Updates to the maps and containment percentages have been made to my earlier post. Here is a map of the 4th fire burning in SE Arizona, theMonument fire. This one is only10% 17% 15% 27% contained and is burning in the southern end of the Huachuca Mountains into Mexico. I also just received the sad news that the home of Noel McFarland has been claimed by the fire. Noel is a well known and respected entomologist who has made a massive impact in the moth field. While I don’t have the full details (and I don’t believe anyone has been injured by this blaze); it is likely that his landmark collection of hundreds of thousands of Lepidoptera has been lost. I wish Noel the best of luck, and can only hope the loss was not total.
As July approaches I being to look forward to the Pacific Coast meeting of the Lepidopterists’ Společnost. This year it will take place in Prescott Arizona, o 2 hours north of Phoenix. And as of this moment it is one of the few places in Arizonaneon fire. I’m sure you have all heard of the massive fires right now, but here is an update from a slightly biological standpoint. Most importantly we should all be thankful for the firefighters risking their lives to battle these wildfires.
For some reason I couldn’t link to the interactive maps directly from the InciWeb site, but please follow the links to explore further. While there are good interactive maps of these fires on Google Maps, they are a few days old. Below are screen-captures of maps less than 12 hours old.
Fire 1:The biggest one, The Wallow Fire je 20% 29% contained, human caused and has been burning for over 15 dnů. I had been hoping to go collecting around the town of Greer and Alpine, but both have fire quickly encroaching. The White Mountains region of Arizona is a fascinating blend zone between southern desert species and Rocky Mountain ones – the rare moth I was hoping to find here, Alexicles aspersa, will likely evade me yet again this year.
I’ve known for a while that beetles and other inverts occasionally have vertebrates on their menu, but I didn’t really know how large of an animal they could subdue! Even when the odd mantis grabs a hummingbird the size difference is not as substantial as is shown below. This impressive video was published recently in the free onlinejournal Zookeys.
Here is one of the figures from the paper, illustrating more beetles feeding on multiple species of Amphibians!
Gil Wizen, Avital Gasith (2011). Predation of amphibians by carabid beetles of the genus Epomis found in the central coastal plain of IsraelZookeys, 100, 181-191 : DOI:10.3897/zookeys.100.1526
Whoops, it’s almost Tuesday! Above isSchinia ligeae(Noctuidae) resting on its host plantXylorhiza tortifolia, theMojave Aster. I photographed this about three weeks ago outside the town ofBig Pine, Kalifornie. The asters were thick in the valleys below the snow capped Sierra, and the moths were abundant. Somehow these medium-sizedSchinia get away with being conspicuous and lazy, you don’t even need a net to collect them. Just walk up and tip them into a jar – I guess the pressure to evolve a more cryptic or evasive behavior is lacking.
Speaking of conspicuously lazy, I have been gone for much of May and hence the lull in blogging. Now that the weddings and spring field season are over, I’ll be back at the desk and back to blogging!
Pro příští tři týdny moji kolegové z Arachnologie laboratoři na Kalifornské akademie věd, jsou na Filipínách! (ne, nežárlí vůbec…) Cesta je součástí CAS Hearst expedici, Intenzivní snahy o rozloze všech našich výzkumných oddělení průzkumu hluboké moře, mělké moře a suchozemské prostředí Luzon. Dr.. Charles Griswold přinesl dva ze svých doktorandů – Hannah Dřevo a Natalia Chousou Polydouri – pomoci sbírat pavouky a hmyz. Zejména, Těším se na Lepidoptera, že Natalia se dobývat! (Dal jsem jí rychlý kurz na terénní sběr můry). Bohužel tam nebudu fotit a sbírat tuto rozmanitost sám; ale všichni můžeme sledovat, jak závistivě týmy zveřejňovat aktualizace na jejich pokroku v průběhu příštího měsíce na expedici blogu. Existuje již mnoho skvělých zápisů a obrazy z vodních lidí – zůstaňte naladěni pro hmyz.
