Check out this beautiful homemade nature documentary by John Dunstan: Amazing dramas take place all the time, right in our own gardens.
Posts Tagged ‘aphids’
Rose aphids
A splash of color for your Thursday evening: The rose aphid, Macrosiphum rosae, dates its taxonomic heritage right to the opening of modern nomenclature. It was described by Linneaus himself in the 1758 volume Systema Naturae. Of course, the aphids don’t pay much attention. They’re just happy to tap into rose phloem. ***update: Cameron Brumley informs [...]
A Voracious Aphid Lion
A few weeks ago the first Aphis nerii of the season showed up in our little prairie garden. These little orange globes multiplied to plague proportions within days. The butterfly weed was hit hard, dropping its plumes of orange flowers and withering. The bounty of aphids didn’t go unnoticed for long. Lots of insects eat [...]
A lady beetle pupates in time lapse…
…but the aphids steal the show: As you may have noticed I’ve been experimenting recently with various forms of video. Time-lapse photography only requires a regular still camera, a tripod, and an interval timer, so it doesn’t need any video equipment save the software on the finishing end. The above clip is made from 1/2 [...]
The Pea Aphid Genome
The genome sequence of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum was published today in PLoS. Concurrently, a set of supporting papers has come out in Insect Molecular Biology. This genome is significant for a number of reasons- it’s the first Hemipteran genome to be sequenced, aphids have an unusual reproductive cycle, and this particular species is [...]
Formica integroides tending aphids
Photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS D60. ISO 100, f/13, 1/200 sec, twin flash diffused through tracing paper
A Flurry of Soybean Aphids
It’s been snowing aphids the past few days here in Champaign-Urbana. Trillions of them are drifting across town, settling out on our garden, getting caught in our hair. I’ve never seen anything like it. I recently learned that this sternorrhynchan storm is composed of soybean aphids (Aphis glycines). That would explain all the aphid biomass. [...]
The Yamazaki "Going Way Out On A Limb" Award
This morning I was picking through recent ant literature for a 2008 myrmecological retrospective post when I stumbled on this little gem. Why do autumn leaves change to such striking colors? Kazuo Yamazaki thinks it’s all about the ants: Therefore, bright autumn leaves may have adaptive significance, attracting myrmecophilous specialist aphids and their attending ants [...]
Birth of an Aphid
Macrosiphum rosae – Rose aphids Arizona
Why I'm glad I'm not an insect (part 2)
I can’t imagine a more unpleasant way to go. This poor oleander aphid (Aphis nerii) has its innards sucked out by a hoverfly larva. photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon 20D f/13, 1/250 sec, ISO 100 MT-24EX flash diffused through tracing paper levels adjusted in Photoshop.
A personal blog by Illinois-based biologist and photographer Alex Wild.
