Ang boses ng mga tao, tomo II

And now for the even more infrequently reoccurring series, vox populi! For those without scarring high school memories of latin class (through no fault of my teacher) I’ll bring you up to speedthe title roughly translates tovoice of the people”. Here is another old e-mail that I’ve been saving. It is a 100% real message, but of course I have redacted the real names and addresses to protect the innocent. Enjoy! I also highly encourage submissions of your own-

Winter 2008:

“Doon, I’m so glad I found you. Now, I hope you can help me. 1982, while camping at an old gold mining camp in the Mendocino National Forest I was bitten by a large brown spider. It took three days for the venom to pass through my system. On day three I was 95% blind, the bite swelled to a large grotesquely deep red bump on my arm. I’ll never forget the 12 hours the venom attacked me. The price I payed to survive this spiders venom was…….to loose absolutely all my body fat. I spoke with a doctor from Santa Rosa by phone from a friends place in (some small CA town). He knew about this spider and couldn’t believe I suvived the venom when I told him I lost all my body fat. He also told me it was impossible for someone to survive loosing all their body fat in 12 oras. I reminded him that this was an impossible situation. He told me that this spider is being kept from the public. I believe this spider came from China or Russia. These spiders don’t share anything with other Cali spiders. They have big bodies and short stout legs. The female that bit me was about 4 inch’s and, had 5 males. Four years later, while living in the Hayward hills, I couldn’t believe my eyes, running across the floor, another one. This spider was about 6 inch’s. I know these spiders don’t climb walls or spin webs. They build nest’s, and obtain 4-5 males to protect her and find food. The female never leave’s the nest except…………when a larger female drives her out and, kills her males. This is when people are bitten by this spider, as she runs around looking for another nest. Bites are very uncommon. I wondered………….how big was the female that drove that 6 inch from her nest. At………….how big do they get. Can I find this spider on display at (your museum)? Is it possible to find all the information their is on this very dangerous spider?”

Continue reading Vox Populi, tomo II

Genius of the Press VIII

Welcome to volume eight of the inconsistently reoccurring series, Henyo ng Pindutin ang. Dumating ako sa Ang artikulong ito recently regarding an endemic Puerto Rican butterfly. Who can tell me exactly why this report is misleading? It may be a little trickier than the standard GOP (I suggest discarding any previously associated acronyms with those letters). Hint, just telling me the butterfly in the picture is from Malaysia is not the answer I’m looking for!

Landscape Cover Map

I’ve always wondered how to find the correct terminology for land cover in a given area. Usually, I just ballpark something along the lines ofoak chaparral”. But now I can use this awesome new map brought to us by the USGS/National Biological Information Infrastructure. The level of detail is amazing, and you can specify the degree of accuracy with a drop down tab (1-3). Now with a high-def US topo map I can see exactly where the largest stands of monterrey pine are (actually it’s a California Coastal Closed-Cone Conifer Forest and Woodland) so I can optimally place my trap this weekend.

Continue reading Landscape Cover Map

Ang Moth at sa Akin #12

Maligayang pagdating sa Ang Moth at sa Akin #12, at ang aking unang blog na Carnival. Sa kabila ng blogging para sa ilang buwan mayroon pa kong ibalik ang isang hitsura at sumasalamin sa kung paano mismo ako ay naging umiibig sa lepidoptera sa unang lugar. Pag-alala sa isang oras o lokasyon kung saan nangyari ito ay imposible, at tulad ng marami sa aking mga kasamahan at sigurado akong marami sa aking mga mambabasa, Mayroon akong butterfly net at “kulungan ng surot” sa kamay nang makalakad ako. Pagdating sa entomology naniniwala ako na halos lahat ay umiibig sa una sa isang malaki at kapansin-pansing insekto. Para sa akin ito ay isang butterfly, natural. Naaalala kong tinititigan ko ng walang katapusang mga oras ang pagkakaiba-iba ng Ornithoptera at Papilio na inilalarawan sa Paul Smart's sikat na libro. Sa isang lugar sa kahabaan ng paraan sa paghahanap ng isang bagong bagay ay nagsimula akong lumihis sa mundong panggabi. Binubuo ng mga gamu-gamo ang karamihan ng pagkakaiba-iba ng Lepidoptera; habang may halos 11,000 species sa Estados Unidos, ilang daan lamang ang mga paru-paro. Mabilis nitong binuksan ang isang pinto (baka sa bangin…) sa nakakagulat na kasaganaan na matatagpuan sa lahat ng dako sa paligid natin. Ang kahanga-hangang pagkakaiba-iba na ito ay nagdala sa akin nang malalim sa biology at kasaysayan ng ebolusyon ng Lepidoptera. Ang pag-edit ng labing-apat na kontribusyon ng moth blogging na ito ay hindi ko maiwasang magbalik-tanaw sa ilan sa aking sariling paglalakbay sa ina..

