weirdbuglady

Goodbye!

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Thu, 26 May 2011 17:53:00 +0000

It's time for me to sadly say goodbye to this blog... perhaps just for a while, perhaps forever.

I have decided to focus my blogging energies here:

CATERPILLAR BLOG

There I have more pages with fun stuff like galleries and info about me and the lab I work in.
I will be writing mostly about caterpillars, the focus of my graduate research. There will still be forays into the realms of sewing and other animals, but this way I hope to provide more organized, useful information to a general audience.

Enjoy!

Just dance

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Sometimes you just need to get attention.

Like this little fly. He was less than 1cm long, sitting on a leaf, unperturbed by my presence. He was more concerned with grabbing the attention of another fly, perhaps a rival male or potential mate? His front legs were white, and he waved them around quite dramatically. Slow, swirling movements, distinct from the usual jerky movements of a nervous fly. Hopefully he achieved his goal, whatever it was.
I am not sure if this hopper was signaling to me or the other hopper on the fern. I wonder what the purpose of the headstand is supposed to be?
My favorite dancers were these tephritid flies. It was a hot day in the lowlands, we were waiting in the shade for our driver to return, and I noticed some little flies acting strangely. There were dancers on almost every branch. I'm disappointed my camera would not focus close up enough to get a video of their dance moves, but I did get some action shots. Some were competing with rivals, while others were displaying for potential mates. They would do various combinations of wing flicks, one or both at a time, and running around each other. Have you gotten to see any great courtship or territorial display dances in the wild? If you have your own stories, please link them in the comments, I'd like to see!

Baby food

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 01:00:00 +0000

If you're a tarantula hawk wasp, baby-food for your young is a full grown tarantula.

While walking around the Yanayacu station, I saw a lot of tarantula hawk wasps patrolling for victims. They are beautiful creatures, flashes of metallic blue-green and orange in the sky. One day, crawling across the path was one dragging a full grown tarantula! The tarantula had already been stung, paralyzed and unable to struggle.

I did not stick around to see where the wasp was dragging her prize (she seemed rather nervous with me taking pictures), but there were a lot of tunnels in the mud alongside the path. Hopefully she made it to her tunnel and was able to get it to the bottom where she could lay an egg on the tarantula. You probably know the rest of the story... the young wasp hatches and grows, eating the still living tarantula from the inside out. I was quite pleased to see this interaction in the wild.

I AM A STICK (part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Here I will begin my series of insects in Ecuador which aspire to convince us they are, indeed, a stick. Of course the classic "stick insects" will make an appearance, but they won't be the only ones.

I'd like to start things off with a little guessing game. This insect wants to pretend it's a broken off twig. There is even a hole at the top, that's not just a black spot! Can you tell what it really is? (answer after the fold)

It is, in fact, a moth.

When disturbed it appeared very upset, and insisted upon resuming its charade as quickly as it could fold up its legs and antennae. It did not seem to matter if it was on the sheet, or on my hand, or on the table - it must always look like a stick at all times.

So good job, moth. You make a convincing stick.

Black-lighting (giant insect edition)

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Because bigger is better, right?

Fulgoridae

Sphingidae
Cerambycidae
Sphingidae

Black-lighting (moth edition)

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 21:00:00 +0000

A gorgeous moth that came to the black-light at Yanayacu.

One of the great things about entomology is the variety of ways in which you can hunt down, collect or attract insects. Butterfly nets, aquatic nets, malaise traps, pitfall traps, rotting fruit, heck if you defecate in the forest you'll attract something. One way to get the night fliers is to hang a black-light or a mercury vapor light next to a sheet.

Why are insects, particularly moths, attracted to lights at night? This is still somewhat of a mystery to entomologists. The oft-touted response is that they use moonlight to navigate, and that other nearby light sources disrupt their flight paths and cause them to spiral in. This makes for a nice story, but it needs further testing. Many insects are sensitive to blue and ultraviolet wavelengths, and may have a tough time adjusting their eyes to the darkness once they have landed near a bright light. Once they land on the sheet, they are often docile and easy to collect. Perhaps they think it is daylight, and time to sleep? We set up the black-light almost every night we were at Yanayacu - just for fun.

