Life Everlasting

by Bernd Heinrich

  How would I like to be buried? I can barely plan for the next hour, so planning for decades ahead is a stretch. Sometimes I know more of what I don’t want than what I want. I’d refuse formaldehyde because it is a biocide—it kills. It would hurt me as much then as it would now. But they could take any part of me and let it live on in another man, women, child, or Labrador retriever who might need it. If there was no human recipient, they could give my heart to the ravens, who have given me much. Some beer, a banjo, and maybe a guitar or two at a small ceremony in the woods would be nice. I’d want maybe a half-emptied bottle of Scotch whiskey by my side for the sendoff, the singing of “The Maine Stein Song,” and a spokesperson to deliver my nod of acknowledgment to the great gift I received from Lefty. My tattered running shoes from high school, which I saved because they carried me where I never thought it possible to go, would do just fine to send me on my way, probably in a pine box under a tree.

  WRITING THIS BOOK was a strong inducement for me to think about my origins and my fate. My highest aspirations, when I thought about belonging to something greater than myself, used to be an ecosystem. But because of the electrifying consciousness expansion that we are experiencing through modern technologies, I think we are within reach of seeing and feeling the whole earth biosphere. The world, not merely our neighborhood, is now our common reality. Nature is the ultimate standard of reality, and from what has been revealed so far, I see the whole world as an organism with no truly separate parts. I want to be connected to the grandest, biggest, most real, and most beautiful thing in the universe as we know it: the life of earth’s nature. I want to join in the party of the greatest show on earth, life everlasting.

  Postscript

  Writing this book morphed into a wide-ranging exploration of biology, conservation, human origins, and ethics. Publishing Life Everlasting revealed errors and holes in my knowledge, but also led to discoveries. Readers pointed out the first, and I stumbled upon the second. As to the first, I fess up: In the book, I called blowflies (Family Calliphoridae) “botflies” even though I had called Calliphorid flies either blowflies or blue- or greenbottle flies since I can remember. But for the text of a book for general readers, “blowflies” sounded too colloquial and perhaps off-putting, and “Calliphorids” seemed too technical. Nevertheless, green- or bluebottle flies, named because they look like glass of these colors, are not “botflies.” (This term is reserved for Oestridid flies, whose larvae are internal parasites.)

  Perhaps ironically, despite my ignorance of Calliphorid flies (over a thousand species world-wide), I believe I made a scientific contribution to our knowledge of the group in the aftermath of writing Life Everlasting. It came to me because of my lack of expectations and from naively stumbling around motivated by curiosity. To my utter surprise, shortly after the book was published, while I was observing Calliphorid fly larvae (maggots) devour a raccoon carcass, I saw tens of thousands of the tiny white wiggling animals more or less simultaneously leave the carcass in one slug-like mass. Most curiously, not only did they leave at nearly the same time and in one mass, they also went in the same direction. It seemed miraculous to me that so many maggots could have an apparent, unanimous goal, and I could see no reason for their behavior. I was hooked.

  As almost always with the seemingly miraculous and mysterious, the phenomenon can become almost mundane after you have the answer and understand it. I shall here defer risking the possibility of instantly rendering the maggot mystery mundane to you, but I hope it will still seem at least a little miraculous to the reviewers of my study of the maggot behavior of the blowfly/greenbottle species (Phormia regina) in which I observed it. I have submitted my study for publication in a scientific journal (The Northeastern Naturalist), and peer reviewers will determine its worth.

  As a result of a similar mix of naïveté and partial knowledge, while watching burying beetles earlier, I had (as already described in the book) stumbled on another undescribed mechanism. In this case, it was how one species’ (Nicrophorus tomentosus) bright orange and black back morphed to yellow in a mere instant to mimic a bumblebee. This observation, extended to become a study, has since been published in the above-mentioned journal.

