So, the Arizona Ant Course wrapped up this weekend. I didn’t attend this year, but I know some Myrmecos readers made the trip. How was it? What were the highlights of Ant Course 2011?
Posts under ‘arizona’
I can tell when palo verde beetle season arrives in Arizona…
…because new comments pile up on a three year old blog post. We’re nearly at 100 comments, including some real gems: These things are tough! You can step on them with all your weight and it will only stun them. The best way I’ve found to exterminate them is by repeatedly smashing them with a [...]
Sonoran Sunset
Friday evening, the sun sets over Tucson, Arizona: Click on the image for a larger version.
Ladybird in the sun
Hippodamia sp. Ladybird beetle Tucson, Arizona Photo details: Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D ISO 100, f4.5, 1/320 sec, ambient light
Friday Beetle Blogging: Dynastes granti, the Western Hercules Beetle
Meet Dynastes granti. This behemouth of an insect is North America’s heaviest scarab beetle, found in the mountains of the American southwest where adults feed on the sap of ash trees. I photographed these spectacular insects a few years ago while living in Tucson. The impressive pronotal horn on the beetle pictured above indicates a [...]
Friday Beetle Blogging: Trox Hide Beetle
Scarab’s shrewd cousin, Elytra warty like hide. Must be Trogidae! Photo details: Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D ISO 100, f/16, 1/250 sec, indirect strobe in white box
A battle for the desert
While in Arizona, I chanced upon a set of ant fights that I’d observed several times previously. Single workers of the maricopa harvester ant Pogonomyrmex maricopa would approach a nest of their competitor, Aphaenogaster long-legged ants, and spend a few minutes drawing heat from the guards before wandering off. The interaction is common enough that [...]
Filming Ants in Arizona
What was I doing in Arizona last month? Thanks for asking. I was helping a film crew wrangle harvester ants for an upcoming National Geographic documentary. The crew, an all-star cast of nature cinematographers including Martin Dohrn, Howard Bourne, and Gavin Thurston, is still in the field- you can follow their progress by blog. The [...]
Friday Beetle Blogging: Leconte's Jewel Scarab
Jewel scarabs emerge during Arizona’s summer monsoon, and collectors from around the world descend on the region with their blacklights and mercury vapor lamps to attract the beetles. Chrysina lecontei is the smallest and rarest of the three Arizona species. photo details (both photos): Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D ISO [...]
Just hanging out…
photo details: Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D ISO 100, 1/250 sec, f/14, indirect strobe in a white box
A personal blog by Illinois-based biologist and photographer Alex Wild.
