Alex Wild on insects, science, and photography
Thrifty Thursdays feature photographs taken with equipment costing less than $500. [HP deskjet F4280 printer/scanner - $150] A cheap desktop scanner isn’t exactly a camera. But scanners open a different set of creative possibilities; see, for instance, the late Tom Eisner’s fabulous scanner art. Two-dimensional subjects like insect wings are especially suitable for scanning. Brood XIX [...]
An ambitious Cyphomyrmex forager carries a piece of insect frass back to the nest. These ants feed exclusively on a fungus that grows on the bits of detritus they gather. (Mindo, Ecuador). photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x lens on a Canon EOS 7D ISO 100, f/13, 1/250 sec, diffuse twin flash
What was that Tiger-Skin Rug? It was a close-up of the abdomen of North America’s largest moth, Hyalophora cecropia. I happened across a mating pair while taking out the garbage the other night, of all things, and spent the next couple hours arranging the above photograph. Ten points to MrILoveTheAnts for a game well played. With two [...]
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The image below might be a tiger skin rug. But it is not a rug- it’s part of a living insect: What is it? Ten points to the first person to correctly guess the genus and species. Supporting character information must be provided to receive full credit. The cumulative points winner for the month of June [...]
MrILoveTheAnts sends in this shot of two pavement ant colonies fighting for territory: These epic sidewalk battles normally sprawl to about the size of a dinner plate, but up close they are among the Northern Hemisphere’s most spectacular insect phenomena.
From the BBC’s classic Life in the Undergrowth: For more on bee thermodynamics, I heartily recommend Bernd Heinrich’s Bumblebee Economics.
A tachinid fly, killed and consumed by a fungus: photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 50D ISO 100, f/13, 1/250 sec, diffuse fill flash & strobe behind backdrop leaf
Not much time to blog today owing to a busy photographic schedule, but I have to mention for the myrmecologists here a new PLoS One paper by Patrick Kück et al reanalyzing the phylogenetic position of Martialis: Abstract: Martialinae are pale, eyeless and probably hypogaeic predatory ants. Morphological character sets suggest a close relationship to the ant [...]
Well, crud. After 18 months and over 100,000 exposures, the shutter on my Canon EOS 7D has failed. If you haven’t seen a dying shutter, here’s a sample from my faltering camera: I’m more curious than bothered by the failure. The factory service center will swap out the broken part for a fraction of the [...]
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
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