@article{7f9feb6f600746c88f69774b9559ed6d,
title = "Gravity orientation in social wasp comb cells (Vespinae) and the possible role of embedded minerals",
abstract = "Social wasps and hornets maintain their nest in the dark. The building of the combs by all Vespinae is always in the direction of the gravitational force of Earth, and in each cell's ceiling, at least one 'keystone' is embedded and fastened by saliva. The sensory mechanisms that enable both building of sizeable symmetrical combs and nursing of the brood in the darkness merit investigation, and the aim of the present study was to identify and characterize the 'keystones' that exist in the ceiling and in the walls of the social wasp comb cells. Bio-ferrography was used to isolate magnetic particles on slides. These slides, as well as original cells, were analyzed in an environmental scanning electron microscope by a variety of analytical tools. It was found that both the roof and the walls of each comb cell bear minerals, like ferrites, as well as Ti and Zr. The latter two elements are less abundant in the soil around the nest. Ti and Zr are known to reflect infrared (IR) light. IR imaging showed a thermoregulatory center in the dorsal thorax of the adult Oriental hornet. It is not known yet whether these insects can sense IR light.",
keywords = "Bio-ferrography, Hafnium, Infrared, Oriental hornet, Titanium, Vespinae, Zirconium",
author = "Ishay, {Jacob S.} and Zahava Barkay and Noam Eliaz and Marian Plotkin and Stanislav Volynchik and Bergman, {David J.}",
note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank the Israeli Ministry of Immigrant Absorption for its generous financial support of Dr. Stanislav Volynchik. We gratefully acknowledge an equipment grant from the Sackler Institute of Solid-State Physics at Tel-Aviv University, which covered part of the purchase of the digital IR video camera used in this research. We thank the Mirzoeff & Sons Foundation for their financial support. All experiments were performed at Tel-Aviv University, in full compliance with its current research regulations.",
year = "2008",
month = apr,
doi = "10.1007/s00114-007-0334-z",
language = "אנגלית",
volume = "95",
pages = "333--342",
journal = "Science of Nature",
issn = "0028-1042",
publisher = "Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH",
number = "4",
}