Why are Orangutans Orange

Index

A

acids 119
adrenergic nerves 27
aestivation 129
air turbulence 102
alkalis 119, 120
allopatric evolution 5
amplexus 23–4
anthocyanins 119–22
antibubbles 59–60
Aseroe rubra 125–6
asilids 163–4
asymmetry in nature 8–11

B

badgers, eating wasp larvae 166
barnacles, asymmetric 10, 11
bat sonar 22
bats: flying behaviour 21–2
beetles

dung 177
scarab 175–6

bilateral symmetry 8
bioluminescence 153, 174
birds

courtship 4, 19
diving 34
egg pigmentation 12–14
eye colour 34–5
head rotation 18–19
impaling victims 177–8
regurgitation 19
wasp-eating 165
birds of paradise, effect of sunlight on their colours 32
‘black frost’ 76
blindfolding fish 27, 28
blue-footed booby 3–5
bubbles
antibubbles 59–60
blowing bubble rings 58–61
bubble growth in frozen liquids 39–41
creating 3D shapes in a pond 50–51
flattened gas bubbles in lakes 44–5
spiral 67–8
toroidal soap bubbles 62–4
butcher-birds 177–8

C

cacti, and the lunar cycle 139–42
camouflage

and orangutans 30, 31, 32
and tigers 36, 37
and true bugs 170, 171
cavitation vortices 59
cellulose acetate butyrate 192
chlorophyll 122, 150, 151
chromatophores 27, 28, 29
Clathrus archeri (devil’s fingers) 126–7
Clathrus ruber (cage fungus) 127
clouds
altocumulus 91
billow 101–2
cirrus 92
cloud cigars 80–81
cumulus 83, 84–6
lenticular 77–9, 80, 87–9
lightning 99
mamma 82–3
cnidocytes 154
colour change in animals 27–9
columnar ice 66
computer ray-tracing software 70–71
convection 50
corona splashing 111–13
courtship, bird 4, 19
crabs
fiddler 190–91
sand balls 188–91

wasp-eating 166
crumpets, shrinking 109–10
crystals

bubble growth in frozen liquid 39–41
hoarfrost 76
ice crystals on wood 65–6
ice vines 52–5
cuttlefish, and colour change 28

D

dissipation trail (distrail) 94–5
dolphins: blowing bubble rings 58, 61
dragonflies 164
ducks, upright posture in 6–7
dung beetles 177

E

eggs
alkaline egg whites 119, 120
eggs within eggs (ovum in ovo) 114–16
pigmentation in 12–14
square imprint on eggshell 117–18

electrochemistry 193
engine-intake vortices 198–200
erosion 183, 185, 186, 194, 195
erythrophores 27
European wild cat 37

evolution
allopatric 5
sympatric 5

eye colour of birds 34–5

F

fallstreaks see virgae
filiform corrosion 193
fire hydrant, leaking, and icicle formation 73–4
fish

blindfolding 27, 28
colour change in 27–9
fishing cat 38
flatfish, colour change in 27–9
flavin 119–20
flies
and fungus 125–7, 160–61
robber 162–3
wasp-mimicking 163
flounders: colour change 27, 28, 29
flybug see Reduvius personatus
flying
bats 21–2
bird head-turning during flight 18–19
in a spiral 22
‘flying saucers’ 77, 79
fogbow (cloudbow, mistbow) 96–7
free radicals 121–2

frogs
frog spawn 132
misdirected sex drive 23–4
wasp-eating 167

frost-free letter on plastic car logo 42–3
Froude number 48, 49
fungus 131–2

entomopathogenic 160–61
and flies 125–37, 160–61

G

galls 134–5
gerrids 155–6
glaciation nuclei 95
globigerina limestone 194–5
great-crested grebe: eye colour 34, 35
gullies 183, 184

H

‘haggis, pupating’ 133
hair-raising phenomenon 98–9
hairiness, of orangutans 30, 31
heads (clumps of cloud) 91–2, 93
hermaphrodite snails 26
hibernation 129

I

ice
bubble growth in 39–41
ice crystals on wood 65–6
ice vines 52–5

icicles
and irrigation system spray 73
and leaking fire hydrant 73–7

Indian runner ducks 6–7
inosculation 145–4
insects

marine 179–81
see also flies
iridophores 27, 28
iris colour 34–5
irrigation system, and icicle formation 73, 74, 76
irukandji 174

