awild | October 11, 200910 points to the first person who can identify this:
Another 10 to the first person who can explain its myrmecological significance.
awild | October 9, 2009I admit to a soft spot for beetles in the family Nitidulidae. Maybe it's the cute clubby antennae. Or maybe it's just the shared fondness for beer. In any case, the sap beetles are charming little insects.
I found this Amphicrossus imbibing fermented tree sap from a wounded tree in downtown Champaign, Illinois. Tree wounds and their associated yeasts are fertile hunting grounds for entomologists as they host a surprising array of often unique flies and beetles.
Photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 50D
ISO 100, f/13, 1/250 sec, flash diffused through tracing…
awild | October 8, 2009Smugmug, the host for my image gallery alexanderwild.com, has been down all morning. The problem is apparently serious and resolution may take a while.
I apologize for the inconvenience. If there was a particular image you were looking for this morning and now you can't get to it, email me.
*update 12:15pm; we're online again!
awild | October 7, 2009
One of the oddest results from the Ant Tree of Life phylogeny was the recovery of a close relationship between Monomorium and Myrmicaria, two rather different looking ants.
But it all seems a little more plausible when looking at the Monomorium infuscum specimen recently uploaded to antweb. I know this is just a gut impression, but still. If M. infuscum sprouted spines and lost a few antennal segments it'd be most of the way there.
awild | October 2, 2009
Chlaenius sp. ground beetle, Urbana, Illinois
This colorful beetle came from our back yard. It's a ground beetle in the genus Chlaenius, recognizeable from its pubescent elytra and pungent defensive secretions. Like most ground beetles, Chlaenius makes a living as a predator.
The beetle's metallic sheen is not the result of a pigment but of fine microscopic sculpturing on the integument. This is evident when the insect is viewed at a different aspect: notice how the color turns to green in lateral view:
The same beetle, in sideview.
photo details: Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens on a…
awild | October 1, 2009This tiger moth caterpillar may appear normal at first glance. But a closer look reveals it to be plagued by dozens of wasp larvae, slowly consuming it alive as they cling to its back:
photo details (top photo): Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens on a Canon EOS 50D
ISO 200, f/7, 1/200 sec, indirect strobe in a white box
(bottom photo): Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 50D
ISO 100, f/13, 1/250 sec, flash diffused through tracing paper
awild | September 30, 2009
Tandem running in Camponotus consobrinus - photo by Steve Shattuck
I discovered while googling about this morning that Australian ant guru Steve Shattuck has been uploading some very nice photos to flickr. Â With any luck we'll be seeing some of these in a new incarnation of the Australian Ants book.
awild | September 30, 2009The North Carolina Entomological Society has announced their annual photo contest. The deadline to submit your best arthropod shot is October 19th.
awild | September 28, 2009Compare:
Lasius claviger at f/3.5
Lasius claviger at f/13
I wouldn't say that either image is better. The first is dreamier, more abstract, more interpretive. The second is crisp and illustrative. Quite a difference for a small tweaking of camera settings!
Most of my insect photography falls in the small-aperture realm of the second image, but on reflection I probably ought to play around more with images like the first one.
awild | September 26, 2009A: Check your house for any signs of ant-art. If, for instance, your garage sports a giant blue Azteca, you might have developed a myrmecological fixation.
On the other hand, if you consider yourself an ant-lover but lack any obvious ant adornments, you're falling behind. Pick up some paint and get to work!
(This garage belongs to myrmecologists Ivette Perfecto and John Vandermeer, who sent in the picture. Thanks guys!)
awild | September 25, 2009
Nicrophorus orbicollis, Sexton Beetle, Illinois
The intrepid students of IB 468 caught this beautiful black burying beetle during a field trip to Dixon Springs, Illinois. They were kind enough to let me photograph it before it went to the collection.
Rather than me blathering on about this insect's biology, I'll direct you instead to the N. orbicollis wikipedia page. Wikipedia is normally hit-or-miss with regard to insects, but the page for N. orbicollis is an example of the medium at its best.
One thing about carrion beetles, though. Pretty, yes. But they smell terrible, and I…
awild | September 23, 2009While in Florida earlier this year I turned over a leaf to find this gruesome scene:
A worker of the Florida Carpenter Ant (Camponotus floridanus) stationed along a leaf vein among a herd of scale insects. Except, without a head.
I honestly don't know what happened to the poor ant. Any ideas?
awild | September 23, 2009James Trager writes in this week with a request and a photo:
I have been interested in Polyergus (âAmazon antsâ, see here) since childhood, when I first had the good fortune to observe them on summer afternoons in northern New Mexico. After decades of intermittent field observations and microscopic examination of specimens of these ants from various parts of the USA and Eurasia, and various interactions with other researchers on this group, I came to the conclusion that a taxonomic revision of the group is necessary.
Some background: Linda Goodloe, in her 1986 City University of NY…
awild | September 21, 2009
A student at the University of Illinois navigates an aphid swarm between classes.
We've had plenty of traffic here at the Myrmecos Blog as bewildered midwesterners look for answers about the swarm of tiny insects that has descended on our cities this week. As best as we can tell, here's the scoop.
Q: What are the annoying little bugs that are swarming Central Illinois this week?
A: They are soybean aphids (Aphis glycines). These small insects feed in summer on soybeans, overwinter as eggs on buckthorn (Rhamnus spp.), and feed in spring on Buckthorn before flying back to soy.
A soybean…