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, die Monument 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’ Gesellschaft. This year it will take place in Prescott Arizona, über 2 hours north of Phoenix. And as of this moment it is one of the few places in Arizonanichton 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 Fireis20% 29% contained, human caused and has been burning for over 15 Tage. 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.
Ich habe für eine Weile, dass Käfer und andere invertiert gelegentlich Wirbeltiere auf der Speisekarte bekannt, aber ich wusste nicht wirklich, wie groß ein Tier zu unterwerfen konnte sie wissen,! Selbst wenn die ungeraden Gottesanbeterin packt einen Kolibri der Größenunterschied ist nicht so erheblich, wie unten gezeigt. Diese eindrucksvolle Video wurde vor kurzem in der freien Online veröffentlicht Zeitschrift Zookeys.
Hier ist eine der Figuren aus dem Papier, veranschaulicht, mehr Käfer ernähren sich von mehreren Arten von Amphibien!
Gil Wizen, Avital Gasith (2011). Raub von Amphibien durch Laufkäfer der Gattung Epomis in der zentralen Küstenebene von Israel gefunden Zookeys, 100, 181-191 : DOI:10.3897/zookeys.100.1526
Whoops, it’s almost Tuesday! Above isSchinia ligeae(Noctuidae) resting on its host plantXylorhiza tortifolia, die Mojave Aster. I photographed this about three weeks ago outside the town ofBig Pine, California. The asters were thick in the valleys below the snow capped Sierra, and the moths were abundant. Somehow these medium-sizedSchiniaget 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!
For the next three weeks my colleagues from the Arachnology lab at the California Academy of Sciences are in the Philippines! (no, not jealous at all…) The trip is part of the CAS Hearst expedition, a massive effort spanning all of our research departments to survey the deep seas, shallow seas and terrestrial environment of Luzon. Dr.. Charles Griswold brought two of his PhD students – Hannah Wood and Natalia Chousou Polydouri – to help collect spiders and insects. Particularly, I’m looking forward to the Lepidoptera that Natalia will be bringing back! (I gave her a quick course on field collecting moths). Sadly I’m not there to photograph and collect this diversity myself; but we can all watch enviously as the teams post updates on their progress over the next monthon the expedition blog. There are already lots of great entries and images from the aquatic people – stay tuned for the insects.
Wer kann mir sagen, was falsch ist unten? Es ist nicht nur die offensichtliche Foto Problem, aber der Autor des Artikels nimmt einige logische Sprünge, seine Prämisse unterstützt. Wer kann mir sagen, was seine logische Trugschlüsse sind? I won’t link to the entire article quite yet because a well known Lepidopterist has already commented – so resist googling the article for the easy answer.
Neu im Internet ist diese Woche eine hervorragende Ressource zum Thema Mecoptera von Nordamerika. Dr.. Norm Penny hat einen illustrierten Führer zu allen nordamerikanischen Arten mit Habitus- und Genitalbildern zusammengestellt. Obwohl nicht sehr vielfältig, Die Mecoptera erweisen sich als eine rätselhafte und faszinierende Gruppe. Nehmen Sie sich einen Moment Zeit, um die Website zu erkunden und Ihre Exemplare zu identifizieren!
Wie so viele andere städtische Tiere, die Mission blauer Schmetterling (Plebejischen icarioides missionensis) ist eine, die ernsthaft gefährdet ist,. Diese kleinen blauen Leben in winzige Fragmente von Lebensraum neben mehreren Millionen Dollar Entwicklung in und um 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).
Not surprisingly, 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 für die seltsame Ausfallzeiten während der letzten 2 Tage – das Southern Fried Netzwerk erfahren hat wunderbare Wachstum, die stark besteuert hat unseren Servern. Das hohe Verkehrs passiert mit dem Umzug unserer physischen Server der Host Bezeichnung entsprechen. Das Ergebnis wurde beschädigt Dateien, die mit unseren Konto endete am Aufhängung platziert.
Problem behoben! Seiten sichern, Kontos aktualisiert, Dinge sollten schneller als je zuvor laufen. Ich bin immer noch Probleme mit der Lösung Favoriten fügen – Sie könnten einige merken 404 Fehler, bis ich herausfinden, was los ist mit denen,…
Everyone is familiar with the famousdeath’s head hawkmoth, but I think it’s a shame we have popularized such a grim character. Above is a much more cheery Neotropical Arctiinae from French Guiana that looks like it’s sporting a clown face. Sadly this isn’t my photograph, but you should take a moment to exploreLes Lépidoptéristes de Francewebsite. Their photos from their annual expeditions makes me jealous!
