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Post by bandrow on Feb 26, 2022 8:45:26 GMT -8
Greetings, Mothman27 - I saw a specimen similar to this in the collection at work and wondered something. Is this a gynandromorph with yellow from a male appearing with the dark form of a female, or is it an incomplete normal/dark form mix of a female alone? I assume the genitalia would be the clincher - as I understand how a gynandromorph is expressed, in a dark/light mix of a female, the genitalia would be normal, but in a gynandromorph, the genitalia would be mutated. I can't tell much from the image, although the terminal segment of the abdomen does look asymmetrical, unless that is a yellow splotch. Just curious! Bandrow
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Post by bandrow on Feb 13, 2022 11:16:33 GMT -8
Greetings,
I think the decision to "keep everything" comes down to practicality: how much time does one have to process bycatch specimens not intended for one's own immediate collection; what resources are available (drawers, trays, pins, etc.); whether an outlet for the specimens is available, etc.
I hope Jhyatt can vouch for the value of having an "outlet" for bycatch, as he and his colleagues have been sending me light trap residues from their moth survey on Sapelo Island, Georgia for a number of years now. These residues were destined for the trash heap before I came begging, and in the years since, they've become the invaluable core of a beetle survey for the island. I've documented nearly 1,000 species for the island, with hundreds more yet to be determined from difficult families (Staphylinidae, Curculionidae, etc.) or messy genera (Melanotus, Hymenorus, Neoporus, etc.). And of course, these are just the species that are nocturnal and attracted to light. Other trapping methods would surely shoot the numbers much higher.
And John, despite the appearance of procrastination, the beetle project is progressing nicely - I've finally processed all the residues in my freezer, and just need to prepare the specimens from a few samples. While I am very grateful for the generosity of the "Sapelo Guys", receiving others' bycatch can become a slippery slope as well, as projects like this, done without funding on free time, can get out of control, but well worth the effort to eventually accomplish!
Cheers! Bandrow
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Post by bandrow on Jan 31, 2022 19:36:21 GMT -8
Hi Chuck,
That is an interesting answer - leaves the question wide open. Since size isn't listed for the Ohio specimen, I guess color is all that can be considered from the image.
I signed up on iNaturalist, but soon became disenchanted with it. Too many mis-IDs with a train of "confirmations" all supporting the mis-ID. Getting misidentifications corrected is a hassle and bad IDs persist.
I'm fairly active as a Contributing Editor (sounds fancier than it is!) on BugGuide and I like the format and protocols better there. It does also have its limitations - the most obvious its being restricted to North America north of Mexico. Also - one has to be aware that the distributions shown under 'Data' are based solely on where the images were taken, and all it takes is one image from a state to shade in the whole state. Therefore, an image of say, Plinthocoelium schwarzi from the Rio Grande Valley, shades in all of Texas for the species, despite it only occurring deep in the LRGV.
On BugGuide, there is more direct discussion between users and we folks helping ID specimens, and problem IDs can be easily resolved and changed. However, there is still a plethora of issues - such as hundreds of live shots of Phyllophaga (May beetles) with species-level dets, when most need to be dissected (male and female) to be accurately determined. I also wonder about a lot of the moths shot on a sheet with the wings closed - some Catocala, and many other moths, need to have the hindwings examined to be sure of an ID.
The good thing about both is that they provide vehicles for interaction between citizen scientists, professionals, hobbyists, etc. And as long as they are used as another tool in the toolbox, and not a sole resource for ID, they perform a pretty good role...
Cheers! Bob
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Post by bandrow on Jan 30, 2022 7:25:59 GMT -8
Bob, your institution doesn't get LepSoc? The authors differentiate from simulans with BOLD, but also cite simulans wingspan 35-36mm, the new hiairemontis 29-30mm. The authors have a photo of simulans, and it's definitely yellow & black. In fact, both the other photos on BugGuide, and a quick search for simulans on the internet shows all yellow and black - EXCEPT the photo on bugguide from Ohio. I wonder if I should flag that series of photos to the authors. Chuck Hi Chuck, We do - I just haven't hunted this down and read it. When I'm in the building, I'm busy with all kinds of beetle stuff, and forget the extranea! I'll put it on my 'to-do' list for Monday. I just assume most authors would scan BugGuide and iNaturalist for images of taxa they're working on, but I've heard others denigrate both sites as being "untrustworthy". Both have their limitations, but both are also very important resources. Cheers! Bob
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Post by bandrow on Jan 29, 2022 9:02:43 GMT -8
Greetings, Many years ago, I visited Dave Marqua in the Davis Mountains Resort, outside of Fort Davis, Texas. He had been running sesiid pheromone traps for a lepidopterist friend, and discovered that buprestid beetles, especially the genus Acmaeodera, were also attracted to them in large numbers. If I remember correctly, his traps were yellow - which may account for the beetles - they may have been more attracted to the color than the lure. Question - has anyone running moth pheromones seen a response from any types of beetles? Also - has anyone taken a look at the images I linked to on BugGuide Paranthrene simulans to see if they possibly represent the new species of Paranthrene described in the paper in the opening post of this thread? I would assume the authors would have done their due diligence and checked BugGuide for potential records, but since I can't get to the paper online, I don't know if that is mentioned... Cheers! Bandrow
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Post by bandrow on Jan 26, 2022 17:40:29 GMT -8
Greetings, Let me preface this by stating two things - I have not read the paper, and I'm not a lepidopterist, so it's likely I have no idea what I'm talking about. I went to BugGuide to see what Paranthrene looks like, and found this post: Paranthrene simulansSure looks like a bald-faced hornet to me! Not perfectly white, but the pattern is dang close to the wasp. This specimen is from northeastern Ohio - any chance this could be the new species? Cheers! Bandrow
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Post by bandrow on Jan 25, 2022 16:52:49 GMT -8
Greetings,
Thanks all, for your input! It confirmed what I thought must be the case. And to paraphrase eurytides - everything poops (unless it doesn't, of course)!!
