awild | December 9, 2008I can't help but feel gleeful at this morning's news.  Back in January I had landed, I thought, a postdoctoral position at the Illinois Natural History Survey. It was a dream job. I've been itching for years to figure out what's really going on with the evolutionary history of Camponotus, a hugely important ant genus with a godawful mess of a taxonomy. The State of Illinois had finally provided the wherewithal, an independent postdoc to do research on a project of my choosing. That would be Camponotus.
So forgive me if I seem petty when I explain that's exactly when Mr. Blagojevich…
awild | December 8, 2008Today we have a guest post by myself, from 25 years ago:
It was my very first ant publication, printed on the back page of a biweekly family newsletter. The ants I later determined to be Lasius flavus, and I am happy to report that the species still abounds at my old haunts in upstate NY despite all my collecting and squishing of queens.
That's me on the right, collecting ants with co-conspirator Steve
awild | December 6, 2008
Macrophotography, as applied to Mingus the Cat.
photo details: Canon 35mm f2.0 lens with a 12mm extension tube, Canon EOS 20D
ISO 400, f/5, 1/100 sec, indirect strobe
awild | December 6, 2008Roberto Keller uses his new blog to explain the acidopore.
Sylvia Cremer et al dissect the evolution of Lasius neglectus supercolonies in PLoS ONE.
Popular reviews of Hoelldobler and Wilson's "The Superorganism" can be found in Slate Magazine and the New York Times. Jon Seal provides a scientist's take in Myrmecological News.
China has executed the man behind an ant-breeding swindle that bankrupted thousands of investors.
Antweb has new images of a Tatuidris worker and male.
awild | December 5, 2008
Metrius contractus
Oregon, USA
Many biologists are familiar with the Bombardier Beetles in the ground beetle tribe Brachinini, as their defensive tactic of aiming an explosive spray has been studied extensively. The Brachinini are even celebrated by creationists as animals that couldn't possibly evolve.
As it turns out, though, bombardiers have evolved at least twice. The second, less known radiation comprises the subfamily Paussinae, also in the Carabidae, and as we'd expect from an independent origin the spray dispersing mechanism is different, using a flange instead of a nozzle. …
awild | December 4, 2008
Amblyopone australis
The correct pronunciation of this ant's name is Am-blee-ah-pon-ee, with the emphasis on the antepenultimate syllable and the final "e" audible. But I don't know anyone who says it that way.
Every English-speaking myrmecologist I know calls it "Am-blee-oh-pohn", with the final "e" silent. That's a shame, because the right way is also prettier. I mentioned this to May Berenbaum- whose office is across the hall from mine- and she pointed out that midwesterners inflict the same error on calzones, which New Yorkers say correctly as "cal-zon-ee."
awild | December 4, 2008
A deer flea hangs from a hair, California
I don't ordinarily hang around animal carcasses. But every now and again I'll brave a fresh roadkill to shoot the parasites as they jump ship from the cooling body. Fleas and lice are fascinating creatures, and as they are hardly ever photographed alive I can capture some unique images just by staking out a common subject that most people would not think to shoot.
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS D60
ISO 100, f/13, 1/200 sec, flash diffused through tracing paper
awild | December 3, 2008
Linepithema flavescens, last seen in 1934
Linepithema flavescens, a small yellow ant from Haiti, is one of the species I re-described as part of my Ph.D. dissertation. All we know about this ant, apart from the brief notes on the specimen labels, is the external appearance of a few workers. Queens and males haven't been collected. No one has studied its ecology or behavior. The few existing museum specimens- gathered from two different field sites- may be too valuable to attempt DNA extraction.
A 1934 collection is the last time anyone has ever seen L. flavescens. As the natural…
awild | December 2, 2008Evolving Complexity tagged me in. Here they are:
5 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago
Buzzing on yerba maté
Learning Portuguese
Living in Asunción's transvestite district
Picking out sites for the incoming Peace Corps volunteers
Applying to graduate school
5 Things On My To-Do List Today
Process the latest batch of RNA pol II sequences
Buy stamps
Pay the bills & the rent
Renew my subscription to National Geographic
Email the Brazilians
5 Snacks I Love
Bagels
Junior Mints
Cheese (various)
Double-chocolate cookies
Is bacon a snack?
5 Things I'd do if I was a Millionaire
Buy a…
awild | December 1, 2008...as judged by an utterly impartial panel of one here at Myrmecos Blog. These are photographs that caught my eye and my imagination over the past year. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Globular Springtail, by Brian Valentine
Horsefly, by Igor Siwanowicz
Angry Queen, by Piotr Naskrecki
Bee in Natural Light, by Dalantech
Tenhave Woods, by Rick Lieder
Painted Grasshopper, by Mundo Poco
Dragonfly, by Necip Perver
Untitled, by Martin Amm
Gotcha!, by Marsel van Oosten
awild | November 30, 2008
Let's take a lesson from the Swiss. They deem myrmecologists of such great national importance that one once adorned the face of the country's highest currency. Auguste-Henri Forel and his beloved ants were featured on the 1000 Franc note from 1976 to 1995.
Ponder that for a moment.
A country reknowned for finance. Put an ant man. On their top note. For two decades.
For those interested in more Forel, Antweb has a photo from Forel's extensive collection. Antbase holds Forel's myrmecological publications. And if you're one of those weirdos who finds sex more interesting than…
awild | November 30, 2008Apparently the leafy green banner above is insufficient camouflage in the blogosphere. The Myrmecos Blog has been noticed by the meme-passers. Three times this week.
Bug Girl has tagged me with the "Six Random Things". Adrian Thysse would rather have me do "Five Things". And Huckleberry Days linked me with a "Superior Scribbler Award".
This unexpected recognition gives me plenty to blog about apart from the usual buggy fare, but the meme-passers will have to forgive me if I take my time. It's a busy week. I'm giving the departmental seminar tomorrow, and I've got piles of new RNA…
awild | November 28, 2008
Martineziana dutertrei Fire Ant Beetle
Texas
Any insect that can fool an ant nest's security system gains access to rich stores of food. Martineziana scarab beetles are found only in colonies of Solenopsis fire ants where they feed on the ants and their brood. This beetle was collected from a red imported fire ant mound at the Brackenridge Field Laboratory in Austin, Texas.
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D
ISO 100, f/13, 1/250 sec, flash diffused through tracing paper
awild | November 27, 2008As a matter of coincidence, my first blogiversary falls on Thanksgiving day. Happy Thanks-Blog-Giving, then. Or something.
I started out aiming my writing at a non-technical audience. So I featured insect photographs, simplified coverage of entomological news, and notes about photographic technique. But I've come to realize from various feedback that many of my regular readers are professional scientists. This poses a bit of a problem of where to pitch my content. Both my mother and Phil Ward read this blog. What might interest both of them?
This imbalance in the biological fluency…
awild | November 25, 2008
Rhagoletis fruit flies mating, Arizona
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D
ISO 200, f/11, 1/200 sec, backlit by handheld strobe.
awild | November 24, 2008Last week the Howard Hughes Medical Institute announced that they will be funding Danny Reinberg, Shelley Berger, and Juergen Liebig to sequence three ant genomes. Their interest is research on aging, hoping that solving the puzzle of why genetically identical ant nestmates can either live for a year as a worker or twenty as a queen will unlock some clues to aging in our own species.  I think that's a stretch, but whatever. We myrmecologists will be able to probe the ant genomes for plenty of other worthwhile reasons.
Three species were chosen to represent varying levels of caste…