Dean's research published in scientific journal
Article By: Clark Leonard
A University of North Georgia (¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ) dean’s research on what type of urine butterflies prefer for "puddling" or "mudding" was .
Dr. Michael Bodri's research compared whether butterflies were most drawn to the urine of a herbivore (cow), carnivore (mountain lion) or omnivore (himself). Bodri is the dean of science and mathematics at ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ.
"Carnivore urine was significantly more attractive to puddling butterflies than herbivore or omnivore urine," according to the article's abstract. "This study was unable to determine if puddling butterflies were capable of seeking out sand with a specific sodium content or if amino acids and/or volatiles influenced their choice."
Bodri concluded that butterflies are attracted by smell "cues unique to nitrogen and/or sodium rather than visual cues."
He had observed puddling on many occasions, particularly in the tropics.
"They puddle at lots of things most often for (presumably) sodium. How they know it is there is still a mystery," Bodri said. "I was just curious if they can discern between urine from different types of mammals based upon the diet."
Bait stations demonstrated that butterflies can not only detect but can distinguish between urine from mammals of different feeding classifications, according to his research.
The research was reported on by .
Expo connects students with poultry industry
¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ students had almost 100 interviews with employers at the International Production & Processing Expo. Their Agriscience and Business Club also took second place for Club of the Year.
Eight students attend NSF conference
Eight ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ STEM scholars attended the national NSF S-STEM conference in Chicago in November.
Students clean up ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ natural area
Nearly 70 members of Students for Environmental Awareness completed their biannual cleanup of Tumbling Creek Woods, adjacent to ¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ's Gainesville Campus.
Grads prepare for their next steps
¹ú²ú×ÔÅÄ will award almost 1,000 degrees and certificates this fall, and more than 600 graduates are scheduled to take part in the Dec. 7 commencement ceremonies.