Tuesday Tunes – Mississippi Bo Weevil Blues – Charley Patton

 Entomology, Fun Stuff, Natural History, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes  No Responses »
Oct 182011
 

Ryan FleacrestWhen it comes to insect pests, few have been so devastating yet controlled and managed as the Boll Weevil (Anthonomus grandis). An introduced pest of US cotton in the early 20th century, the Boll Weevil has largely been eradicated thanks to a massive effort by the USDA (which  might explain why there are only 4 photos of this beetle on BugGuide).

It’s not often that a major insect pest is praised, yet in Enterprise, Alabama, they’ve erected a statue in its honour! Why? Because it so devastated the local cotton plantations that farmers switched to peanut farms, where they found great commercial success! Enterprise, AL is definitely on my dream roadtrip schedule now!

 


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Of course, Boll Weevils aren’t the only entomologically related statues in the US; Mormon crickets (Anabrus simplex) were also immortalized, sort of. In this case, it was their demise by California Gull which is being remembered, but still, an insect-related statue is an insect-related statue!

 

 

As you may have noticed, I didn’t get around to answering last week’s photo challenge; imagine that… There are still plenty of points up for grabs and not many guesses, so why not take a stab at what it might be. Hopefully I’ll get time to post the full story next week, but given my track record with sticking to schedules, best not hold your breath!

 

This song is available on iTunes – Mississippi Boll Weevil Blues – Complete Recordings, CD A

Tuesday Tunes – Outdoor Miner – Wire

 Fun Stuff, Insects, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes  No Responses »
Mar 292011
 

Ryan FleacrestMany artists write their music about the insects which are commonly encountered; ladybeetles, butterflies, the occasional ant or dragonfly. Very few go that extra step and talk about relatively obscure insects of modest economic importance. When it’s not a beetle but rather a fly, well, that’s like icing on the cake.

Today I bring you a song by the British band Wire. Now, this is where it gets a little ironic, as the fly featured in the song Outdoor Miner is the serpentine leaf miner (Liriomyza brassicae), which although one of the most cosmopolitan Agromyzidae (Leafminer Flies), isn’t found in Britain (as of 2007, 29 years after the song was released). The serpentine leaf miner doesn’t generally result in large crop losses, but can create cosmetic damage which makes roadside sale more difficult. Wire has managed to record the life history of the fly through their lyrics, describing the leaf mining patterns indicative of the fly as well as the pupation behaviour (dropping from the leaf to pupate in the soil, and being born again figuratively speaking). Seems like an awful lot of biology for one song eh?

 

 

Maybe I’m over-interpreting the lyrics a little, but even the lowly silverfish gets the nod! Wire must have had an entomologist on the payroll; excellent! Fleacrest, out!

This song is available on iTunes – Outdoor Miner – Chairs Missing (Remastered)