Alex Wild on insects, science, and photography
In case we needed a reminder we still don’t know much about the ancient ants that wandered about under dinosaur feet, Phillip Barden and David Grimaldi have described some bizarre extinct species in the genus Haidomyrmex: The discovery of two distinct, near-complete specimens belonging to the Cretaceous ant genus Haidomyrmex Dlussky prompts a detailed description [...]
This week’s PNAS contains detailed follow-up research on an intriguing story that emerged a couple years ago about a purportedly asexual, all-female ant species. A 2009 report looked for, and failed to find, any genetic signal for sexual reproduction in a population of the fungus-growing ant Mycocepurus smithii in Panama. This data, along with a [...]
Say “Weaver Ant” to an ant enthusiast and I guarantee you most will imagine the charismatic genus Oecophylla from tropical Africa, Asia, and Australia. Even wikipedia would agree. But the American tropics also has weaver ants. Several species, in fact. Wikipedia’s muddled definition aside, weavers are tree-dwelling ants that bind living leaves together with larval silk. [...]
P.Z. Myers of Pharyngula weighs in on last year’s Nowak et al Nature paper with a rather odd angle: Martin Nowak has written a peculiar paper, recently published in Nature, in which he basically dismisses the entire concept of inclusive fitness and instead promotes a kind of group selectionist model. It’s an “analysis” paper, and [...]
Another banner day for myrmecology! My friend and former labmate Andrea Lucky has just published her dissertation on the evolutionary history of Australasian Leptomyrmex spider ants. At first glance it seems very good research: a thoughtfully cautious phylogenetic analysis reveals a compelling story about a charismatic group of insects. Here’s an excerpt: This molecular phylogenetic [...]
Leafcutter ants are normally thought of as tropical animals. These ubiquitous insects are commonly featured in Amazonian nature documentaries, for example, and they constitute one of the most damaging pests of South American agriculture. But the ants, in spite of our latitudinal stereotyping, do extend into the temperate zone. Atta texana occupies the humid climes [...]
Today is not only the final day of Army Ant Week, but Charles Darwin‘s 202nd birthday. So I close Army Ant Week with a bit of speculation about evolution, and what army ants suggest about the nature of the evolutionary process. The 300 or so army ant species vary in behavior, but most are specialized [...]
I recently had the opportunity to photograph one of the odder spectacles among insects: a common house fly emerging from its puparium using a giant inflatable head. What’s deal with this strange behavior? Many millions of years ago, some flies figured out an ingenious way to protect their delicate developing pupae. Instead of shedding their [...]
Halteria is the name for a group of insects defined by a severe modification of flight wings into gyroscopic stabilizing structures called halteres. The group includes all the true flies plus Strepsiptera, an oddball lineage of parasites. This taxonomic scheme is a pleasing arrangement by some counts, as it requires but a single evolutionary origin [...]
PNAS yesterday carried breaking news by Rust and colleagues of extensive new fossil Indian amber deposits dating to about 50 million years ago and holding exquisitely preserved fossils. How important is this find? It’s huge. Not only does the discovery add an older record to bridge the excellent Dominican (15 mya) and Baltic (40 mya) [...]
A personal blog 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? Email alwild [at] myrmecos.net; or follow @Myrmecos on Twitter.