One of the most interesting behaviors I noticed was the defense response of some saturniid moths. When disturbed they would curl up into a ball! Seems rather counter-intuitive for a moth, when flight appears to be a better escape option. But pay attention to the coloration on the abdomen - black and yellow, classic aposematism (warning colors). Luckily I did not handle them much, because I was later told the warning was for the urticating hairs on their abdomen - could be a pretty bad irritant for humans if touched to a sensitive area like the face. Sneaky moths!

Another fun behavior is when moths try to pretend they're something they're not, or simply want to break up the pattern of their body. This pyralid on the left doesn't exactly scream "I'm a moth!", now, does it? With its upturned abdomen and thin, splayed out wings it looks more like a little broken twig. Certainly, it does not fit the typical search image a predator would have for a moth. It even lays out its antennae along the wings so they do not stand out.

A lot of wonderful moth diversity came to our sheet. Mostly arctiids, saturniids, geometrids and pyralids, with some sphingids, micros, and other families thrown in. Stay tuned for more moth-y goodness.

First Impressions

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 18:00:00 +0000

View from a trail at Yanayacu.

These were some of my first impressions of the rain/cloud forest surrounding the Yanayacu biological station.

- Plants on top of plants on top of plants! Epiphytes everywhere. It felt like such a classic "rain forest" that someone would paint or draw. Large leaves, pretty flowers, ferns and mosses dangling from tree branches.

- Noisy birds. So many ridiculous sounds, all the time. Somehow I expected things to be quieter, that real life wouldn't sound like the background of a nature documentary. But all day long we heard whooping and calling and whistling, really exotic sounds. The student accompanying me was more into birdwatching and was able to identify a few, but I was pretty much lost.

- Wasps everywhere, and very pretty. Brachonids and ichneumonids seemed to be perched on every plant, flitting their metallic wings over their colorful bodies. No wonder they study parasitism at the station! There was also a series of nests dug by tarantula hawk wasps, which busily buzzed around the hiking path.

- While I'm at it, there were beetles and bugs and butterflies and flies everywhere, too. Insect diversity was unbelievable, I had no idea I'd be seeing a different colorful interesting insect on nearly every leaf I walked past. It made it difficult to get anywhere, really, because I kept having to stop to look at something. I sure took a lot of photos!

- Thunder and rain and clouds and rainbows. The sky was always in turmoil and always beautiful.

It is going to be difficult to choose which things to share here, I have enough material to write for months I'm sure! If you'd like a sneak peak at my photos, you can check out my Flickr page.

Yanayacu

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 15:31:00 +0000

I spent about half of my time in Ecuador at the Yanayacu biological station and center for creative studies. It is located in the Andes, approaching the cloud forest - meaning cool temperatures (50s to 70s), not a lot of sunlight, and frequent rain. I actually spent a lot of time wearing my sweatshirt, hat and gloves! We were accompanied by the research station staff and two dogs (Beans [on the left] and Rain); after a few days a college class from Colorado joined us. I wasn't sure what to expect from a research station up in the forest, but with a hot shower, warm blankets and three meals a day, I was pleasantly surprised.

Despite the somewhat depressing weather, the scenery was gorgeous and the wildlife was breathtaking. The mountains were in various states of visibility, sometimes disappearing completely behind the clouds. There were plenty of places to hike, allowing us to spend hours wandering through the forest. Luckily at that elevation (about 2000 feet), there aren't too many dangerous animals. No venomous snakes or large wildcats to worry about, so even exploring at night with headlamps was encouraged.

The research conducted at the station varies from birds, to insects, to anything a passing scientist wishes to delve into. One big project is CAPEA (Caterpillars and Parasitoids of the Eastern Andes in Ecuador). It is connected to a series of other projects in other localities involving caterpillar parasitism, focusing on taxonomy and ecology. When I went to Arizona this past summer, they were conducting this research at the Southwestern Research Station. They use the help of Earthwatch volunteers, who assist in collecting and rearing the caterpillars. If you are interested in spending your vacation in a cool place where you can help a research team, you should check out Earthwatch. This is the particular expedition that goes to the Yanayacu station. Or even if you just want a place to relax and experience the wildlife of Ecuador without needing a fancy hotel or a guide, you could contact Yanayacu. It is also a great place for artists looking for inspiration. I will talk a bit about how I got involved in the "creative studies" aspect of the station in a future post.

Arrival

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 13:00:00 +0000

The view from my room at Yanayacu.

