"Insect May Make Moves to Survive the Harvest"

Key Purpose: The purpose of this article is to alert farmers and all people about a new behavior of certain pests to avoid destruction during harvests.

Key Ideas:

• Both species of caterpillar (O. scapulalis and Ostrinia nubilalis) are pests in places where corn is grown
• O. nubilalis burrows itself inside corn and eats the corn during spring, while O. Scapulalis burrows itself in a weed called mug wort
  
• Both of these species have developed a behavior: when farmers harvest corn (summer), the caterpillars will sink to the bottom of the stalk to create their cocoon, and avoid being cut during the harvest
• This behavior is called geotaxis
• Harvesting has acted as a selective pressure for the caterpillar and is causing it to evolve to avoid being harvested with the corn

Key Conclusion:
The first statement of this article really popped out at me, "One thing about evolution — you never know what’s going to influence it." This statement is very true. From my past conclusions in some articles, this statement has summed it up. There are many things that humans are doing that are causing other organisms to change, for this example, it is the process of harvesting corn. After thinking about it, everything we do, every day will make a difference. While it is somewhat scary to think about, it is the only way life could exist on this planet. Earth is a hostile planet, but because humans and other organisms are able to adapt, we are able to survive. I think this article is just another point on the significance that we humans have on the world, some that we may not know about.

Fountain, Henry. "Observatory - Insect May Make Moves to Survive the Harvest - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 26 Apr. 2010. Web. 17 May 2010. .

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/science/27obborer.html