  Acknowledgments

  Writing a book is for me an adventure into the unknown. It starts from a point of familiarity, a background accumulated from the experiences, works, and influences of countless past and present lives. I could never hope to formally acknowledge it all. There is always the nagging worry of leaving out or not properly acknowledging those who have made a difference, especially in providing new insights and information. The best I can hope to do is remember some people with whom I have had recent conversations. Among those I thank Stephen T. Trumbo, Derek S. Sikes, John C. Abbott, and Alfred Newton, who kindly helped with my many questions on burying beetles. Barbara Thorne, Rudolf Scheffrahn, and Alison Brody answered questions about termites. Beth Rosenberg and Tom Griffin suggested the inclusion of salmon and generously invited me to a ringside seat in Alaska to observe them. I thank Baz Edmeades for channeling my views about ancient scavengers into a direction new to me. Rachel Smolker did the same on the recycling of trees in the context of industrial-scale logging. Richard Estes offered views of African wildlife. William Jordan and Janice Cahill pointed me to quotations and made useful suggestions. I am grateful to Sandra Dijkstra and Elise Capron for their continual interest and encouragement throughout this project, and to Peg Anderson, whose meticulous and insightful attention to details smoothed the way. Last in line but first in importance I extend my sincere gratitude to Deanne Urmy, who saw it first and saw it through with wise counsel to the end.

  Further Reading

  Many of the headings I have chosen are arbitrary, especially those that do not subsume primary research articles. I make no attempt to offer a survey of the relevant literature, which would include thousands of references. Instead I hope to provide an introduction to the topics through a modest list of sources I’ve found helpful and interesting.

  Beetles That Bury Mice

  General Biology of Burying Beetles

  Fetherston, I. A., M. P. Scott, and J.F.A. Traniello. Parental care in burying beetles: the organization of male and female brood-care behavior. Ethology 85 (1990): 177–190.

  Majka, C. G. The Silphidae (Coleoptera) of the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Journal of the Acadian Entomological Society 7 (2011): 83–101.

  Milne, L. J., and M. J. Milne. Notes on the behavior of burying beetles (Nicrophorus spp.). Journal of the New York Entomological Society 52 (1944): 311–327.

  ———. The social behavior of burying beetles. Scientific American 235 (1976): 84–89.

  Scott, M. P. Competition with flies promotes communal breeding in the burying beetle, Nicrophorus tomentosus. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 34, no.5 (1994): 367–373.

  ———. Reproductive dominance and differential avicide in the communally breeding burying beetle, Nicrophorus tomentosus. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 40, no. 5 (1997): 313–320.

  ———. The ecology and behavior of burying beetles. Annual Review of Entomology 43 (1998): 595–618.

  Sikes, D. S., S. T. Trumbo, and S. B. Peck. Silphidae: large carrion and burying beetles. Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org (2005).

  Trumbo, S. T. Regulation of brood size in a burying beetle, Nicrophorus tomentosus (Silphidae). Journal of Insect Behavior 3 (1990): 491–500.

  ———. Reproductive benefits and duration of parental care in a biparental burying beetle, Nicrophorus orbicollis. Behaviour 117 (1991): 82–105.

  Insect Flight Mechanics and Beetle Flight

  Dudley, R. The Biomechanics of Insect Flight. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2000.

  Schneider, P. Die Flugtypen der Käfer (Coleoptera). Entomologica Germanica 1, nos. 3/4 (1975): 222–231.

  Coloration and Mimicry

  Anderson, T., and A. J. Richards. An electron microscope study of the structural colors of insects. Journa
l of Applied Physiology 13 (1942): 748–758.

  Bagnara, J. Chromatophores and Color Change. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1973.

  Brower, L. P., J.V.Z. Brower, and P. W. Wescott. Experimental studies of mimicry, V: The reactions of toads (Bufo terrestris) to bumblebees (Bombus americanum) and their robberfly mimics (Mallophora bomboides) with a discussion of aggressive mimicry. American Naturalist 94 (1960): 343–355.

  Cott, E. Adaptive Colouration in Animals. London: Methuen, 1940.

  Evans, D. L., and G. P. Waldbauer. Behavior of adult and naïve birds when presented with a bumblebee and its mimics. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 59 (1982): 247–259.

  Fisher, R. M., and R. D. Tuckerman. Mimicry of bumble bees and cuckoo bees by carrion beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 59 (1986): 20–25.