Perhaps kung bata pa ako sa Europe itong gamu-gamo (Deilephila elpenor porcellus) sana ang unang pumukaw ng mata ko. Lampas sa Urban Moths Natuklasan ni Ron Laughton ang nakamamanghang pagkakaiba-iba sa kanyang sariling bakuran sa parehong paraan tulad ng paglaki ko dito sa US. Tingnan ang mga uri ng bitag na ginamit niya, karamihan sa mga ito ay itinayo niya sa kanyang sarili. Ang isa sa mga pinakamahusay na pag-uugali ng mga gamu-gamo ay ang kanilang pagpayag na sumisid nang maaga sa liwanag. Hindi masyadong malayo kay Ron, Mike Beale ay nag-blog din ng mga british moth. Nakakamangha kung gaano kapareho ang ating dalawang fauna (ilang moths talaga ay pareho).

Continue reading The Moth and Me #12

Biology ng isang Ghost

Grinter Gazoryctra sp

Ang gamo na ito ay halos kasing bihira ng paranormal namesake nito (maliban sa totoo) – ito ay isang Gazoryctra sp. sa pamilya Hepialidae. Kinakatawan nila ang isang basal lineage ng Lepidoptera at karaniwang kilala bilang mga moth moths o matulin na moths. Multo – because males of some species are known to fly in true leks, where they hover up and down in grassy clearings at dusk while females observe. These same males also call for females with pheromones, a bit of a backward situation with insects. Swift- rather self evident, but boreal species have been known to be powerful flyers.

One of the features that help indicate this as a basal lineage is the placement of the wings on the body, some wing venation, reduced or absent mouthparts and the lack of a strong wing coupling device. These moths have ajugum”, which is a small thumb like projection from the top of the hindwing. Other lineages of moths have a tight coupling mechanism known as the frenulum and retinaculum, where bristles hook the two wings together so they remain coupled during flight. When at rest the jugum folds around and probably helps keep the wings togetherbut not while in flight; the forewing is out of sync with the hindwing and flight is not dynamic (Scoble 1992).

In the Americas Hepialid biology is very poorly understood. Only a handful of life histories are described globallyall of which seem to be endophagous (boring) in plant root systems. Some early instar larvae may feed in the leaf litter or underground on the root system before entering the rhizome. Australia is fortunate to have a diverse and impressive fauna of Hepialidaemany are brilliantly colored and enormous (250mm or up to 12 pulgada!), and a bit better studied. Some larvae are even common enough that aboriginal tribes have used them as a staple food source.

But back to this moth in particular. I collected it in my black light trap last August up in the Sierra Nevada around 10,500 feet. The species is unknown, and may likely be new. The most frustrating part is that it is the only specimen known to science. The entire genus is very rare, except for one or two commoner species, only a few dozen specimens exist. So is it a female of a species described only from a male? A freakish aberration of an otherwise known species? Or maybe it is actually new. I’ve barcoded the DNA, that actually tells me nothing since there are zero sequences from any closely related species. Talaga, as far as I know, the other species in the Sierra haven’t even been collected in decades so I can’t even get a sequence from an older specimen. The icing on the cake is their behavior. They rarely, kung sakaling, come to lightwhich may be a result of their crepuscular flight. On the right night they may be on the wing for 20-30 minutes, usually a female searching out a male, or a female flying to oviposit (likely just broadcast scatter their eggs on the ground). So come this late August I’ll be returning to the high Sierra with a few volunteers from the entomology department in hopes of seeing one whiz by me on the steep slopes. If I get some more, it might turn out to be impressive new species for California.