Kdo mi může říct, co je níže špatně? Nejen, že je to zřejmý problém s fotografií, ale autor článku dělá několik logických skoků, aby podpořil svou premisu. Kdo mi může říct, jaké jsou jeho logické omyly? Nebudu odkazovat na celý článek, protože známý Lepidopterist se již vyjádřil – tak odolejte googlování článku pro snadnou odpověď.
New to the web this week is an excellent resource on theMecoptera ze Severní Ameriky. Dr.. Norm Penny has put together an illustrated guide to all the North American species with habitus and genitalia images. While not very diverse, the Mecoptera prove to be an enigmatic and fascinating group. Take a moment to explore the site and identify your specimens!
Like so many other urban animals, the Mission Blue Butterfly (Plebejus icarioides missionensis) is one that is gravely imperiled. This small blue lives in tiny fragments of habitat alongside multi-million dollar development in and around the San Francisco Bay. A century ago this butterfly was already starting to decline, with hundreds of acres of beautiful seaside morphing into sprawl. Today the coastal sage scrub has nearly vanished and what little remains is infested with invasive plants and animals.
The Mission Blue was one of the first animals listed on the Endangered Species Act, acchieving offical protection in 1976. Efforts over the last few years have focused onrestoring the habitat and the bluewithin it – with limited success. Before 2009 the last blue seen within the city limits was on Twin Peaks in 1997 (and possibly the 1970’s before that). Today the SF Recreation and Parks Department along with Bay Nature has somewhat re-established the Mission Blue on Twin Peaks from healthier populations in the Marin Headlands and San Bruno Mountain (the only other locations the butterfly is known from). I believe last year they had around 30 individuals flying on Twin Peaks. This year the numbers are down, but on Friday I found three females ovipositing on lupine – while these females were probably transplanted a few weeks ago, it is hope for the future. Unfortunately the only males I saw were up in the Marin Headlands – and hopefully males were seen on Twin Peaks this year (pending 2011 data).
Nepřekvapivě, it turns out that reintroducing a species is a complicated game. The Mission Blue utilizes three host lupine species, Lupinus albifrons, formosus andvariicolor. Yet maintaining these native species amongst the invasives requires radical measures including heavily applications of herbicides (against fennel, pampas grass and french broom – but including 136 other invasive plants (Marin Flora)). It is unknown what effect the herbicides have on developing larvae (only17% successfrom egg to caterpillar) or what it does to native ant populations that tend the caterpillars of the blue. Without native ants the caterpillars are much more likely to be predated, but even native ants are falling to the invading hoards of Argentine ants. And yet another key player is a newly found fungus that is killing lupine plants – devastating butterfly numbers in 2010.
If you compare this subspecies to other members within theicarioidescomplex there is a striking difference in abundance. Plebejus i. moroensisfrom the central coast is an incredibly abundant butterfly within good habitat. It is highly restricted, but not facing nearly the difficulties the Mission Blue is. I hold out hope for one of our last San Francisco blues – ifthe invasive species can be controlled – it won’t go the way of theXerces.
Sorry for the weird downtime over the last two days – the Southern Fried Network has been experiencing wonderful growth that has severely taxed our servers. This high traffic happened to correspond with a move of our physical servers the host was undertaking. The result was corrupted files that ended with our account placed on suspension.
Problem fixed! Pages back up, account upgraded, things should be running faster than ever. I’m still having problems resolving my pages – you might notice some 404 errors until I figure out what’s going on with those…
Každý, kdo je obeznámen s slavný Hlava Hawkmoth umrlčí, ale myslím, že je škoda, že jsme se popularizoval takový pochmurný charakter. Nahoře je mnohem veselý jihoamerická Arctiinae z Francouzské Guyany, který vypadá, jako by to sportovní klaun tvář. Bohužel to není moje fotografie, ale měli byste mít chvilku, aby prozkoumala Lepidopterologů Francie Webové stránky. Jejich fotografie z jejich výročních výprav mě žárlí!