  Heinrich, B. A heretofore unreported color change in a beetle, Nicrophorus tomentosus Weber (Coleoptera: Silphidae). Northeastern Naturalist 19 (2012): 345–352.

  Hinton, H. E., and G. M. Jarman. Physiological color change in the Hercules beetle. Nature 238 (1972): 160–161.

  Lane, C., and M. A. Rothschild. A case of Muellerian mimicry of sound. Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society London A 40 (1965): 156–158.

  Prum, R. O., T. Quinn, and R. H. Torres. Anatomically diverse butterfly scales all produce structural colors by coherent scattering. Journal of Experimental Biology 209 (2006): 748–765.

  Ruxton, G. D., T. N. Sherrett, and M. P. Speed. Avoiding Attack: The Evolutionary Ecology of Crypsis, Warning Signals, and Mimicry. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

  Wickler, W. Mimicry in Plants and Animals. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1968.

  Bumblebee Color Patterns

  Heinrich, B. Bumblebee Economics. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1979; rev. ed., 2004.

  Marshall, S. A. Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity. Buffalo, N.Y.: Firefly Books, 2006. On insects in general, I particularly recommend this book.

  Plowright, R. C., and R. E. Owen. The evolutionary significance of bumblebee color patterns: a mimetic interpretation. Evolution 34 (1980): 622–637.

  Sendoff for a Deer

  Forensic Entomology

  Byrd, J. H., and J. L. Castner. Forensic Entomology: The Utility of Arthropods in Legal Investigation. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, 2001.

  Dekeirsschieter, J., et al. Carrion beetles visiting pig carcasses during early spring in urban, forest and agricultural biotopes of Western Europe. Journal of Insect Science 11, no. 73 (2011).

  The Ultimate Recycler: Remaking the World

  Africa

  Akeley, Carl. In Brightest Africa. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page, 1923.

  Huxley, Elspeth. The Mottled Lizard. London: Chatto & Windus, 1982.

  van der Post, Laurens. The Lost World of the Kalahari. Middlesex, England: Penguin, 1958.

  Roosevelt, Theodore. African Game Trails. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1910.

  Thomas, Elizabeth Marshall. The Old Way: A Story of the First People. New York: Picador, 2006.

  Elephants

  Joubert, Derek, and Beverly Joubert. Elephants of Savuti. National Geographic film.

  Leuthold, W. Recovery of woody vegetation in Tsavo National Park, Kenya, 1970–1994. African Journal of Ecology 34, no. 2 (2008): 101–112.

  Power, R. J., and R.X.S. Camion. Lion predation on elephants in the Savuti, Chobe National Park, Botswana. African Zoology 44 (2009): 36–44.

  Hunting

  Digby, Bassett. The Mammoth and Mammoth Hunting in Northeast Siberia. New York: Appleton, 1926.

  Heinrich, B. Why We Run: A Natural History. New York: HarperCollins, 2001.

  Jablonski, N. G. The naked truth. Scientific American, Feb. 2010: 42–49.

  Lieberman, Daniel E., and Dennis M. Bramble. The evolution of marathon running: capabilities in humans. Sports Medicine 37 (2007): 288–290.

  Peterson, Roger T., and James Fisher. Wild America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1955.

  Potts, Richard. Early Hominid Activities at Olduvai. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1988.

  Stanford, Craig B. The Hunting Apes: Meat Eating and the Origins of Human Behavior. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1999.

  Predation

  Darwin, Charles. “Diary of the Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle.” In The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, ed. Francis Darwin. London: D. Appleton, 1887.

  Schaller, George B. Serengeti Lion: A Study of Predator-Prey Relations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972.

  Schaller, George G. and Gordon R. Lowther. The relevance of carnivore behavior to the study of early hominids. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 25 (1969): 307–41.

  Schüle, Wilhelm. Mammals, vegetation and the initial human settlement of the Mediterranean islands: a palaeological approach. Journal of Biogeography 20 (1993): 399–412.

  Stolzenberg, William. Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators. New York: Bloomsbury, 2008.

  Strum, Shirley C. Processes and products of change: baboon predatory behavior at Gilgil, Kenya. In Omnivorous Primates, ed. R. S. O. Harding and G. Teleki. New York: Columbia University Press, 1981.

  Weapons

  Guthrie, R. Dale. The Nature of Paleolithic Art. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.

  Lepre, C. J., et al. An earlier origin for the Acheulian. Nature 477 (2011): 82–85.

  Thieme, Hartmund. Lower Paleolithic hunting spears in Germany. Nature 385 (1997): 807–810.

  The Overkill Hypothesis

  Edmeades, Baz. Megafauna—First Victims of the Human-Caused Extinctions (www.megafauna.com, 2011). See chapter 13 for the debate about human scavenging and hunting, including the hunting of elephants.

  Fiedel, Stuart, and Gary Haynes. A premature burial: comments on Grayson and Meltzer’s “Requiem for overkill.” Journal of Archaeological Science 31 (2004): 121–131.

  Martin, P. S. Prehistoric overkill. In Pleistocene Extinctions: The Search for a Cause, ed. P. S. Martin and H. E. Wright. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1967.

  ——. Prehistoric overkill: a global model. In Quaternary Extinctions: A Prehistoric Revolution, ed. P. S. Martin and R. G. Klein. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1989, pp. 354–404.

  Surovell, T. A., N. M. Waguespack, and P. J. Brantingham. Global evidence for proboscidean overkill. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102 (2005): 6231–6336.

  Northern Winter: For the Birds

  Raven Reviews

  Boarman, B., and B. Heinrich. Common raven (Corvus corax). In Birds of North America, no. 476, ed. A. Poole and F. Gill, pp. 1–32. Philadelphia: Academy of Natural Sciences, 1999.

  Heinrich, B. Sociobiology of ravens: conflict and cooperation. Sitzungberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin 37 (1999): 13–22.

  ——. Conflict, cooperation and cognition in the common raven. Advances in the Study of Behavior 42 (2011).

  Raven Carcass Scavenging

  Heinrich, B. Dominance and weight-changes in the common raven, Corvus corax. Animal Behaviour 48 (1994): 1463–1465.

  ——. Winter foraging at carcasses by three sympatric corvids, with emphasis on recruitment by the raven, Corvus corax. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 23 (1988): 141–156.

  Heinrich, B., et al. Dispersal and association among a “flock” of common ravens, Corvus corax. The Condor 96 (1994): 545–551.

  Heinrich, B., J. Marzluff, and W. Adams. Fear and food recognition in naive common ravens. The Auk 112, no. 2 (1996): 499–503.

  Heinrich, B., and J. Pepper. Influence of competitions on caching behavior in the common raven, Corvus corax. Animal Behaviour 56 (1998): 1083–1090.

  Marzluff, J. M., and B. Heinrich. Foraging by common ravens in the presence and absence of territory holders: an experimental analysis of social foraging. Animal Behaviour 42 (1991): 755– 770.

  Marzluff, J. M., B. Heinrich, and C. S. Ma
rzluff. Roosts are mobile information centers. Animal Behaviour 51 (1996): 89–103.

  Raven Intelligence, Cognition, and Communication

  Bugnyar, T., and B. Heinrich. Hiding in food-caching ravens, Corvus corax. Review of Ethology, Suppl. 5 (2003): 57.

  ——. Food-storing ravens, Corvus corax, differentiate between knowledgeable and ignorant competitors. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B 272 (2005): 1641–1646.

  ——. Pilfering ravens, Corvus corax, adjust their behaviour to social context and identity of competitors. Animal Cognition 9 (2006): 369–376.

  Bugnyar, T., M. Stoewe, and B. Heinrich. Ravens, Corvus corax, follow gaze direction of humans around obstacles. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B 271 (2004): 1331–1336.

  ——. The ontogeny of caching behaviour in ravens, Corvus corax. Animal Behaviour 74 (2007): 757–767.

  Heinrich, B. Does the early bird get (and show) the meat? The Auk 111 (1994): 764–769.

  ——. Neophilia and exploration in juvenile common ravens, Corvus corax. Animal Behaviour 50 (1995): 695–704.

  ——. An experimental investigation of insight in common ravens, Corvus corax. The Auk 112 (1995): 994–1003.