About lowly human parking laws at least!
Honey Bee Don't Care!
Yep, a honey bee swarm decided that this parking sign in our department’s parking lot was as good a place as any to settle down for the evening. Lucky for them, the parking authority goes home at 5…
We're going to need a smaller truck!
One of the offenders
This Friday is Canada Day, and what better entomological representation of Canada than the scourge of the Great White North, the black fly! Well, I suppose grylloblattids are a better choice, but so far no one has written a song about them, so black flies will have to do! (The Grylloblattidae are a group of rare insects first discovered on a glacier in western Canada, and are the mascot of the Entomological Society of Canada)
Along with our igloos and friendship with Charlie from Thunder Bay, swarms of black flies waiting to bleed unlucky Canadians dry is one of the more common misconceptions about Canada. Luckily, most of southern Canada is relatively free of black flies, but once you get into cottage country, the woods do indeed belong to the bikojisi, as they are known to the Ojibwe. The clouds of black flies present in the back country of Northern Canada have been known to instill fear in even the most adventurous outdoorsman (or outdoorswoman), and those required to work outdoors during the spring in Boreal Canada can undoubtedly sympathize with this weeks artist, Wade Hemsworth as he sings about his experiences with black flies while working for Hydro Ontario!
Incidentally, this short film by Christopher Hinton was nominated for an Academy Award in 1992 for Best Animated Short (it lost to this entertaining cartoon unfortunately). Pretty good for an insect loathed by most Canadians eh?
This black fly may be from Ecuador, but that arm is 100% Canadian!
H/T to Bug Girl for sharing this song!
This song is available on iTunes – The Blackfly Song – Folk Songs of the Canadian North Woods
Confession time: ticks creep me out. So much so, I can vividly remember the first time I saw a tick, and can still feel the near-instantaneous wave of nausea that swept over me…
It was back in high school when I had my first run in with these eight legged freaks. I was working part time at a vet’s office (I was an aspiring vet for most of my childhood, before I took a close look at flies) when a beautiful golden retriever came in with it’s owner, looking all goofy and happy-go-lucky, as pretty much every golden retriever does. The owner had brought her dog in because she found a tick on it’s back and didn’t want to risk breaking it on removal. Being curious, I came around the counter with the vet to have a look at the tiny arthropod which I’d heard so much about, expecting a small spider-like creature perhaps feeding like a mosquito. What I wasn’t expecting was a FULLY ENGORGED, dime-sized tick just pulling out and wobbling along the dog’s back! The vet picked it up in a tissue and passed it to me while he checked the wound on the dog’s back. Nearly in shock from what I had just seen, I peeked within the tissue to get a closer look and confirm that I wasn’t in a nightmare, and lo and behold, there in my hand was a giant, grey mass of nastiness. I managed to maintain an air of professionalism while I walked back around the counter with the tissue, and waited until the customer and her dog (oblivious to the entire process it seems) left before breaking my poker face with a look of utter disgust and revulsion! With a small portion of my curiosity still intact, I decided I’d squeeze the tick to see what would happen; I should have known better, but I maintain that I was in shock and not thinking clearly. With the slightest touch, the tick exploded like a tomato hit by buckshot, leaving the tissue looking like a scene from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and proving that my gag reflex was still working!
The Deer Tick - Ixodes scapularis
Of course, with the amount of time I spend in the field during the summer, I’ve come close to these little Hellians from time to time, and have seen them sitting at the tip of long grasses, waving their little legs back and forth awaiting an unknowing victim. Needless to say, I always do a quick tick check upon arriving home, and can fully appreciate Brad Paisley’s desire to keep his lady friend safe after a romantic picnic!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I can feel my skin crawling…
This song is available on iTunes – Ticks (Radio Edit) – Ticks – Single
Thanks to Marianne Alleyne for reminding me of this song!
Well it seems the summer has finally arrived, and with it the warm temperatures! I always associate fireflies with summer, with their flickering lights during hot nights. I’m going to attribute my procrastination lately to the heat, and call in lame, providing you a simple song with simple lyrics! Perhaps, take a moment and think back to summer’s past and the memories you’ve had with fireflies!
I’ll try to stop being lame this week and finish up all those posts I promised for last week! Until then, keep cool and enjoy the summer’s eve!
This song is available on iTunes – Fireflies – Ocean Eyes
There are few insects which enjoy the adoration, fame and geographical range that the domestic honey bee (Apis mellifera) does, so it’s surprising that there are relatively few songs singing their praises. Of course, that doesn’t stop artists of all eras from using the sweet “nectar” produced by these entomological factory farms as a cutesy term of endearment for a loved one! Makes you wonder whether Blake Shelton is known as “honey bee” to his wife…
I first head this song on Twitter via Dr. May Berenbaum (@MayBerenbaum) which makes a slick segue into my next post; a review of the new documentary Queen of the Sun, which features Dr. Berenbaum’s expert opinions on the plight of the honey bee in America! Pretty good eh? Make sure you check it out soon, but until then, Fleacrest, out!
