awild | November 20, 2009Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus
Goldenrod Soldier Beetles
Illinois, USA
Here at Myrmecos Blog we aim for a family-friendly atmosphere. Except for beetle sex. Sometimes we just can't resist.
(There's also plant sex going on here too, if you're into that sort of thing...)
Photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 50D
ISO 100, f/13, 1/250 sec, diffused twin flash
awild | November 17, 2009
The chaotic evolution of colony size in ants. (Tree re-analyzed from Brady et al 2006, colony data taken from Hoelldobler & Wilson 1990 and other sources)
This tree depicts how colony size evolves in ants. The purple/blue colors represent small colonies with only a few to a few dozen ants, while the yellows and oranges represent species with enormous colonies of tens or hundreds of thousands of individuals. What's exciting about this rainbow-colored figure?
If you were expecting ant evolution to be an inexorable march towards larger and more complex societies, this tree should…
awild | November 17, 2009Andy Deans of NCSU rightly rakes ASU over the coals for their Ugly Bugs contest:
Denigrating insect species, broadly labeled here as bugs does a disservice to those of us who fight daily to convince a skeptical public...
awild | November 16, 2009I've had several people ask me recently where to focus when taking insect photos. Here's my advice.
Aim for the eyes.
Compare:
A phorid fly sits atop a fungus, its compound eye slightly ahead of the focal plane.
The same fly with its eye in the focal plane.
The second photo should be more appealing than the first. Indeed, the first looks out of focus. Strictly speaking, though, this isn't true.
The top photo shows a much greater percentage of the body in focus than does the bottom photo. Look at how crisp the outline of the fly appears in comparison to the blur of the body in the…
awild | November 16, 2009from an interview with Survivor contestant Kelly Sharbaugh:
When your name showed up, you looked flabbergasted, shocked, dumbfounded.
All of the above. I had no idea that Russell had the idol. When [host Jeff Probst] said my name, I was like. âWhat just happened? What did I do?â I was so emotional because I was so unprepared. I didnât even wear my favorite boots to tribal because the thought that I could go never crossed my mind.
Did you ever get them back?
No, fire ants nested in them so I left them in Samoa and after the tsunami Iâm pretty sure they got washed away.
Good for Kelly, I say,…
awild | November 14, 2009Over at IB401, the entomology students are blogging faster than a swarm of locusts in a candy shop*:
Caterpillars I have known
Beetle's Threat to Baseball
Ants on Stilts
Pink Mantids!
Keeping a Praying Mantis
Fig Wasp Beats Deforestation
Hungry Crickets
Drop by and leave them some comments!
*or, whatever.
awild | November 13, 2009
Edrotes ventricosus (Tenebrionidae) - Dune Beetle
California, USA
In arid environments around the world, darkling beetles in the family Tenebrionidae are among the most prominent insects. Their thick, waxy cuticles excel at retaining moisture. Edrotes ventricosus is a dune inhabitant in southern California.
Photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D
ISO 100, f/13, 1/250 sec, diffused twin flash
awild | November 12, 2009
Ross Crozier last week at the Chicago Field Museum
I learned this morning that pioneering ant biologist Ross Crozier has passed away. This is terrible news, and entirely unexpected.
Ross- a soft-spoken Australian- ushered social insects into the age of molecular biology. He karyotyped hundreds of ant species. He sequenced the honeybee mitochondrial genome. He documented natural selection in ant immune genes. He studied colony structure in termites, and speciation in ants. There's almost nothing in social insect genetics that Ross didn't do first.
Ross's passing is quite a shock-…
awild | November 11, 2009Solenopsis pergandei queen and workers
Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA
Photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 50D
ISO 100, f/13, 1/250 sec, diffused twin flash
awild | November 10, 2009
An oversized tyrannosaur photo-bombs the Global Ant Project group portrait, November 5-7 2009 at the Chicago Field Museum (photo by Darolyn Striley).
Last week I attended a conference ambitiously titled "Global Ant Project synthesis meeting II". Partly, I went out of curiosity about what this "Global Ant Project" might be. But mostly, I went for the chance to catch up with old myrmecological friends, eavesdrop on the latest ant gossip, and visit Chicago's fabulous Field Museum of Natural History. How'd it go? Mission accomplished on all counts. You can see my photos of the event…
awild | November 9, 2009The following is a guest post from millipede expert Paul Marek.
The eerie glow of a Motyxia millipede (photo by P. Marek)
I study millipedes in the family Xystodesmidae (order Polydesmida). These millipedes contain hydrogen cyanide as a defensive chemical and use aposematic coloration to warn predators of their toxicity. Coloration patterns in these species include bright yellows, oranges, reds, and violet.
One nocturnal genus in this family, Motyxia, known only from California, does not display conspicuous coloration. These millipedes do something even more remarkableâthey produce a…
awild | November 4, 2009Sorry. I've been really, really busy with projects around the house and in the lab. And for the next few days I'll be away at the Global Ant Project meeting in Chicago.
Blogging will resume after I return. With any luck there will be plenty of myrmecological gossip and photos to share of the meeting.
In the meantime, check out the new ant articles at Myrmecological News. And don't miss Roberto Keller's discussion of ant eyes.
awild | October 30, 2009
Tribolium castaneum, the Red Flour Beetle
Here's a beetle that the genetics-inclined entomologist will recognize. Tribolium castaneum, the red flour beetle, was the first Coleopteran to have its genome sequenced.
This small tenebrionid is native to the Indo-Australian region but has become a pest of stored grains around the world. I photographed these individuals from a lab culture at the University of Arizona where they were being used in studies on beetle development.
Photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D
ISO 100, f/13, 1/250 sec, diffused flash
awild | October 28, 2009I'm busy today with lab work. But if you need an ant blog fix, let me point you in the direction of "Historias de Hormigas" ("Stories of Ants"). It's a Spanish blog by José MarÃa Gómez Durán, and the current entry is an amazing series of action shots documenting an ant-hunting Crabronid wasp.
awild | October 27, 2009
A Solenopsis invicta queen attempts to escape a pair of tormentors
Life is perilous for young ant queens. This fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) is being pursued by native Forelius ants after her mating flight in central Florida. She frantically climbs a grass blade to escape, but to no avail- the attackers follow. She will make an excellent source of protein to feed the Forelius larvae.
Two larger points about this photo. First, establishing new colonies is tremendously difficult. The founding stage is when most colony-level mortality happens, and this excessive mortality is why ant nests…
awild | October 25, 2009from the always excellent Creature Comforts:
For those sensitive to meaningless violence against ants, you might want to look away around 5:20.