Molecules/Matter & Energy
A moth with chemical weapons, light-up bubbles and insidious fungi in this week’s news
By Science News
Moths get tough on pollen
A pollen grain may remain intact even when soaked in the toughest solvents, but it’s no match for the delicate twirler moth. Scientists from Germany and China report that
Deltophora
moths can chemically dissolve sporopollenin, the supertough polymer in a pollen grain’s wall, a first in the animal kingdom. While the scientists have photographs to document the feat, they still haven’t figured out the moth’s chemical secret. A candidate is ethanolamine, a defense compound secreted by some insect larvae and the same stuff pollen researchers often use to remove sporopollenin in the lab, the team reports online April 28 in