Alex Wild on insects, science, and photography
This just in from the Entomological Society of America: ESA is looking for the best insect photos to grace our 2012 World of Insects Calendar. Anyone can submit photos for the calendar — you do not have to be an ESA member. Photos should be of the highest aesthetic and technical quality. Photographs for the [...]
In case we needed yet another example of how insect societies make things happen on our planet, here’s a striking result from Australia: Researchers found that wheat yields dropped 36% in plots experimentally deprived of ants and termites. 36%. That’s simply astounding. The severity of the effect amazes even me, and I’m as dedicated an [...]
I mentioned earlier that my photo expedition through Ecuador’s astounding ant fauna was interrupted part-way by a tragic failure of my kit’s centerpiece: the Canon MP-E macro lens. The iris was stuck full open, inert, and the lens lost all depth-of-field. Once plan B- an attempt to ship in a new lens- failed, I settled on four [...]
As many of you ventured, the odd tropical tangle of fibers was fungal carton from the galleries of an Allomerus ant. While most biologists think of leafcutter ants when imagining an ant-fungal symbiosis, it turns out that other ants also have mutually beneficial fungal relationships. One of the more interesting is the Neotropical myrmicine Allomerus. This miniscule [...]
Hey look! A bug! But there’s more to this insect than meets the eye. Check out Mr. Membracid in side view:
I had so much fun with the mysterious lump of brown stuff from the other week that I thought we’d do another one. I’ll give you two bits of information: first, this does have to do with insects. And second, it’s also from the Ecuadorian Amazon. Ten points to the first person to tell me [...]
I am pleased to announce BugShot, a first-of-a-kind weekend workshop for arthropod photography. The event is a photography course and weekend retreat scheduled for Labor Day Weekend 2011 (September 2-5) at the Shaw Nature Reserve outside of St. Louis, Missouri. We have chosen a long weekend and a central location to make the event as accessible [...]
If you’ve ever wondered what we entomologists do all day, Monty Python has the answer: (Yes, I’m in a punchy mood today. I’ve got a raging grade-A cold, half my body weight is made up of sinus fluid, and I haven’t been able to breathe since Friday. So all you’re getting is snark.)
Via FailBlog: The internet may be laughing now, but surely Ant Pornography is a Rule 34. I’d also like to note- per the FailBlog screen capture- that the matriarchal nature of ant societies renders the phrase “Feminist Ant Pornography” rather apt.
Some 1680 x 1050 decoration to un-debug your desktop (click to enlarge): Phidippus – jumping spider Scaphinotus petersi Gigantiops desctructor Paraponera clavata – bullet ant Atta cephalotes – leafcutter ants Eciton hamatum – army ants Apis mellifera – honey bee Ectatomma tuberculatum Mosquito Bed bug – Cimex lectularius Belostoma – giant water bug Eciton rapax [...]
A personal weblog by Illinois-based biologist and photographer Alex Wild.
Myrmecos- derived from the ancient greek word for "ant"- hosts Alex's musings about these and other little creatures that share our planet.
Questions? Comments? Email alwild [at] myrmecos.net
|
| Blog: |
| Myrmecos |
|
Topics:
|
| Insects, Photography, Science |
|
|