"Don't worry. A bad beginning is a good ending." - Larry of The Three Stooges, Movie Maniacs, 1936

My trip to Ecuador started with the worst travel day I've ever had. I had developed a slightly sore throat the day before we left, but I figured that was from singing too much while playing Rock Band with my friends. Oh, if I only knew what a forewarning that really was.

I awoke, after a few hours sleep, at 3am to drive to the airport. I traveled with an undergrad from our lab, a week before my advisor was due to join us. First flight went smoothly, I was feeling a bit off, but attributed it to lack of sleep. We landed in Miami for a 5 hour layover. That is when things started going downhill fast. I started feeling chilly, despite my layers. That turned into full on "I am getting sick" chills. Coughing. Stuffy nose. And finally a low grade fever. I was absolutely miserable, for hours, unable to concentrate on a book but unable to fall asleep. I watched CNN on repeat and distracted myself with a few walks around the airport. Finally, it was time for our next flight.

Our take-off was so rough, I felt like we might crash. I was seated next to some students who were off to Ecuador for a whole semester abroad. I wanted to be sociable but I avoided talking to them because I felt so sick and just wanted to sleep. I had taken something for my sinuses earlier, but the fever was coming down swift and strong. I slept only for a little while, the chills were too intense. I had a glimmer of hope as the chills retreated... only to be replaced by nausea. I got the attention of a flight attendant who made up some ice packs for my head and ibuprofin, they were really concerned about me. Oh, did I mention the turbulence? Yeah, there was a lot of it. The descent was horrible, and took a long time. Once we were on the ground, I grabbed the barf bag (and used it - my first time!)

I instantly felt much better. Getting off the plane, I refused the wheelchair and doctor visit the flight attendants had insisted upon. My excitement was premature, as waves of nausea accompanied me through the rest of the night. We got a ride to the research station, which was about three hours of sleeplessness and bumpy roads. By the time we arrived my body had miraculously calmed down. I fawned for a few moments over the giant moths that were attracted to the lights, and promptly passed out.

The photo above is the view I was greeted with when I awoke (though it does not do those mountains justice at all). It was all worth it.

Return from the rain forest

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 03:06:00 +0000

I have returned to Connecticut from my trip to Ecuador - quite a change in climate, that's for sure! It is great to be back, and I am enjoying all of the snow, but of course I have tropical stories to tell.

I will be blogging about my trip in the upcoming weeks, I have a lot of photos and videos to share. I spent one week at a research station in a cloud forest in the Andes, and another week or so driving around the lowlands of the Amazon basin. I accompanied a few scientists on an expedition to collect odonates (dragonflies and damselflies), though I was often free to explore on my own.

I started with few expectations, and was overwhelmed by the wildlife each day. Mud boots, an insect net, and my camera were essential gear. I came back with chigger bites, a slight sun tan, and way too many fabulous ideas for research and sewing.

I will also be mixing in updates about my shop and my second semester of grad school. My etsy shop is reopened, and I am working on my line-up of custom orders. Cannot wait until I have time to make some rain-forest-inspired plushies! So keep on the look-out.

Happy Holidays!

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 21:50:00 +0000

I disappeared for a while because, well, I actually DID get some studying done. Final grades are in for the semester, and I am pleased. People always tell me I shouldn't worry so much about schoolwork and exams, because I always do well.... but freaking out is WHY I do well!

So my first semester of grad school is over, and winter break has arrived. I am having a wonderful time at home, visiting family and friends. Pepper the parrot has missed me terribly, as usual, and won't leave me alone.

Slowly getting prepared for my trip to Ecuador next month... still trying to hold in my excitement though, lots of things to get done before then (including Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations!). Going to see lots of relatives, and spend some time up in Montreal with my college friends (the poutine alone is nearly worth the trip).

Taking a break from sewing will leave me feeling refreshed and inspired by the end of January. Bring on the custom orders! And happy holidays, whatever you may celebrate :)

Holiday/Should be studying sale!

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 02:52:00 +0000

If you're still looking for something for the holidays, I'm having a sale today through Wednesday night. This is special for people who read my blog and follow me on twitter and facebook :)

Enter coupon code "ShouldBeStudying" during checkout for 15% off AND I will ship priority mail.

(I have a final exam Thursday... maybe some sales will keep my morale up?).

I am planning on adding a few little things to the shop in the next couple days, too, so keep on the lookout.