J

jaguars 36, 37
jellyfish 152, 153, 154, 174

K

Kelvin-Helmholtz instability 102
kittiwakes 18, 19

L

legs used for breathing 15

leopards 36, 37
light

bioluminescence 153, 174
effect of sunlight on animal colours 30, 31–2
refraction 69–72, 96, 97
snails and solar-powered garden lights 128–9
lightning strikes 99, 100
lime nail galls 134–5
limestone, globigerina 194–5
linguistic coincidences 32–3
lunar cycle, and cacti 139–42

M

‘magic’ paper 121
mallard ducks 6, 7
mares’ tails (cirrus clouds) 92
marine insects 179–81
marine worms 185
Mars, gullies on 184
melanophores 27, 28, 29
Mexican free-tailed bats 21, 22
milk

corona splashing 111–13
frozen 66
Mimosa pudica (‘sensitive plant’) 136–8
mould on soap 103–5
Mount Etna 77, 78

Mount Fuji 87, 88
‘mud volcanoes’ 185–7

O

oak processionary moth 157, 159
onion, pushy 123–4
optical illusion 69–72
orangutans

derivation of the name 32, 33
orange colouring 30–33
osmosis 124
owls, and head-turning 19

P

papaya ringspot virus type-W 108
parenchyma cells 143
patio slab-laying 56–7
peristalsis 115
pH 119, 120, 121
photosynthesis 32, 121, 137, 150
pigmentation

birds’ eye colour 34–5
egg 12–14
leaf pattern 150–51
pile d’assiettes (‘pile of plates’) 88
pine processionary moth 157–9
plankton 153, 173, 174

plants
cell growth 123–4
frozen by sprayed water 73–6

plasticiser 196–7
pleaching 146, 148–9
polar bears: do they get lonely? 20
polymer 196–7
pompilids 163
pond skaters 155–6, 180
POV-Ray 70, 71
praying mantises, wasp-eating 167–9
precipitation 91
processionary moths 157–9
PVC 196
Pyrosoma atlanticum 154
pyrosomas 152–4

R

rainbows, frustrated 96–7
red-cabbage indicator 119–22
red-footed booby 5
Reduvius personatus (a true bug) 170–71
reflection 70, 72, 96, 106–7
refraction 69–72, 96, 97
regelation 66
regurgitation 19
roll waves 47–9

roller birds 19
rust patterns 192–3

S

salps 172–4
salt

and refraction 72
salt water in seabirds 19
salt weathering 194–5
sand
balls of sand in patterns 188–91
herringbone pattern in sand dunes 182–4
‘mud volcanoes’ 185–7
sand cat 37
scarab beetle, impaled 175–6
sea skaters 180–81
seismonastic plants 138
shadows, and cumulus clouds 84–6
shield shrimps 15–17
shrikes 178
shrimps
shield 15–17
tadpole 17
sinusoidal waves 21–2
slug flow 48
smoke rings 58
snails
garden 128–30

snail trap 129
snails in garlic 25–6
snow squares on patio slabs 56–7
soap, mould on 103–5
soap bubbles, toroidal 62–4
solitons 47, 48
spiders, wasp-eating 167
squid, cock-eyed 9–10
star jelly (witches’ butter) 132
stinkhorn 127
stripes
of smaller wild cats 37–8
of the tiger 36–7
subcritical flow 48
supercritical flow 48
symmetry
bilateral 8
fractal 8, 9
radial 8
spherical 8
sympatric evolution 5

T

tadpole shrimps 17
teleost group 27
thaliaceans 154
thermal conductivity 42
tiger stripes 36–7

toad spawn 132
toroidal vortices 58
‘trace fossils’ 195
trees

inosculation 145–9
leaf pigment patterns 150–51
water storage in 143–4
true bugs 170–71, 179, 181
tunicates 133, 153
turgor 124, 138

U

UFOs 79, 81
Uluru (Ayers Rock), shield shrimps on 15–17
urination concretions 187

V

verrucomorphs 11
virgae 91–3, 95
voltage gradient 99–100
vortices

cavitation 59
engine-intake 198–200
toroidal 58, 61

W

wasps: something eats wasps 162–9

water
bubble growth in frozen 39–41
condensation 42, 43, 53, 54
solids settling because of a drop in velocity 46–7
spiral bubbles 67–8
water storage in trees 143–4

water striders 181
watermelon: skin pattern caused by virus 108
wave lift 78–9
whales: blowing bubble rings 58, 61
wheel flock 21

X

xanthophores 27

Z

zooids 153, 154