awild | January 21, 2009Not much time to blog today. Instead, some links:
Roberto Keller has wonderfully detailed SEMs of the clypeal pegs of amblyoponine ants.
Douglas Adams' Jeremy Lee's view of Australia is spot on, except for the bit about snakes, which are worse than Adams Lee thinks. (h/t John Wilkins)
The New Scientist lists their most stunning images of 2008. (via Ainsley Seago, whose beetle cuticle comes in at #5)
Christopher Taylor ponders the evolution of insect metamorphosis.
Igor Siwanowicz is, in my eyes, the finest insect portrait photographer working today. Check out an ad campaign of his (h/t…
awild | January 20, 2009New Orleans, January 2009
The first major public exhibit to open in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina was the Audubon Nature Institute's Insectarium. We took advantage of a lull in our schedule last week to make the pilgrimage to what turns out to be a surprisingly ambitious operation. It well exceeded our expectations.
The entrance on Canal Street.
Spying on live bumblebees.
Inside the bees' nest.
Yes, educational bits too.
This ant looks familiar.
Not a family exhibit: stick insects have sexual relations in public.
They let non-insects in too.
Another one.
The proud…
awild | January 20, 2009Over at the Ant Farm Forum they're playing a round of Name That Ant*. This week's challenge was posed by MarekB and is a particularly tough one. Go on over to try your hand.
*This sort of activity is certainly not geeky.
awild | January 19, 2009Camponotus discolor male, queen, and worker
Here's an image I should have taken years ago. It's a stylized shot of the different castes in an ant colony, perfect for a textbook illustration of the morphological distinctions among males, gynes, and workers. Better late than never, I suppose.
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D
ISO 100, 1/250 sec, f/13, flash diffused through tracing paper
awild | January 18, 2009
Only one lens can take this shot
If you've paid attention to insect photography over the past decade, you'll likely have noticed that a single lens, Canon's MP-E 1-5x macro, has come to dominate the market. Every professional insect photographer I know owns one, and many of the dedicated amateurs do as well. Indeed, some photographers have even switched from Nikon to Canon just to be able to use it.
Yet the lens is also a throwback, possessing few of the electronic features of modern camera technology. It is largely manual, with no auto-focus or image stabilization, and is…
awild | January 16, 2009Zygogramma leaf beetles, Arizona
Leaf beetles such as these brightly marked Zygogramma constitute one of the largest evolutionary radiations- the Chrysomelidae- among all animals. This family of beetles owes its tremendous diversity to an herbivorous association with flowering plants.
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D
ISO 100, 1/250 sec, f/13, indirect strobe fired into white box
awild | January 15, 2009This weekend, Arizona State University is hosting a slate of myrmecologists to brainstorm on ant genomes. I'd link to the meeting information, but apparently the gathering is so informal that they've not given the event a web page. In any case, the topic is this: in the age of (relatively) cheap genomes, which ants should we sequence? And, what should we do with the assembled data?
I originally planned to attend, but life intervenes and I'm frozen to the tundra of central Illinois. Instead, I will register here a few suggestions about which species should considered, in addition to…
awild | January 14, 2009From the Small Science Collective comes a little zine about ants:
The idea, I guess, is that printable pamphlets are ideal for scattering about in public places. Or as handouts during door-to-door myrmeco-evangelism.
awild | January 12, 2009Aphaenogaster cockerelli, Arizona
Here's a new study in Current Biology from Adrian Smith, Bert Hoelldobler, and Juergen Liebig:
Abstract: Cheaters are a threat to every society and therefore societies have established rules to punish these individuals in order to stabilize their social system [1â3]. Recent models and observations suggest that enforcement of reproductive altruism (policing) in hymenopteran insect societies is a major force in maintaining high levels of cooperation [4â6]. In order to be able to enforce altruism, reproductive cheaters need to be reliably identified. Strong…
awild | January 10, 2009A few months ago I mentioned the Lost Lady Bug Project.
It seems they've updated the site so that visitors can now view all the photo submissions. Pretty cool.
awild | January 9, 2009Gibbium sp. Spider Beetle, Arizona
Spider beetles are not predators like their namesakes but are instead pests of stored grain. I was surprised at how difficult they were to photograph. Their round bodies were hard to fit into a single focal plane, while their reflective elytra were prone to harsh glare. I could not do much about the first problem, but the lighting was solved by placing the beetle inside a white box and firing an off-camera strobe into the box but away from the beetle.
Gibbium sp., Arizona
photo details (both images): Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS…
awild | January 8, 2009
Sericomyrmex amabilis in its fungus garden, Panama
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D
ISO 100, 1/250 sec, f/13, twin flash diffused through tracing paper
awild | January 7, 2009
Birgit Schlick-Steiner, of the University of Innsbruck in Austria, has funding for a Ph.D. student to work on the molecular ecology of the Tetramorium caespitum complex. This research group has produced some top-notch science in recent years, and if you are looking to become a professional myrmecologist this is an excellent opportunity. You'd receive training in some of the most current techniques at the interface of genetics, ecology, and taxonomy. The full announcement is below the fold.
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY, INSTITUTE OF ECOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF INNSBRUCK
PhD position
The University…
awild | January 6, 2009Odontomachus meinerti trap-jaw ant, Argentina
One perk of being at a research university is the opportunity to shoot the various study organisms on campus. These subjects are interesting- they have to be, or they wouldn't be studied- and when the research goes public I get the chance to disseminate my photographs with the science media outlets that cover the story.
Among my favorite campus animals is the Odontomachus trap-jaw ant, one of the focal taxa in Andy Suarez's lab. The researchers are looking at the biomechanics of the jaw, one of the fastest recorded appendages among all…
awild | January 4, 2009From David Attenborough's The Trials of Life (1990):
If you're interested in learning more about navigation in Cataglyphis, look for papers coming from the lab of Rüdiger Wehner. His group has produced a stream of really top-notch research.
awild | January 4, 2009
leafcutter ant mating swarm, Arizona
The sparkle of these insects' wings was captured by pointing the camera at the sun while standing behind the mating swarm. I find backlighting to be one of the most pleasing effects for translucent wings.
photo details: Canon 100mm f2.8Â macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D
ISO 100, f/11, 1/500 sec
awild | January 3, 2009In the comments, Eric Eaton makes an observation:
Iâm left wondering (just a little) why Alex has such a beef with Dr. Wilson. This is not the first post taking a jab at Wilson, so while Alex makes an excellent point, Iâm also sensing some underlying issues hereâ¦.
Eric is right there's an issue. It is one many myrmecologists, especially systematists, have been tip-toeing around for a while now.
The short version is that Wilson is no longer at the leading edge of myrmecology. As he has fallen out of step with the practicing research community, his public ant commentary is increasingly at…