A reminder that my shop will be closed during my winter break - starting about the 17th of this month through January 23. If you're interested in a custom order, be warned that I already have a list of requests for when I return (but you never know how many people will follow through). You can always email me and I can add you to the list and let you know when I'm ready to sew!

EatToast

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 13:00:00 +0000

I enjoy doing trades for my plush work, especially when you get just the right combination of mutual love for each others work.

I recently sent off some goodies in exchange for this fabulous print by an artist known as EatToast on deviantART. She is incredibly talented and it was difficult to choose an image from her gallery, but I eventually decided I could not live without the grumpy iguana.You should check out her gallery!
Of course, I am partial to the wildlife category.

Kaatskill Life, Winter 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:36:00 +0000

Even though it has been rather routine to get my work published in Kaatskill Life magazine over the years, I still get nervous when my dad mails me a copy from home. I get emailed an edited copy of the article before publication, but I don't get to see the layout or final tweaks until it's out.

What fun though, eh? This one is about overwintering strategies of lepidopterans (butterflies and moths).Since this is the second in a row for me (I also wrote for the fall issue about brine shrimp), my dad is writing the spring article about water striders. Whoever comes up with a better idea first will get probably dibs on the summer issue. We're moving up in the magazine, too! "Kaatskill Kritters" used to be one of the last articles, now we're right about in the middle.

You can subscribe, but I'm not sure if individual issues can be bought through their website... though if you live in the Catskills region of NY you can probably find the magazine in a variety of shops.

Now if only I could get a good enough photo for the cover...

In progress

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 14:00:00 +0000

It should be pretty easy to figure out what I'm making next, eh?

Been wanting to make a Phidippus audax for a long time now, but never got around to it... now as a custom order, I'm diving right in.

The picture on the right is a big female I kept for a little while this summer, you may recall my post about her bunch of babies.

Two heads are better than one

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 21:00:00 +0000

New in the shop - a two headed planarian! I haven't had much time to work on inventory because I am swamped with custom orders. That's not a bad thing, of course, but if only I had more hours in the day. I might be able to fit in a few more small/simple custom orders in time for the holidays, but otherwise all new requests will have to wait until February (I will be traveling for most of December and January).

Since I get so many requests for tardigrades, I hope this little guy finds a home soon.

True love

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 15:00:00 +0000

I went home for Thanksgiving break, and got to spend some time with my parrot, Pepper (as I've mentioned before he's a caique, and a rescue). Sometimes I wonder how well he really knows us, especially since the past few years I've spent so much of the year away from home and college. But every visit he can't get enough of me - which means lots of snuggle time in the evenings, and his mating dances. Luckily he doesn't completely regurgitate for me, but he goes through the motions.

I wish I could keep him with me, but there is no way he could handle being kept in a small apartment while I'm gone most of the day. And he certainly keeps my parents busy/entertained. Perhaps someday, though, when I have my own place he can come with me.

And something exciting to ponder - next month I am taking a trip to Ecuador, and will get to spend some time in the Amazon. That is, of course, the native range for this species! The black headed caique, Pionites melanocephalus, lives on the northern side of the Amazon river. One of my goals of the trip is to see (and hopefully photograph) one of these crazy birds in the wild.

A herp in the lep lab

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 18:00:00 +0000

The past few days have been quite an adventure. I am one of the TAs for an intro biology course. The lab this week was "animal diversity"; as you can imagine I was looking forward to this one all semester.

The lab itself was a little boring - well, depending on if you enjoy looking at dead things in jars or not (I certainly do, but I know not everyone does!). The only live specimens were echinoderms and cnidarians, and the only real activity was a quick crayfish dissection. So I thought I should liven things up a bit.

Enter Bijou the ball python! I had her around my neck for the labs I TAed, and brought her for 10-15 minute presentations in most of the other lab sections. I used her to demonstrate some general concepts about reptiles and their evolutionary history, and answered lots of questions. Students got to touch/hold her if they wanted, and their reactions were my favorite part. There were so many students who had never held a snake before, or were afraid, but Bijou was such a sweetie. I think she was able to change a lot of peoples' minds about snakes. She also got to hang out with me through the day, she was well behaved and well liked among everyone who got to spend time with her. I'd love if she could keep me company every day, but that cute face would be too much of a distraction.

