ミュージシャンのMizukaさんが3月8日、三重県総合博物館に展示されていた中学生の自由研究の画像をツイートし、話題になっている。コンビニに集まる虫について研究したものだが、セブンイレブンやファミリーマート、ローソンに比べて、サークルKに集まる虫は圧倒的に多かったというものだ。
この自由研究は、三重県津市立橋北中学校1年の西川充希さんによるもの。三重県総合博物館の担当者はハフポスト日本版の電話取材に対し、西川さんは夏休みを利用して自宅付近の30〜40のコンビニに集まる昆虫を調べたと説明した。調査の結果、昆虫が多く集まるコンビニには、利用している照明や立地条件で違いがあったという。
昆虫は人間と違って紫外線を見ることができる。虫が集まるのを防ぐため、コンビニによっては、紫外線を出さない照明を利用しているところがあった。
さらに、市街地では周囲に光を出す建物が多いため、コンビニだけに虫が集中するわけではないが、市街地から離れた場所では、他に光がないため、明るいコンビニに虫が集まる傾向があった。
残念ながら西川さんの研究は、博物館で一時的に展示されていたもので現在は閲覧することができない。しかし、3月27日に大阪府立大学で開かれる「日本昆虫学会」で、西川さんの研究が発表される予定だ。
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クールな昆虫画像集
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A blue damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes) rests on a reed at the edge of a small lake near Briesen, Germany, on May 13, 2012. Dragonflies are evidently amongst the oldest flying insects with around 5000 known species worldwide. Only 80 dragonfly species can be found in Germany. (PATRICK PLEUL/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
Rust Flies Get Randy(02 of32)
Rust flies (Loxocera cylindrica).\n\n (credit:The Wild World Of Insect Sex (Alex Wild))
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In this Sept. 24, 2012 photo, Zack Lemann, animal and visitor programs manager of the Audubon Butterfly Garden Insectarium, shows a Northern mole cricket he found as he collects bugs for their exhibits in Des Allemands, La. Some of the bugs are raised to exhibit later at the insectarium, while others are shipped to museums. Much of an insectariums stock dies in a year or less, so the replenishment missions for local species are essential. (AP Photo/Kerry Maloney) (credit:AP)
Palmetto Tortoise Beetles Make Babies(04 of32)
Palmetto tortoise beetles (Hemisphaerota cyanea).\n\n (credit:The Wild World Of Insect Sex (Alex Wild))
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A grasshopper, a symbol of France\'s south-eastern area of Provence, is pictured on a tree on July 22, 2013 in Marseille. (BORIS HORVAT/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
Rover Ants Do The Dirty(06 of32)
Rover ants (Brachymyrmex patagonicus). (credit:The Wild World Of Insect Sex (Alex Wild))
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A Coccinellidae, more commonly known as a ladybug or ladybird beetle, rests on the petals of a rose in Portland, Ore., Wednesday, May 26, 2010. The name \"ladybird\" originated in the Middle Ages when the insects were known as the \"beetle of Our Lady\". (AP Photo/Don Ryan) (credit:AP)
Fireflies Light Each Other's Fire(08 of32)
Fireflies (Photinus pyralis). (credit:The Wild World Of Insect Sex (Alex Wild))
Sand Wasps Seal The Deal(09 of32)
Philanthus sand wasps mating in California. (credit:The Wild World Of Insect Sex (Alex Wild))
Praying Mantis(10 of32)
(credit:Flickr:siamesepuppy)
Blue shiny bug(11 of32)
(credit:Flickr:Tambako the Jaguar)
Plague Soldier Beetles Procreate(12 of32)
A\"mating aggregation\" of plague soldier beetles (Chauliognathus lugubris). \n\n (credit:The Wild World Of Insect Sex (Alex Wild))
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A ladybug clings to the edge of a Stone Crop Sedum leaf on Tuesday morning June 25, 2013, in Salina, Kan. (AP Photo/Salina Journal, Tom Dorsey) (credit:AP)
Cecropia Moths Mess Around(14 of32)
Moths (Hyalophora cecropia) mating on the female\'s empty cocoon. \n (credit:The Wild World Of Insect Sex (Alex Wild))
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(credit:Flickr:USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring)
Leaf-Cutter Ants Host An Orgy(16 of32)
A \"mating ball\" of leaf-cutter ants (Acromyrmex versicolor).\n (credit:The Wild World Of Insect Sex (Alex Wild))
Robber Fly (Mallophora)(17 of32)
(credit:Flickr:siamesepuppy)
Phlox Stem Borer Beetles Get It On(18 of32)
Phlox stem borer beetles (Oberea flavipes). (credit:The Wild World Of Insect Sex (Alex Wild))
Grasshopper(19 of32)
(credit:Flickr:Sandy__R)
Mantids Make Love(20 of32)
Chinese mantids (Tenodera sinensis). (Contrary to popular belief, the female does not always, or even often, consume the male during mating.)\n\n (credit:The Wild World Of Insect Sex (Alex Wild))
Mexican Bush Katydid Nymph(21 of32)
(credit:Flickr:siamesepuppy)
Lightning Bug(22 of32)
(credit:Flickr:Jo Naylor)
Weevil(23 of32)
(credit:Flickr:gailhampshire)
Larinus onopordi(24 of32)
(credit:Flickr:Sandy__R)
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(credit:Flickr:bruceruston)
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A dragonfly is pictured at a garden in Kathmandu on June 27, 2012. (PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
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After emerging from winter hibernation, hundreds of ladybird beetles often called ladybugs cluster in the leaves under a shrub on the South Hill in Spokane, Wash. on Sunday, March 31, 2013. The ladybird beetle, Hippodamia convergens, is a gardeners best friend, eating perhaps its weight in aphids daily. Strict carnivores, they eat no leafy vegetation. (AP/The Spokesman-Review, Colin Mulvany) (credit:AP)
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A dragonfly rests in a garden in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, July 11, 2013. Weather forecasts predict sunny weather for the next few days in Serbia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) (credit:AP)
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A beetle sits on a wild daisy at \'Thurrock Thameside Nature Park\' on June 6, 2013 in Thurrock, England. The 120 acres of grass, bramble and shrub that make up \'Thurrock Thameside Nature Park\' sits on top of what was Europe\'s largest landfill site overlooking the Essex coastline in the Thames Estuary. Over the last 50 years six of London\'s borough\'s had been dumping their rubbish on the site, (originally a huge gravel pit), which in places is over 30 metres thick. The £2.5Million GBP restoration project run by Essex Wildlife Trust and the landfill company Cory Environmental worked to compact the rubbish before adding a thick layer of clay, known as a pie-crust, over the waste, before covering it in soil. The area which when finished will encompass 845 acres is run by the Essex Wildlife Trust and is home to an array of wildlife including, Shrill Carder Bee, Great Crested Newt, Brown Hare, Avocet, Short-eared Owl, Barn Owl and Kingfisher. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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A bumblebee gathers pollen on a flower on July 13, 2013 in the suburbs of Paris. (JACQUES DEMARTHON/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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Bees gather nectar from lavender flowers on July 22, 2013 in Marseille, southern France. (BORIS HORVAT/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
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In this Monday, Sept. 24, 2012 photo, a Coneheaded katydid bites on the finger of Zack Lemann, animal and visitor programs manager of the Audubon Butterfly Garden Insectarium, as he and other employees collect bugs for their exhibits in Des Allemands, La. Some of the bugs are raised to exhibit later at the insectarium, while others are shipped to museums. Much of an insectariums stock dies in a year or less, so the replenishment missions for local species are essential. (AP Photo/Kerry Maloney) (credit:AP)
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