awild | May 25, 2008
This basic photo of a harvester ant carrying a seed took an hour and a half to capture. 150 exposures. The problem wasn't that the ants weren't behaving, but that it took nearly an hour of experimentation to get the simplicity of composition I had envisioned when I set out on the project.
Few of my better photos are one-off shots.
Most exist in my head in some form or another before I attempt to shoot them, and once I've started a session they take a bit of experimentation before finding the right conditions. Yesterday I headed up towards Mt. Lemmon where I knew of several nests of the…
awild | May 24, 2008
We went down to the Rialto last night to catch a benefit concert by Calexico. Best show I've seen in ages. They pull off an unexpected blend of mariachi, folk, and straight-up rock, including a Neil Young cover featuring two full mariachi bands and a slew of guest vocalists on stage. Calexico is perhaps Tucson's most successful troupe of local musicians, capturing the dual American-Mexican character of the city. Watch the video, though, to see for yourself.
awild | May 23, 2008
Olla v-nigrum - Ashy Grey Ladybird Beetle
Arizona
Here it is: the very first ladybird beetle featured on the Friday Beetle Blog. Instead of a boring ol' red and black one, I've chosen a stylish and tasteful beetle colored in grayscale: the Ashy Gray Ladybird. These have been arriving in some numbers at my blacklight this week. Like most members of the family Coccinelidae, Olla beetles are predators.
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon 20D
f/13, 1/250 sec, ISO 100, twin flash diffused through tracing paper
awild | May 22, 2008
Spring is swarm season for honeybees, and the feral population in Tucson is booming. We've got not one but two new colonies nesting in dead trees in our yard. I didn't do anything to attract them, they just moved in on their own.
My feelings about honey bees are mixed.
On one hand, I have many fond memories of working as a beekeeper back when I was in Peace Corps. There's something exhilarating about opening a hive, feeling the vibration of thousands of little wings, the scent of honey and wax thick in the air. Bees are charismatic creatures, and although I worked with them pretty…
awild | May 21, 2008Scott Solomon, who researches fungus-growing ants, has a brief piece in Slate Magazine on the Paratrechina Crazy Ants invading Houston.
I'm not convinced that this ant is anything different from Paratrechina fulva, a common South American species and the oldest name in that species complex. People have been calling the Houston invader "P. cf. pubens", but the taxonomy of the genus is so poor that it's difficult to say anything with confidence. Do you folks who've looked at specimens (that's you, James) have any thoughts about the identity of this ant?
awild | May 19, 2008
Lycaena xanthoides - Great Copper
California
A butterfly larva peeks through a hole it has eaten in its Rumex host plant.
awild | May 18, 2008Apparently either Jo-anne or I share a name with, or similar to, someone on the U.S. government's secret terrorist watch list. I can't say which of us it is; no one at the airport is authorized to tell us that. All I know is we were prevented from checking in at the Tucson airport on Thursday without additional identification.
We can no longer check-in online or use the electronic kiosks until we go through a months-long process to try to clear whichever one of our names causes the problem. During which time we're advised not to travel. This latter bit is unfortunate, since both of us…
awild | May 16, 2008
Carpophilus sp. Sap Beetle, Nitidulidae
Arizona
The Opuntia prickly-pear cacti have been flowering the past few weeks. Every time I poke at a blossom I find several chunky Carpophilus beetles.
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon 20D
f/13, 1/250 sec, ISO 100, twin flash diffused through tracing paper
awild | May 15, 2008
Opamyrma hungvuong Yamane et al 2008
Vietnam
It isn't every day we get a whole new genus. In this week's Zootaxa, Seiki Yamane, Tuan Vet Bui, and Katsuyuki Eguchi report the discovery of Opamyrma, an amblyoponine ant from central Vietnam. The full article is behind Zootaxa's subscription barrier, but detailed specimen photos are already up at Antweb.
The ant subfamily Amblyoponinae is an ancient group. They diverged from the other ant lineages prior to the evolution of trophallaxis food-sharing behavior, and have instead adopted an odd and seemingly brutal way of passing food around the…
awild | May 14, 2008
I've just received the following notice about an upcoming NOVA show on the life of biologist/myrmecologist E. O. Wilson:
NOVA is excited to partner with organizations that share our passion for scientific discovery as we spread the word about upcoming shows. On Tuesday, May 20, we invite you to join us for a look at the life and work of renowned Harvard entomologist and conservationist E.O. Wilson. From his groundbreaking discoveries about ant culture to his controversial take on the biological basis for human behavior, NOVA presents a sweeping chronicle of Wilson's extraordinary career. In…
awild | May 13, 2008
Pheidole pegasus Sarnat 2008
Fiji
Eli Sarnat, the reigning expert on the Ants of Fiji, has just published a lovely taxonomic revision of a group of Pheidole that occur on the islands. Pheidole are found in warmer regions worldwide, but Fiji has seen a remarkable radiation of species that share a bizarre set of spines on the mesosoma. Eli sorted through hundreds of these things to determine that the group contains seven species, five of which had not previously been described. Pheidole pegasus is largest and among the most distinct of the group. It was collected only once, from the…
awild | May 11, 2008
The visit of Australian friends a couple weeks ago provided an excuse to go photograph Arizona's most famous landmark. Appearances aside, the Grand Canyon is not an easy subject. Most shots appear flat in comparison to real-time views, failing to capture the canyon's immense depths or the enormity of the open space. This is true of much landscape photography, and I've come to respect the people who are good at it.
Our trip had the additional challenge of a perfectly clear day. Blue sky sounds nice in the abstract, but a lack of clouds means a boring sky and hopelessly bottom-heavy…
awild | May 11, 2008
Rose Aphids - Macrosiphum rosae
Tucson, Arizona
It's fair to say that without the encouragement of my mother, who allowed all manner of newts, snakes, caterpillars, tadpoles and ants into the house, I would not have gone on to become a biologist.
Thanks Mom, and happy mother's day!
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon 20D
f/13, 1/250 sec, ISO 100, twin flash diffused through tracing paper.
awild | May 9, 2008
Amphizoa insolens - trout stream beetle
California
Amphizoa are among the more enigmatic insects I've photographed. These dime-sized beetles are found only in the mountains of China and western North America, a disjunct distribution paralleled by a number of interesting taxa, including the giant redwoods. All six species are predaceous and aquatic, living in debris and under stones in fast-running creeks. Because adults have a morphology suggestive of the terrestrial ground beetles, some researchers have proposed that Amphizoa represents an evolutionary transition between terrestrial and…
awild | May 5, 2008
Busy, busy, busy. In the meantime, there's always the "Blog" of Unnecessary Quotation Marks.
awild | May 2, 2008
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is another Aussie band that has made it into my regular rotation. Nick Cave was recently interviewed by Terry Gross, where we learn that his parentage includes a librarian and an English teacher. This may explain the sophistication of his lyrics. In any case, I like it.
awild | May 2, 2008
Distremocephalus - Phengodidae
Arizona
The beetle family Phengodidae is odd any way you look at it. The adult female (not pictured) is larviform, which means she never loses her grub-like appearance as she grows into sexual maturity. She has no wings and no long antennae. But she does bioluminesce, and that gives the family their common name: Glow-worms.
In stark contrast to their grubby counterparts, male phengodids are delicate creatures, adapted for dispersal and mating. The male pictured above flew to a blacklight behind my house. I don't see phengodids all that often at the light,…