May 2, 2003

Flinging Excrement to Thwart Predators; Viewing Cars Holistically; Black Cats' Genetic Fortune; the Tart Palate of a Child

What could be worse than a home filled with excrement? The answer is obvious: a home filled with excrement that attracts enemies. Some caterpillars have found a remarkable way to deal with just that problem, a researcher has discovered. They fling their poop as far from their leafy homes as possible.

Martha R. Weiss, an assistant professor of biology at Georgetown University, discovered the odd behavior of the silver-spotted skipper caterpillar, Epargyreus clarus, by accident: She