I photographed this weird...sluggy thing, I guess you could say, in an ant nest in subtropical Argentina.Â
Ten points to the first person who picks what it is.
- Log in to post comments
More like this
Kalathomyrmex emeryi (Forel 1907), Argentina.
In Zootaxa last week, Christiana Klingenberg and Beto Brandão introduced to the world an entirely new genus of fungus-growing ant, Kalathomyrmex. Yet the single species, K. emeryi, is a widespread neotropical insect that has been known for over a…
A recent study by Gabriela Pirk in Insectes Sociaux provides me with an excuse to share this photo:
Minor workers of the seed harvester Pheidole spininodis (left) and the predatory Pheidole bergi lock jaws in combat. Jujuy, Argentina.
Pirk et al examined the diet of both Pheidole species in the…
You might recall how much I dislike DNA barcoding.
So you can imagine my frustration when, in spite of my best efforts to mount an empirical demonstration of what a waste of time it is, the technique turns out to be extraordinarily useful. I've been processing sequence data all day from the…
Harmonia axyridis, the Asian Multicolored Lady Beetle
If I had to pick the most annoying insect in Illinois it'd be Harmonia axyridis. This lady beetle was introduced to our continent as a control agent for aphids but became a pest in its own right. It consumes not just aphids but all manner of…
Is it some sort of lycaenid caterpillar?
I know, I know! ;)
This strange creature is a fly larva, one of the many species of a hoverfly subfamily Microdontinae. As far as I know, larvae of all hitherto described species are myrmecophilous.
They are so bizzare, they have been described as mollusks on four different occasions (!).
They are brood predators in ant nests.
Syrphids as obligate nest parasites? How cool is that!
Duh. It's clearly a tiny, one-limbed turtle.
Yes, I agree, it is clearly a Microdontini... wonderful picture! Very interesting biology...
Sure looks syrphid-microdontine to me, too. And with a Linepithema, cool! I thought these flies always "liked" formicines.
(PS - Gary Alpert will want to see your pictures of this one.)
ÐаÑеÑÑво дÑÑзей Ñоже надо ÑÑиÑÑваÑÑ. ÐоналÑд ТÑамп, напÑимеÑ, на двадÑаÑÐºÑ Ð¿Ð¾ÑÑнеÑ.
Wow, I clearly have a bright bunch of commentators!
Translation of the above from Russian?
"It's necessary to take into account the quality of friends. Donald Trump, for example, will reach twenty." Huh? (I'll ask Lena Nikolyevna at next Tuesday's lesson...) XXXMom
ROFL at the Russian conversation.
With my extremely rusty Russian, I suspected that containing the words Donald Trump, or as it is written in the comment "Donalyd Tramp", this is spam of some sort.
Yeah, the Russian is spam, it seems:
"The quality of friends must also be taken into account. Donald Trump, for example, would reach 20" whatever the fuck that means...fluency in the language is useless there...