Sa pamamagitan ng Chris Grinter, on June 15th, 2011
Map/% updated June 20, 6pm.
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, ang 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.
Sa pamamagitan ng Chris Grinter, noong ika-14 ng Hunyo, 2011
Mga Mapa / pagkakaloob % na-update: 16 Hunyo
Habang papalapit ang Hulyo ay inaasam ko ang pagpupulong sa Pacific Coast ng mga Lepidopterist’ Lipunan. Sa taong ito magaganap ito sa Prescott Arizona, tungkol sa 2 oras sa hilaga ng Phoenix. At sa sandaling ito ay isa ito sa ilang mga lugar sa Arizona hindi sa sunog. Sigurado ako na narinig mo na ang lahat ng napakalaking sunog ngayon, ngunit narito ang isang pag-update mula sa isang bahagyang biological pointpoint. Ang pinakamahalaga ay dapat nating pasalamatan ang lahat para sa mga bumbero na nagpanganib sa kanilang buhay upang labanan ang mga wildfires na ito.
Sa ilang kadahilanan hindi ako mai-link sa mga interactive na mapa nang direkta mula sa site ng InciWeb, ngunit mangyaring sundin ang mga link upang galugarin pa. Habang mayroong mahusay na interactive na mga mapa ng mga apoy na ito sa Google Maps, ilang araw na sila. Nasa ibaba ang mga screen-capture ng mga mapa na mas mababa sa 12 oras na gulang.
Apoy 1: Ang pinakamalaking, Ang Apoy ng Wallow ay 20% 29% nakapaloob, sanhi ng tao at nasusunog nang labis 15 araw. Inaasahan kong pumunta sa pagkolekta sa paligid ng bayan ng Greer at Alpine, ngunit ang parehong may sunog na mabilis na nagkubkob. Ang rehiyon ng White Mountains ng Arizona ay isang kamangha-manghang timpla ng timpla sa pagitan ng mga southern southern species at Rocky Mountain – ang bihirang tanga na inaasahan kong matagpuan dito, Alexicles aspersa, malamang na maiiwasan ako ulit ngayong taon.
Ko na kilala para sa isang habang na beetles at iba pang inverts paminsan-minsan mayroon vertebrates sa kanilang menu, pero hindi ko talaga alam kung paano malaki ng isang hayop na maaari nilang malupig! Kahit na kapag ang kakaiba sasamba grabs isang hummingbird ang laki ng pagkakaiba ay hindi bilang makabuluhang bilang ay ipinapakita sa ibaba. 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
Sa pamamagitan ng Chris Grinter, on May 30th, 2011
Whoops, it’s almost Tuesday! Above isSchinia ligeae(Noctuidae) resting on its host plantXylorhiza tortifolia, ang Mojave Aster. I photographed this about three weeks ago outside the town ofBig Pine, Kalipornya. 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.
Sino ang maaaring sabihin sa akin kung ano ang mali sa ibaba? Hindi lamang ito ay halata na problema larawan, ngunit ang may-akda ng artikulo ay tumatagal ng ilang mga lohikal na leaps upang suportahan ang kanyang premise. Sino ang maaaring sabihin sa akin kung ano ang kanyang lohikal fallacies ay? Hindi ko ay mali-link sa ang buong artikulo masyadong pa dahil ang isang mahusay na kilala Lepidopterist ay na nagkomento – kaya pigilan googling ang artikulo para sa madaling sagot.
New to the web this week is an excellent resource on theMecoptera ng Hilagang Amerika. 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).
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 (lamang 17% 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.
Sa pamamagitan ng Chris Grinter, on April 28th, 2011
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…
Sa pamamagitan ng Chris Grinter, on April 24th, 2011
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!