This song is available on iTunes – Honey Bee – Honey Bee – Single
Just a quick post to pass along a menage a trois of new insect blogs which have ties to McGill University in Montreal, Quebec!
Chris Borkent is not only a PhD student working on fungus gnat (Mycetophilidae) taxonomy at McGill, but also an avid naturalist. Chris will be sharing his knowledge and observations on all things natural that he makes during his walk to work at the Lyman Entomological Museum over at his new blog, Natural History in Suburbia. Another dipterist is now online; beware!
Speaking of the Lyman Entomological Museum, they’ve recently started a blog highlighting the research accomplishments and field work being undertaken at their institution. There are a bunch of great entomologists working in the Lyman Museum, so be sure to watch for lots of interesting news!
Finally, McGill alum Brigette Zacharczenko is working towards her MSc PhD at the University of Connecticut by studying the systematics of moths in the family Noctuidae, and has just started a blog chronicling the life history of her research subjects. With some absolutely stunning photos of moth eggs and caterpillars, caterpillarblog is definitely going to be one to watch! Also, Brigette is a super creative seamstress who designs, creates and sells plush invertebrates under the pseudonym Weird Bug Lady. An awesome nickname, and anyone with an interest in insects should check out those cute-n-cuddly works of art right now!
It was a great long weekend for us Canadians, with more than decent weather in my area, cold beer, and BBQ! I also came to the conclusion that I’m going to start referring to the holiday as Linneaus Day rather than Victoria Day; Linneaus contributed more to global society, considered himself royalty, and holds taxonomic priority – he was born in 1707 while Queen Victoria wasn’t born until 1819! But I digress…
Along with the great weather and beer, I’ve put the final touches on my first peer-reviewed journal article, which should be coming online sometime around lunch today! I’ll be blogging about it later on, but for now, here’s a song somewhat on topic by Nada Surf; Fruit Fly.
I’m pretty sure this song is referring to a family which are frequently called “fruit flies” but which I call “vinegar flies” – Drosophilidae. These diverse nuisances aren’t the same family as I’m publishing on, but the title “Fruit Fly” does fit my group, the Tephritidae. The closest I could come to finding a tephritid-relevant musical selection was the Seattle-area punk band Apple Maggot Quarantine Area, but they didn’t have any useful videos to share…
Anyways, keep an eye out later today for the full story!
This song is available on iTunes – Fruit Fly – Let Go
In honour of the Latin American celebration of Cinco de Mayo, I bring you an iconic entomological song that most people will instantly recognize! While the original lyrics were about a disabled cockroach, this song became popular during the Mexican Revolution, with people creating their own lyrics to mirror their political ties. The original lyrics however are pretty fun:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| La cucaracha, la cucaracha, | The cockroach, the cockroach, |
| ya no puede caminar | can’t walk anymore |
| porque no tiene, porque le falta | because it doesn’t have, because it’s lacking |
| las dos patitas de atrás. | its two back legs. |
(Lyrics courtesy of Wikipedia)
I’ve seen many insects which are lacking legs and still mobile, so it’s a little odd that these are the lyrics which started it all. As many urbanites may attest, killing a cockroach is not the simplest task and urban legends maintain that cockroaches will inherit the world following a nuclear holocaust. Perhaps we’ve just been taking the wrong approach this whole time, and removing the back legs is all that’s needed to stop these household pests!
Certainly a catchy tune, and one I’m sure will be infesting my head for the remainder of the day!
This song is available on iTunes – La Cucaracha – Mexican Fiesta
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| La cucaracha, la cucaracha, | The cockroach, the cockroach, |
| ya no puede caminar | can’t walk anymore |
| porque no tiene, porque le falta | because it doesn’t have, because it’s lacking |
| las dos patitas de atrás. | its two back legs. |
It’s been an interesting week for entomology, and I wanted to share a few of the highlights. Conveniently enough, I had a photo which nicely segues between each of the stories!
One of my favourite entomological newsletters was published today, and to celebrate I’m going back to a fly-themed song. I’d highly recommend checking out “Fly Times”, the biannual newsletter of the North American Dipterists Society (affectionately known as NADS), where you can find all manner of interesting news from the Dipterological community, buzzing with stories from the field, research news, and all manner of articles involving flies and the people who study them.
In other Dipteran news, I’ve completed all the requirements for my MSc and am officially the proud owner of a shiny new graduate degree in Diptera systematics! This means that my blogging schedule will pick up again, with multiple posts each week and some big ideas for the near future. Thanks for sticking with Biodiversity in Focus during this busy period!
This song is available on iTunes – Buzzin’ Fly – The Dream Belongs to Me – Rare and Unreleased Recordings 1968/1973