Henyo ng Pamamahayag VII

Sino ang makakakita kung ano ang mali Ang artikulong ito?

Mga pagtatantya ng Global Species Diversity

This recent article in the American Naturalist has taken a second look at some of the famously inflated species estimates, some going high as 100 million (Erwin, 1988). Estimates conducted by the authors indicate that projections above 30 million have probabilities of <0.00001. Their estimated range is more likely to be between 2.5 at 3.7 million species (with 90% confidence). This seems somewhat reasonable given that these extraordinary estimates were based heavily on extrapolation. There are clearly many difficulties in assessing diversity based on tropical arthropod surveysthis paper again uses phytophagous (plant-eating) beetles for estimates. They are careful to point out that these methods do not account for non-phytophagous insects, but assume that they will follow traditional biogeographic patterns of diversity. This is somewhat of a new concept given that when I was in college I was taught that parasitoids are counterintuitively not more diverse in tropical regions. This hypothesis is more often than not being proven false in the light of more precise modern taxonomic methodology. Rather proudly I helped play a role with the parasitoid project at the UIUC. Sa maikling salita, host specificity is more extreme in tropical environments with hundreds of cryptic species hidden amongst rapidly radiating groups such as the microgastrine Braconids (Hymenoptera) – the same has held true across similar taxa.

One interesting note about the paper is their inclusion of a secondary estimation based on Lepidoptera canopy assemblages. They assumed that a) all Lepidoptera can be found in the canopy and b) that all leps are phytophagous. This is clearly a very conservative estimation given that not all Lepidoptera are found in the canopy and not all are phytophagous. While I do not have the numbers on hand, a certain percentage of lep diversity must have been excluded from these estimates. I will also go out on a limb and assume that the authors (Novotny 2002) did not include microlepidoptera morphospeciesand most likely estimated abundances with our current taxonomic understanding. However I do not have access to this 2002 paper, so I may be incorrect. Using these Lepidoptera numbers (from the same survey as the Coleoptera) a global diversity was estimated by Hamilton et. al. at around 8.5 millions arthropod species.

While I agree that extraordinary estimates of tens of tens (or hundreds) of millions of arthropod species are probably ridiculous; I am of the camp that current research is indicating that estimates of the lower tens of millions of species are possible. The authors have failed to include research that counterbalances their premise that tropical species exhibit a lower beta diversity (Novotny 2002, 2007). In the same journal, Kalikasan 2007, Dyar et. al. have indicated that the American tropics exhibit a higher beta diversity than previously assumed. Either it can be said that estimates of beta diversity in the australasian tropics are incorrect, or they are incompatible with species assemblages of neotropical forests. All of this speaks to the difficulty in extrapolating estimations of species across all tropical regions. These estimates are based on comprehensive insect surveys of New Guinea, perhaps they do not accurately reflect the true diversity of American tropical forests, and these number ranges are low.

As a final thought, most assesments are focused on tropical arthropods. It seems all too possible that the total number of all species, including bacteria and archaea, can easily exceed tens of millions. But extrapolating those numbers is even more precarious than arthropods, given the extreme lack of knowledge we have.

D'oh!

Hindi mahanap ang isang paraan upang i-link ang direct video (Hindi kahit VodPod), but here is the link to the Daily Show site. Gaano karaming mga physicists na nakuha ang kanilang buhok out kapag narinig nila ang isang ito? Yikes, siya ang bagong na-appointed na tagapagsalita. Don’t worry Neil, hindi ka pagpunta kahit saan matapos ito.

