As many of you picked, Monday’s mystery weevil was Haplorhynchites aeneus – the sunflower decapitating weevil (or something like that).
Points are awarded as follows:
7 points to Chris Grinter for being the first to pick the species.
3 points to Serena for being the first to pick the genus.
1 point to James Trager for some extra and much-appreciated natural history nerdery.
Right. So this brings us to the end of August (*sigh*). The monthly winner, with 12 points, is FormicidaeFantasy, who edges out second-place Jason C by two.
Congratulations, FF, please contact me at your convenience to claim your loot.
A personal weblog by Illinois-based biologist and photographer Alex Wild.
So with my single point, can I get a 2X3 print?
Just kidding — Always truly glad to be appreciated for my naturalist nerdery.
Cool. Alex, by the way, I’ll be interested to hear your take on the stink that Wilson et al. have raised with their latest Nature paper. Ugly, so far.
I’m still sorting out my thoughts on that paper. I can’t shake the notion that everyone is defining their terms slightly differently so at least part of the argument is an unnecessary detour into semantics.
My scientific background is severely lacking in taxonomy (hey, I was trained as an artist!), but I do love the quiz.
Having recognized the little b—— as a weevil, I feel some degree of satisfaction. (I usually find them in my flour at this time of year: different kind, of course)
Most of the sunflowers in my garden this year didn’t live long enough to succumb to insects: pretty much everything — tomatoes, peppers, even datura in the flower garden — have succumbed to drowning.
It has been a hard year for the ground nesting insects: most of the old over-wintering bee colonies have drowned out. Even the multiple ant colonies are struggling. (There was a flight a week ago, but I don’t know the exact ant name!)
Looking forward to your response to previous posts: I do like watching a good family fight!