Science and art and pain

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 15:11:00 +0000

Here I am, looking incredibly goofy. That plush on my head is Euclea obliqua, one of my favorite caterpillars (note that it is also drawn on the bottom of my lab coat). Yes they really are that colorful, though instead of fluffy pompoms they have clusters of poison-filled spines. We raised some of them in the lab, and I accidentally got stung by one a few weeks ago. It was much more irritating than I expected! The itching came and went for about a week, and it was another week before the discoloration on my skin went away. My adviser, instead of being concerned, was quite excited. He made sure to document my response to the sting through photos.

When you are a squishy tasty caterpillar, you need a way to defend yourself - which is accomplished in a variety of ingenious ways. Some sequester toxins through their host plant, some use cryptic coloration and/or behaviors, while others are covered in irritating hairs or spines. Some caterpillars can even seriously injure a human - for example the puss caterpillar, Megalopyge opercularis, can cause anywhere from local irritation to chest pains and difficulty breathing.

In our lab we raise hundreds (maybe thousands?) of caterpillars throughout the year, many of which have never been raised in captivity before. We joke that we should purposefully get stung by some of them in order to record their sting intensities... however a willing volunteer has yet to step forward.

The making of a bee

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 03:45:00 +0000

I had been slowly dying of jealousy ever since my roommate let me try using some of her Prismacolor markers. My sharpie loyalty went right out the window at that moment, and it was only a matter of time before I would get my hands on my own set. Besides, I want to get into some more serious science drawing, and I might as well get some better tools, right?

I could finally justify the purchase recently after making a few sales through Etsy, so here they are! Only went for 72, don't think I'd know what to do with any more than that.

The past few days I have only done small sketches, practicing different patterns and blending. They don't give as much precision as the fine sharpies, so I might still incorporate them for some details, but overall I am in love with the Prismacolor markers.

And here is the result of my first foray into a serious drawing. I took the reference photo myself.
The final photo does not do justice to the color mixing I did in the eyes - I'll take a better photo tomorrow in the sunlight.

Bug Banquet

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:39:00 +0000

I'm currently taking a general entomology course... it's helpful to brush up on things and this way I can be in line to TA the course later on. Today during lab, we had a "bug banquet" as we have been learning about the benefits of adding insects to our diets.

On the menu:

-Cricket pizza (crickets baked and seasoned).
-Waxworms and superworms fried in taco sauce.
-Crepes with mashed superworms mixed into the batter (I made those), cricket cranberry bread, and of course fig newtons (can't have figs without fig wasps inside).
-I also made the chocolate covered superworms. Baked them first so they were crunchy.

And the real star of the party... LIVE superworms wrapped in mango slices. Surprisingly a lot of people were game for the live insects, a few people even had more than one. I ate one, gagged a few times, but I held it down. It's not the taste but the textures and feeling it trying to crawl on your tongue. I'd much rather eat some softer insect larvae I think. There is much I could say about the benefits of entomophagy (insect eating) but I think I'll save that for another post (and after I've brushed the cricket tarsi out of my teeth!)

Purging

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 13:54:00 +0000

One of my tasks here at the lab is to curate the teaching collection of insects. They are used for entomology related classes, so they aren't the best or most valuable specimens, in fact they are typically procured from student collections.

The curation is no small feat... two tall cabinets of drawers which are full of disintegrating specimens. The specimens themselves are haphazardly strewn about the unit trays, with only a hint of some past organization. Some orders are worse off than others, the Lepidoptera were decent but the Diptera and Hemiptera were a total disaster. I don't think anyone has tried to reorganize these drawers... ever? At least not all in one go.

So I, along with some of the undergrads of the lab, have been tackling the collection one order at a time. Our instructions: throw away broken specimens, or specimens without labels. Straighten out rows of specimens in the trays. Put everything into phylogenetic order. Type up consistent labels for every unit tray, and for the outsides of the drawers.

This is one of the "reject" trays for Diptera, where we were collecting specimens before throwing them out. The insects and labels were all pulled off so we could keep the pins.
Some of the chaos in progress.
It is rather sad to throw away specimens - no one wants a life to go to waste, especially one that was collected and curated with care. But a fly is only so useful to research or teaching if its head is missing, you know? The fact is many specimens are prepared quite poorly, often to an extent that makes them unusable (pinning through the wrong body part, broken wings/legs, using too much glue on points, etc.). And often it is simply the ravages of time and handling that cause fragile insect bodies to fall apart. Some families have very few representatives so those are kept even if they're in bad shape, but hopefully we will be able to collect more. And now that the specimens have been curated, there is indeed room to add more!
Ahhh, completed insect drawers. Feels good. Still a few more orders to go! I hope that now the collection will be treated with more care and be of more use for future students.

