Music » Biodiversity in Focus Blog

Tuesday Tunes – Spanish Flea – Herb Alpert

Fun Stuff, Insects, Tongue in Cheek, Tuesday Tunes 2 Responses »

Jul 192011

This week’s song enjoys fresh ceviche eaten by candlelight near the sea, puppies, and long walks on the beach. Please give a warm welcome to Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass with their signature piece, Spaniiiiish Flea!

A song instantly recognizable thanks to The Dating Game (and several Simpson’s episodes), Spanish Flea is one of those songs that will be stuck in your head for the remainder of the day (you’re welcome). Try to not whistle this little diddy while you walk down the hall, work on your computer, or fall off to sleep this evening!

Yep, we here at Biodiversity in Focus like to make sure insects and their related music are always on your mind! Speaking of on your mind, last week’s tune came with an ID challenge which still has plenty of BioPts up for grabs. Since it’s the summer and you’ve likely been playing outdoors looking for insects (you have haven’t you?), I’ll leave the insect a mystery for another week, giving you a chance to relax in the air conditioning and figure out what it may be. Until next time, I’m Ryan Fleacrest!

This song is available on iTunes – Spanish Flea – Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

Tuesday Tunes – Bug Eyes – dredg

Fun Stuff, Insects, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes 3 Responses »

Jul 122011

Almost forgot about Tuesday Tunes this week! Been a busy summer so far, and this one just about slipped through the cracks. Today’s song has very little to do with insects besides the title, but the song is an old favourite of mine, so it’ll work for this last minute edition!

As consolation for being kind of lame with the song and write up, here’s some cooler “bug” eyes, and I’ll put some BioPoints up for the identification! 2 pts for order, 3 pts for family, and 5 pts each for genus & species. Remember, with 200 BioPts, I’ll send you a framed photo of your choice from my archives! Enjoy!

This song is available on iTunes – Bug Eyes – Catch Without Arms

Tuesday Tunes – Rip Out the Wings of a Butterfly – HIM

Biology, Fun Stuff, Insects, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes 2 Responses »

Jul 052011

Today marks the birthday of one of the most influential and important insect authors; Robert Evans Snodgrass (1875-1962). Snodgrass’ special interest was insect morphology, especially within an evolutionary context, as he sought to not only understand how insects are put together, but also how those structures contributed to the evolutionary history of species. His 1935 opus, Principles of Insect Morphology, is still relevant in many regards (my 4th year Insect Physiology professor referred to it several times throughout the semester), and can be considered one of the most important entomology texts of the 20th century.

Being a morphologist, Snodgrass would be an expert in insect dissection in order to examine the intricacies of insect muscles, nerves and exoskeletons. That being said, I’m sure his techniques were pretty refined and not quite comparable to ripping out the wings of a butterfly, but unfortunately there isn’t a song title “Careful Dissection of the Flight Apparatus of Lepidoptera”, so we’ll stick to some hard rock!

If you’re interested in learning more about PIM (instead of HIM), check out this post by Trichoptera grad student Zach Burington on his excellent blog, Trichopterology!

This song is available on iTunes – Wings of a Butterfly – Wings of a Butterfly – Single

Tuesday Tunes – Blackfly – Wade Hemsworth & The McGarrigle Sisters

Fun Stuff, Insects, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes 1 Response »

Jun 282011

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

Tuesday Tunes – Ticks – Brad Paisley

Fun Stuff, Life as a Grad Student, Nature, Pop Culture 3 Responses »

Jun 142011

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!

Tuesday Tunes – Fireflies – Owl City

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

Jun 072011

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

Tuesday Tunes – Honey Bee – Blake Shelton

Fun Stuff, Insects, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes 1 Response »

May 312011

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

Tuesday Tunes – Fruit Fly – Nada Surf

Fun Stuff, Insects, Tongue in Cheek, Tuesday Tunes No Responses »

May 242011

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

Tuesday Tunes – La Cucaracha

Fun Stuff, Insects, Pop Culture, Tongue in Cheek, Tuesday Tunes No Responses »

May 102011

Ryan Fleacrest 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.

Tuesday Tunes – The 17-Year Cicada – Sleepytime Gorilla Museum

Fun Stuff, Insects, Tuesday Tunes No Responses »

Apr 262011

Ryan Fleacrest The internet and the Midwest are all a tizzy over the pending emergence of this year’s 13-year cicada brood (brood XIX if you’re interested). These periodical cicadas go more than a decade living underground feeding on the sap of tree roots, only to emerge en mass to partake in a massive jam session/rave/orgy. Different years feature different broods emerging in different areas and composed of at least 1 of the 4 different 13-year cicada species (leading to some interesting questions regarding what’s a brood and what’s a species when there is hypothetically little gene transfer between broods). On top of the 13-year cicadas, there are 3 species of 17-year cicada, of which brood I is expected to emerge next year.

These insects with prime emergences serve as the undivisible subjects of a song which some might consider a little odd.

This song was actually the inspiration for the Tuesday Tunes feature and was the first song I added to my playlist. Someday I hope to witness and photograph a magicicada emergence first hand, but for now I’ll have to count on those near the epicentres to share this emergence!

This song is available on iTunes – The 17-Year Cicada – Of Natural History

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