Alex Wild on insects, science, and photography
Coming this November: I’ve gotten an advance look at the manuscript and the guide promises to be quite useful for those working in the northeastern United States. The cover image is one of my photographs showing a queen and worker of the socially parasitic species Aphaenogaster tennesseensis:
I’m always vaguely embarrassed to admit to not having photographed common ants appearing in my yard. So with great relief, I can now say I’ve shot Nylanderia parvula, an adorable little formicine that nests under the bricks of our front walkway. Distinguishing among the many similar, small species of Nylanderia can be tricky. This one [...]
A defining feature of many social insects is an unusual antennal form. The base segment is elongated such that the antennae take on a shape rather similar to a human arm. What’s up with this “elbowed” appearance? Quite simply, the kink allows the insect to feel with her antennae what she is holding in her [...]
The Astonishing Ant-Man from Iaia Sinimbu on Vimeo.
This is creepy: Among the odder ant-attacking parasites are mermithid worms. These nematodes sit coiled inside their hosts’ abdomens, consuming stored reserves and disrupting normal development. Infected ants have smaller heads and a distended gaster, a distortion striking enough that taxonomists failing to recognize the signs of parasitism have occasionally described these forms as novel [...]
This post is a heads-up to those of you who pay attention to taxonomy: the dracula ant genus Amblyopone isn’t what it used to be. A paper out today in PLoS ONE by Masashi Yoshimura and Brian Fisher has taken the genus and cleaved it in three. Species are now divided between a much smaller Amblyopone [...]
A short video by myrmecostore showing the gruesome aftermath of a Prenolepis mating flight: I can’t imagine anything more unpleasant than being sucked dry by a crab spider latched to my skull. Other than the same, but simultaneously being assaulted by a sex-crazed drone swarm. I guess you could never accuse Prenolepis nitens males of being [...]
Of all the ant sites on the internet, few are as effective an outreach tool as AntWeb.org’s excellent Ant Blog. Reader questions about everything from ant-rearing tips to identifications to pest control are farmed out to the appropriate experts. Responses are characteristically authoritative and good-natured. Consider the Ant Blog’s answer to the above question about patio [...]
I’ve been remiss in not mentioning the latest addition to the world list of ant genera: Zatania LaPolla, Kallal & Brady 2011. This perky little formicine is not new in the sense that the insects have just been discovered. Rather, it is new in that the previous inclusion of its species in an existing genus, [...]
A few days ago, as an experiment, I uploaded the following image to Google + and Facebook: I was interested to compare differences in community engagement across social media platforms. Why? I post my new photos to Google+ and don’t do much on Facebook (which I hate with a passion, for a variety of reasons), [...]
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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