Having not aired yet I can’t tell exactly how apologetic the show ay, but it seems heavily focused on finding thecreator”. I can hear it in John Stewart’s voice when he pulls back from ripping into Freeman’sgod of the gapstheory. Perhaps there was an edit and we missed the question where John Stewart askedMorgan, can you define a logical fallacy for usperhaps the god of the gaps one?” I believe that any physicist who ever saysgod was responsiblesays it with no deeper meaning than when Einstein famously evoked god’s dice. That’s to say, a non-literal and non-personal god found only in the beauty and splendor of nature.

An Uphill Battle

If there is one thing that I learned in college, it was how to easily distract myself. I tend to keep my TV on in the background while I’m working on my computer, especially late at night when I am usually fighting a winning war against sleep. The other night something did catch my eye: a man holding dowsing rods in his back yard. Volume up, let the bullshit flow. It was just a flash of idiocy in an otherwise good program on home improvement. I’ve become accustom to crap-based TV on networks such as the History Channel or a Discovery network (quality of their shows include gems likeThe Haunted: ghosts and pets”), but I was a little surprised to see BS grace my local PBS station.

Over on theAmerican Woodshophost Scott Phillips was constructing a beautiful garden arbor. You can watch the entire thing here for free: Episode 1609: Period Architectural Moldings and Trim. There are no time stamps on the clip, but the dowsing comes in around the mid-point. While demonstrating the materials needed to secure the wood to the ground he cautioned against digging haphazardly into your yard without knowing where the underground water, electrical or gas lines were: solid advice. So in order to do this you should (paraphrased) “take pieces of coat-hanger, anything will do, turn them into an “Ang”. As I walk forward the bars cross – doon (they cross) – right there is the irrigation line. 9 mula sa 10 people have this ability, but you should call in a professional if there is any doubt“. My translationOK guys, don’t worry about calling in some guy to do this, figure it out this way”. Please tell me what man who seriously watches a home improvement show at midnight would cede authority to someone else before giving it the good olcollege try? Even if we grant for a moment that 9 mula sa 10 people could do this, what about that one guy who can’t? Isn’t it irresponsible to suggest that you can avoid power/water/sewer/gas only 90% of the time? Oops, hit that pesky gas line

Being a scientist, a skeptic and a procrastinatorI wrote Scott a message about this so I could avoid my work at hand. Today he kindly replied saying: (excerpt)

Our bodies are electromagnetic fields. Disrupt a field and things happen…. I learned the technique mentioned from a city worker that they used to find lines. Not from a charlatan. My team witnessed the objective use of this technique.”

Briefly, no, our bodies are not electromagnets. Everyone can hold a compass, or TVwithout screwing them up. Franz Mesmer coined the idea ofAnimal Magnetismin the last half of the 18th century (also inventedmesmerizationAKA hypnotism) – and had it abruptly debunked by Benjamin Franklin and others. I’m also a bit worried to hear that city workers are relying on dowsing to locate public lines! But to move onward, let us dig into the myths of dowsing. I agree that there seems to be somewhat of an intuitive truth when it comes to dowsing, however false it is scientifically, it remains compelling. Oo naman… electrical things underground effect sensitive wires above. And wow, look at all these guys who can find water, or power, o… lost people… o bombs? OK, let’s stick to water for this conversation.

(continued)

Continue reading An Uphill Battle

May Butterflies (at isang gamu-gamo)

Just a few images of common California leps, taken along the coast range near Santa Cruz a few weeks ago. Starting to work my way through some photo backlog

Grinter Euphydryas chalcedona

Euphydryas chalcedona

Grinter Plebejus acmon

Karaniwang tao ACMO

Grinter Plebejus acmon

Karaniwang tao ACMO

Grinter Ethmia arctostaphylella

Ethmia arctostaphylella sa Eriodictyon sp.

One interesting note on Ethmia arctostaphylellathe name is a misnomer, it does not actually feed on Arctostaphylos (Manzanita). At the time of description in 1880 Walsingham had found larvae pupating on leaves of manzinata and assumed it was their host plant. In Jerry Powell’s stunning monograph of the group he indicates this moth was reared from Eriodictyon which happens to be the flower the moth is perched on. The two plants grow side by side, and it’s pretty easy to see how a wandering caterpillar finds its way onto a neighbor.