It’s been a pretty exciting week ’round these parts, with the debut of the ESC Blog. In it’s brief 72 hour existence it has had more than 400 views already, thanks in large part to a fantastic post by ESC President Michel Cusson about parasitic wasps and their “domestication” of viral DNA to help colonize their hosts. Of course there’s been plenty of other insect information being shared around the web this week, including an inordinate number of glowing invertebrate stories…
Like a Beacon in the Night
Scorpions are one of the better known examples of UV fluorescing invertebrates, and over at Safari Ecology there’s a nice breakdown of why they might do so (plus some other interesting scorpion factoids).
Scorpions aren’t the only ones with such a fancy party trick however. While surveying for rats on Alcatraz Island (yep, that Alcatraz), a research team from UC Davis inadvertently found a common millipede species glowing around the island. For the explanation of why these millipedes glow, check out Science Friday’s excellent interview & video with University of Arizona expert Paul Marek.
During the US civil war, some injured Tennessee soldiers noticed their wounds would glow at night, and what’s more, those soldiers who’s injuries glowed were more likely to survive their injuries! Excellent story of the “Angel’s Glow” and how scientific serendipity helped explain an excellent story of insects, nematodes and commensualism.
Last but certainly not least, check out this picture of a UV-fluorescing harvestman from Ecuador! I had no idea that (some?) Opiliones could fluoresce, but I’d love to try it out around here. Here’s a paper (open access) which discusses surverying for a harvestman species in Argentina using UV light. Anyone know where I can get a UV flashlight?
Diptera
Haddaway may have asked “What is Love“, but Floridians are starting ask where are the love bugs?
Ever wondered how to tell the difference between a male mosquito and a male midge? Dave at the Home Bug Garden has the info you need.
Brian Cutting gets some nice shots of an aphid’s worst nightmare: flower fly larvae.
Coleoptera
How much does the bite of a long-horned beetle (Cerambycidae) hurt? I don’t know, but The Bug Geek does!
Turns out that beetle elytra not only offer protection while at rest, but also provide lift while the beetle is in flight!
Ted MacRae finds a real jewel of a beetle that he hadn’t seen in quite some time.
Perhaps this post would be better classified under “Field trips that make me incredibly jealous”, but Hitoshi Takano of the Natural History Museum in London, UK is having a grand old time collecting dung beetles in Tanzania.
Science artist/illustrator Glendon Mellow has a sneak preview for a project he’s been working on recently. I’m incredibly biased, but I can’t wait for the full announcement about that project (hint: it’s coming soon)!
Hymenoptera
I’m not sure whether plants can be turned into zombies, but I think this parasitic wasp featured by Parasite of the Day gets pretty close!
A cup of tea with a touch of honey is a pretty common remedy for a cold, but can honey bees provide us with something more powerful to fight drug-resistant bacteria?
Lepidoptera
National Moth Week is coming up at the end of July, and what better way to get prepared than to pick up Seabrooke Leckie’s new field guide to moths? Seabrooke just got back from what sounds like a really fun book tour and has started sharing stories of some of the people and moths she met. In case you want to get outside and start practicing your mothing skills, Brigette Zacharczenko at Caterpillar Blog shares how she finds moths (and other creatures of the night).
Other Arthropod Orders
Chagas disease has flown under the epidemiological radar for a long time, but new research about infection rates in the US hopes to bring it into the light.
Just when I think I’ve got insects all figured out, Ted MacRae shares a roach that can curl up into a ball and which “nurses” its young. Mind. Blown.
Arachnida
I just heard about these Spider Assassins (also known as Pelican Spiders for pretty obvious reasons), but I already want to learn more about them! Amazing observations and photos of this poorly understood group by Paul Bertner.
The Buddle Lab and its academic offspring are helping to unravel the natural history of spiders in the Arctic, and Chris shares one of their recent publications.
Taxonomy
X-Men figurines: toys, or tools for teaching species concepts & evolutionary history?
By the sounds of it, McGill dipterist Terry Wheeler has an extremely enviable and extensive book collection.
Photography
Want a cool new technique to photograph insects any time, any place? Check out these amazing light stencil photographs by TigTab, and also the tutorial on how to make stencils for yourself!
This photo wins any and all competitions related to last week’s annular solar eclipse, hands down.
To leave off this week, enjoy this fantastic #IAmScience video put together by the team at Story Collider:
Further Reading
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