Alex Wild on insects, science, and photography
Poor Laura Beck. The stockings are hung, the egg nog is mixed, the gifts are wrapped, and all is set for a warm and happy holiday EXCEPT OMG TEH BUGS ARE RUINING EVERYTHING: …it turns out the beloved Christmas Pine doubles as a half-way house for mites, moths, spiders, and something disgustingly named ‘bark lice’. Puke/Shudder. [...]
What was last night’s unusual tropical insect? This one was tough. I had to spend an hour on Google and consulting the taxonomic literature just to get the animal to subfamily. There’s a photo of a similar animal on flickr identified as Poecilopsocus, but I’m not convinced that’s correct after reading through New (1978). In [...]
If they gave out awards for Goofiest Bug, Psocoptera (Bark Lice) would surely make the short list. photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D ISO 100, f/13, 1/250 sec, flash diffused through tracing paper
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.
