• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Grass SOS

Grass SOS

October 2, 2014
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/141002_sciup_grass.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

BOB HIRSHON (host):

aussiegall flickr
Is your lawn crying out for help? (aussiegall/flickr)

Chemical distress signals. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

The sweet smell of newly cut grass may be a cry for help, according to Texas A&M plant pathologist Michael Kolomiets. He says that before there were lawnmowers, blades of grass were most likely to be cut by the jaws of hungry caterpillars and other herbivores. The strong smelling compound released by the grass attracts parasitoid wasps.

MICHAEL KOLOMIETS (Texas A&M):

So they come to the plant that is being chewed upon by insect herbivores, and lay eggs in caterpillars’ body. And those are parasitoid wasps.

HIRSHON:

In a study published in The Plant Journal, Kolomiets and his colleagues showed that mutant plants that couldn’t produce the smell compound were ignored by wasps, no matter how many caterpillars were chewing on them. He says scientists are just beginning to understand the role these volatile organic compounds play in both plants and animals. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.

Category: Daily Show, Station DownloadTag: Plants & Agriculture
Previous Post:Campfire Stories
Next Post:Syrian Cultural Site Destruction

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Mayan Honeybee hives
House sparrow wearing top hat rides aboard a red fireworks rocket

Copyright © 2023 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos