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Article: Crouching scientist hidden dragonfly: monitoring insect lifestyles in the air and the mud.(Martin Wikelski and David Wilcove research)(Cover story)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- August 12, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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When Martin Wikelski and David Wilcove went bird-watching in Cape May, N.J., one fall day in 2004, they were surprised to find that the main spectacle had four wings instead of two. Migrating dragonflies filled the air, flashing iridescent green and blue as they hovered over dunes, perched, then zipped off.
"They were everywhere," says Wikelski, who's a biologist at Princeton University. He and his Princeton colleague Wilcove had come to admire birds that take a break on the long haul up and down the East Coast, but insects on long journeys need rest stops too.
Wikelski has studied bird migration and pioneered the tracking of individuals on long ...