Taxonomic fun

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:20:00 +0000

One of my favorite insect orders is Mantodea - how could it not be? Praying mantids are charismatic, and easily anthropomorphized. Their raptorial forelegs of course add an air of danger and mystery. This little guy was found in a desert wash in southeastern AZ. I don't know the species, anyone have any ideas?

Now, some people might take issue with the order Mantodea. Taxonomy is a dynamic field, even at higher levels, and insect orders are continually being shuffled around as new research unfolds. Mantids are most closely related to cockroaches (Blattaria) and termites (Isoptera), and the three orders are grouped together into Dictyoptera. Now, this may be considered either a superorder or an order, depending if you're a lumper or a splitter. In turn their closest relatives are the walkingsticks (Phasmida), rockcrawlers (Grylloblattodea) and heelwalkers (Mantophasmatodea).

Taxonomic changes may be frustrating, especially at lower levels - we get very attached to familiar species names, for example. Nomenclature rules are very strict, and only broken for special cases (like when it was found T. rex actually had an earlier name which by the rules would be the correct name, there was a big fight to keep T. rex). In recent news, there has been a debate over the reorganization of the Drosophila genus, of which the famous lab fruit fly is a member. In order to make the least amount of name changes to most accurately organize the flies, several (including D. melanogaster) would be moved into the genus Sophophora. Scientists have been in an uproar - though taxonomy is important for understanding evolutionary relationships, it could cause considerable confusion in the literature. This all was happening in April of this year, and I have yet to find if there was a satisfactory conclusion - ITIS still has D. melanogaster as the valid name, and wikipedia has Sophophora only as a subgenus.

I am fascinated by taxonomy and systematics, I guess that is part of my control-freak nature and desire for organization. My adviser suggested I could describe a new species of moth for independent study credits next semester - I'm going to be all over that!

Sewing sewing sewing

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 21:37:00 +0000

Working on some custom orders today. Curtains and sliding doors open, sunshine and fresh cool air, discovery channel on tv, and piles of fluffy fleece fabric! Life couldn't be better (well, at least until tonight, when I'll be working on my term paper).

This is the sewing machine I've been using lately, the Singer Stylist 533. Not the sexiest of my machines, but she's got a zig-zag stitch which is really helpful for details that I don't want to hand sew. Some works in progress.
A reminder that if anyone is interested in a custom order, throw me an email!

Birthday surprise from nature

noreply@blogger.com (Weird Bug Lady) — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 20:00:00 +0000

I celebrated my 22nd birthday while on the Arizona trip this summer. My "gift" from the others was to be dropped off along Cave Creek about half a mile upstream from the research station in order to hike back by myself. It took me somewhat over two hours, and I would have taken longer if it hadn't started to rain. When I told my family and friends about this they were unimpressed, but it was truly a wonderful experience and perfect day.

The sun came and went, meaning it wasn't too hot, but there were bouts of sunlight to attract some beautiful butterfly species to the water banks. I of course flipped every rock and log during my travels, and observed several Mastigoproctus giganteus (vinegaroons), Scolopendra sp. (centipedes), alligator lizards, and other goodies. Unfortunately I did not come across any snakes, but I guess you can't have everything.

My favorite discovery was in a small pool of calm water at the edge of the creek - a male giant water bug, in the family Belostomatidae (Hemiptera). This species, like many in the family, utilizes male parental care as a reproductive strategy. The females lay eggs sequentially on the male's back, and he offers protection until they hatch. The young do not hatch all at once, as they are cannibalistic and would become overcrowded if stuck in a small pool. I brought the father back with me to take some photos. He stayed overnight, and look what I woke up to the next morning! A phenomenon I had been hoping to witness since the moment I learned about it as a child, I got to see baby water bugs hatching from their father's back (I actually only saw their eyes peeking out of the eggs at first, this is about halfway through.) If you notice the pattern of already hatched eggs on his back, they were right on time as the next youngsters scheduled to hatch. The whole process, from egg cracking to complete emergence, took about an hour. The young started out slender and pale yellow; they slowly expanded while their cuticle hardened and darkened.

The happy father and offspring were then released back into the creek.