picture of the origin of mammals as a group.
Alongside my main research I hope to share lots of stories about our fossil past through the museum’s fantastic public engagement programme. I’m also very active on social media, and I write about science for online and in print publications. So if you see me on your next visit to the building, or find me online, feel free to ask about my research! I look forward to seeing you, and sharing more about the elusive and exciting origins of mammals – and ourselves.
The insect of the month has to be the November Moth, Epirrita dilutata. This moth is widespread in the UK and, although it gets its common name from its appearance in November, you can spot adults flying throughout the autumn in woods, hedgerows, parks and gardens.
The wingspan is 38-44mm with a dark wavy pattern against a lighter background. It’s easy to easy to mix this moth up with two similar species, the pale November moth E. christyi and the Autumnal Moth E. autumnata, both of which look similar. To make things even more confusing, all three species also have darker forms!
The caterpillar can be found in the spring and summer months feeding on a range of deciduous trees and shrubs. It is one of the ‘inch worms’ or ‘loopers’ that move by stretching out, then bringing their rear end forward to meet the front, forming a loop. They the stretch their front end out again and repeat the process. They are about an inch (2.5cm) long so it looks as if they are measuring as they move along.
When the campaign to build the Museum was launched, science at Oxford was understood as natural theology. By the time the Museum opened in 1860, a new secular approach to science was on the rise.
In this last episode of the Temple of Science podcast series we see how the art and science of the Museum responded to the challenge posed by Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution and natural selection, and the scientific naturalism that they epitomised.
Find out how many moths live near you by building a moth hotel from recycled materials. You will also need a light to attract moths to your hotel; a small torch or bike light is ideal. Once you have collected some moths, you can have a go at identifying them, and then let them go in a safe place.
To make the moth hotel you will need:
A 2-litre plastic bottle
String or wool
Sticky tape
Crayons
Scissors
Half of a cardboard egg carton, or scrap card
An outdoor light or a torch
Optional: paper to draw flower petals (or print the flower shape from the instructions)
You can download instructions for making your moth hotel from the OUMNH website.
The charity Butterfly Conservation have produced this brilliant moth ID guide to help identify any moths that you find.
