Tropes

ScienceDaily_2013 14249.txt

#Let me introduce myself--leafcutter bee Megachile chomskyi from Texasthe Genus megachile is a cosmopolitan group of solitary bees often called leafcutter bees. This is one of the largest genera of bees with well over 1500 species in over 50 subgenera. A new species Megachile chomskyi has been found only in Texas US. What is specific and interesting about this bee is the fact that it is among those insects which exhibit a narrow specialized preference for pollen sources. Presumably the irreplaceable host of M. chomskyi are the beautiful flowers of the widespread Onagraceae or the so-called Evening-primrose family. The study has been published recently in the peer review open access journal Zookeys with distribution data available via Canadensys. The new species is named after Professor Noam Chomsky Department of linguistics & Philosophy at the Massachusetts institute of technology for his long career and many academic achievements and contributions as a linguist philosopher cognitive scientist historian political critic activist and global champion of human rights. Previously Prof. Chomsky had inspired the name of another animal the chimpanzee Nim Chimpsky who was a part of an extended study of animal language acquisition at Columbia University. The pun referred to Chomsky's influential role in the development of modern linguistics including in the ongoing debate about what aspects of language are unique to humans. The most prominent features of M. chomskyi and the other members of this species group in the subgenus Megachiloides are their elongate tongues and the unique mandible structure of the females. Unlike the other representatives of the family that chew leaves or flower petals many species of Megachile neatly cut circular pieces of leaves or petals for nest construction. Nests of Megachile are constructed often within hollow twigs or other similarly constricted natural cavities but some species including members of the subgenus Megachiloides excavate burrows in the ground. The subgenus Megachiloides still remains one of the most problematic Megachile groups in North america partially due to males and females of many species not being associated with each other; as such a large proportion of the species are described from one sex. Outdated identification keys and descriptions which are illustrated poorly are also contributing factors. In addition to naming the species after Dr. Chomsky to honour his many accomplishments I also have been a huge fan and follower of his writings lectures and political views for a long time said Dr Cory Sheffield the author of the study. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Pensoft Publishers. The original story is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference e

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