Lunar phases and pest mngmt. - refs.?

[Brian Rasnow]

You write:
> I'm starting a new project looking at Mayan agricultural practices in
> Guatemala.  Many Mayan farmers synrchronize their ag. calendars with the
> full moon.  I want to figure out if that confers any benefit, and if it
> does, is there an ecological explanation.  

Years ago, I lived in Izabal Guatemala, where the natives did a pretty good
job predicting rain by lunar phases. As I recall (but I may have the phases
backwards by now), dryer weather generally followed the full moon. I spent
a full year living there, and was impressed at how accurate this correlation 
was.

Hope that helps.

Brian 
rasnow at caltech.edu