Cheers! Bandrow
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Post by bandrow on Jan 20, 2022 17:45:30 GMT -8
Greetings,
A question for any of you who have done a lot of rearing of scarab beetles - do scarab larvae poop? This question was posed to me by a colleague and I have no answer. She has heard that scarab larvae do not defecate - but could find no information regarding it in the literature, and we both imagined that constipation for the whole larval stage is probably unlikely. Many scarab larvae have the posterior part of the abdomen darkened as if they are full of fecal matter, but at what frequency do they void this? We were wondering if the larvae withhold fecal matter for some purpose like increasing the amount of gut flora available for digestion, and then purge this with each molt, basically pooping once an instar.
Any ideas?
Thanks! Bandrow
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Post by bandrow on Jan 20, 2022 17:33:09 GMT -8
I've been always puzzled by their broad elytra. Why a carnivorous beetle, which needs to move quickly, has developed this strange appendage? OK, they are flat, what is the advantage of being so broad? We'd probably never know why. Anyway, is there any speculation explaining their shape? This is just a guess, but a predator could take a couple of bites out of the sides of these things and never hit vital organs. But to sink my own theory - I guess specimens with chunks missing (like leps with bird bites in the wings) would be showing up frequently. Maybe it helps accentuate their resemblance to the bracket fungi they live amongst? Compare these to any North American species of lebiine - hard to imagine they're related!! Cheers! Bandrow
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Post by bandrow on Dec 30, 2021 7:37:23 GMT -8
Eurytides - I was reading Kevinkk's post and this is exactly what came to mind for me as well!! I first heard of this during a talk by an environmental consultant at work, and it finally put a name to a character flaw I have seen in innumerable folks. Simply put in the old saying "just smart enough to be dangerous"... Cheers! Bandrow
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Post by bandrow on Dec 28, 2021 15:30:28 GMT -8
Thanks, alandmor, for posting this - this is a nice piece of work. I especially like the image of John as a teen, holding the snake. His first love was herpetology and he entered grad school at Cornell in that field. But his meeting John Franclemont diverted him into Lepidoptera, and the rest was history! Cheers! Bandrow
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Post by bandrow on Dec 27, 2021 14:05:27 GMT -8
It's been a hard few days. Thomas Lovejoy passed away the day before EO Wilson passed. Lovejoy was less well known to the general public, but was even more influential within the conservation community than was Wilson. And then there was your own loss at the Carnegie - which I just saw announced on the taxacom listserv. I'm very sorry for your loss. John Thanks, John, It was quite a shock - but I didn't post anything right away as I wanted the info to come formally from the museum. But now that it is known, John passed only 2 days after being moved from Pittsburgh to an assisted-living facility in the Phoenix area, to be closer to his brother. He's been battling Parkinson's for a number of years, but his condition had been declining quickly over the last few months. John was quite an individual, to say the least! He could stun the lunch room into silence with an impromptu lecture on the biology of an undescribed noctuid from some exotic locale, and then take off on a high-speed drive to the last open post office at the airport to get an NSF grant mailed before the midnight deadline. Trying to mentally keep up with him could be challenging - if not maddening - but if one could, there was a never-ending stream of knowledge to learn from him. I will always feel indebted to him for giving this "amateur" entomologist with just a B.S. in Entomology the chance to join the CMNH staff way back in 1996, and then the freedom and guidance to grow into the role I now hold. He will be missed... Bandrow
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Post by bandrow on Dec 27, 2021 9:47:08 GMT -8
Greetings, I was just sent this link to a story about the recent passing of E.O. Wilson, a giant in the entomological world. His taxonomic work on ants is legendary, and while his work in Sociobiology could be controversial, it set the groundwork for whole new fields of study, such as Island Biogeography. E.O. Wilson, Heir To Darwin’s Legacy And King Of The Ants, Dies At 92Regards, Bandrow
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Post by bandrow on Dec 26, 2021 8:17:43 GMT -8
Understood! And I have to admit... I can tell one beetle from another, but couldn't tell a MG34 from a Vickers on the best of days!!
Cheers! Bandrow
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Post by bandrow on Dec 24, 2021 14:29:17 GMT -8
Hi Chuck,
What's the intended fate for these? There are a couple I'd be interested in obtaining (buying?), if that's where they're heading...
Cheers! Bandrow
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