Myrmecos
Archives for March, 2008
Is English Capable of Sustaining Demagogery?
Posted by Alex Wild on March 22, 2008 Fry & Laurie on the inanity of academic discourse: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfltPfU_nw0&hl=en]
Friday Beetle Blogging: Soldier Beetle
Posted by Alex Wild on March 21, 2008 Chauliognathus lecontei – LeConte’s Soldier Beetle Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona Soldier Beetles are named for their bright colors. Larvae are predaceous, but adults are commonly seen feeding from the nectar and pollen of flowers. photo details: Canon 100m f2.8 macro lens on a Canon 20D f/6.3, 1/250 sec, ISO 200 indirect strobe in white box
The bearded ladies
Posted by Alex Wild on March 20, 2008 In our front yard we’ve got a busy nest of Pogonomyrmex rugosus seed harvesting ants. Warming weather brought them out for the first time last week, and every now and again I go out to see what they’re up to. Lots of digging, it seems. Pogonomyrmex is greek for “Bearded Ant”, named 150 years ago…
St. Paddy’s Day
Posted by Alex Wild on March 17, 2008 O’Pogonomyrmex – A little known and rarely-seen Irish harvester ant
Moreau’s Pheidole Phylogeny
Posted by Alex Wild on March 17, 2008 Pheidole creightoni major worker, California After reading a couple times through Corrie Moreau’s hot-off-the-press Pheidole evolution paper, I am pleased to give it a thumbs-up. The paper is behind a subscription barrier, so I have distilled the results into an informal summary:
Rain in the desert
Posted by Alex Wild on March 17, 2008 Raindrops on Opuntia cactus Tucson, Arizona photo details: Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens on a Canon 20D. f/7, 1/100 sec, ISO 100 hand-held, natural light contrast boosted in PS
Friday Beetle Blogging: Clown Beetle
Posted by Alex Wild on March 14, 2008 Hololepta Clown Beetle (Histeridae) Arizona If Oscars were awarded for Most Aesthetically Pleasing Sculpturing on an Insect, hister beetles would make the short list. Especially Hololepta, which not only shows the trademark histerid shininess but also has a flattened, paper-thin body. Michele Lanan, who collected this beetle for me, noted that it seems designed to…
How DEET works
Posted by Alex Wild on March 13, 2008 DEET is the main ingredient in most insect repellents. Slather it on and it’s like magic; the mozzies just fly on by. Nothing else is as effective. In spite of its utility, DEET is pretty nasty stuff. Depending on where you are in the world, you might be healthier just letting the bugs bite. It…
New Species: Coprophanaeus caroliae
Posted by Alex Wild on March 12, 2008 Coprophanaeus caroliae Edmonds 2008 Dung Beetle – Bolivia Source: Edmonds, W.D. 2008. A new species of Coprophanaeus Olsoufieff (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from Bolivia. Zootaxa 1723: 42-46.
Alternative theory for the origin of ants
Posted by Alex Wild on March 11, 2008 Myrmecologist and artist Andrea Lucky sent me this picture, depicting her controversial view that Adam Ant was really a Myrmecia.