Search results for "Espill"
showing 2 items of 372 documents
Catalan fiction in the 15th century
2018
Catalan fiction in the 15th century is framed within the context of the expansion of the Crown of Aragon around the Mediterranean, the emergence of Valencia as the cultural capital of the Crown, the crisis in the prevailing mediaeval values, the consolidation of a monetary economy, and fertile contacts between Catalan culture and Castile, France, Burgundy and especially Italy. This is perfectly illustrated by the five most important fictional pieces from that era: Història de Jacob Xalabín, which refers to the Ottoman Empire; Curial e Güelfa, which is set in Italy, France, the German Empire, the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa; Tirant lo Blanc, by Joanot Martorell, which focuses on E…
Aposematism in the burying beetle? Dual function of anal fluid in parental care and chemical defence
2017
Burying beetles (Nicrophorus vespilloides) bear distinctive and variable orange-black patterning on their elytra and produce an anal exudate from their abdomen when threatened. During breeding, the anal exudates contribute to the antimicrobial defence of the breeding resource. We investigated whether the anal exudates also provide a responsive chemical defence, which is advertised to potential avian predators by the beetle’s orange and black elytral markings. We found that that the orange-black elytral markings of the burying beetle are highly conspicuous for avian predators against range of backgrounds, by using computer simulations. Using bioassays with wood ants, we also showed that the …