rjb
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Post by rjb on Oct 26, 2012 18:57:34 GMT -8
Thanks for the leads. Yes I see the resemblance to Hexodon. I'll get the Faune de Madagascar and see where it leads. Thanks, Rick
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Oct 26, 2012 9:12:34 GMT -8
These are from the Pic Boby area of Madagascar. The pale markings on the elytra are from clay highlighting the shallow sculpturing. They are about 20 mm in length, and they are rather low profile, depressed. They were under rocks and were mistaken for Tenebs in the field. Anyone recognize them? Rick Attachments:
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Post by rjb on Sept 5, 2012 7:48:58 GMT -8
I researched this a little more. Lowe's price for a gallon $23.94. (Sorry about truncating the price- I had bought a lot of items at the same time and forgot the actual price.) Home Depot may only sell this in quart size. I thought they were simply out of the gallon size, but their website doesn't seem to mention gallons. I bought the gallon from Lowe's and tested it- no residue left on evaporation. Rick
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Aug 30, 2012 18:00:00 GMT -8
New source of ethyl acetate in US- The topic of what fluid is used for dispatching insects comes up a lot here. Some of us like ethyl acetate for beetles because it is less embrittling than ethanol for some things and low toxicity (compared to cyanide for example). The easy place to buy it in the US has been small bottles of "acetone-free nail polish remover" at Walmart or Target. This is mostly EA but has a long list of extra stuff added, including some pink coloring agent. I just found that Home Depot and Lowe's are selling something labeled "M.E.K. Substitute" by the quart and gallon. I don't know why one wants a substitute for methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) but it turns out this is pure ethyl acetate, with no additives. Sadly it is not particularly cheap, a gallon costs $23. which is about the same price/ounce as the nail polish remover.
At least the stuff is clear, colorless, and evaporates without residue.
Rick
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Aug 24, 2012 19:32:42 GMT -8
Well, he's a really bad guy, but sane or insane? That gets into technical details defined by the world of psychology and psychiatry. Lots of evidence about repeat offenders suggests that the issue of insanity is not very well understood by the so-called professionals in the field. One of the soft sciences for sure.
Isn't the 21 years simply the maximum sentence allowed by their law. Who is insane... Breivik or the lawmakers who think 21 years is enough for a mass murderer to regret his crime and turn over a new leaf!
Rick
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Aug 20, 2012 17:44:56 GMT -8
Just commenting that the island of Borneo is divided into two parts. The larger half is Indonesia and the smaller part is in Malaysia. I have spent some time in that part of Malaysia which includes Sarawak and Sabah. You may see items for sale from those places rather than labeled "Borneo". Indonesia consists of so many islands that it is very vague where an item came from if only labeled "Indonesia".
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Aug 15, 2012 18:54:12 GMT -8
I think it is quite interesting. A 12% mutation rate is amazing.
A couple months ago a study out of MIT showed that the level of radiation at which people in that area were evacuated would have to get at least 400 times higher before any human harm would be detectable.
The butterflies may have been exposed to much higher doses where people were not allowed, or butterflies may be much more susceptible to mutation... or this might be a bad study. Generally I wouldn't trust this kind of result until it was independently repeated. Rick
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Post by rjb on Aug 3, 2012 18:45:14 GMT -8
Just a note on the brightness of the new lamp. The mercury vapor light produces more UV light which you can't see and less down in the visible. So if the metal hydride light looks brighter, it is probably the sensitivity of human eyes rather than the actual brightness (100 watts of pure 256 nm UV light from the Hg lamp would look totally black and would also blind you rapidly). Since the insects can see further into the UV, they might perceive the brightness differently. However, everyone says both lights are quite effective so whatever works... Rick
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Post by rjb on Jul 19, 2012 18:17:16 GMT -8
No info here but I like these flies too. I find them here in New Mexico in the Gila Wilderness. The wasp is from my backyard where they come by the dozens to the milkweed blossoms. I only know beetles, but I occasionally grab some attractive specimen of another order like these beauties. I think the mimicry is remarkably good. Rick Attachments:
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Post by rjb on Jul 17, 2012 19:26:52 GMT -8
You might look at images of "fairy shrimp". It doesn't look quite right but I used to see them a lot in Ohio and Ontario, especially in the spring in temporary ponds. Rick
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Jul 17, 2012 19:19:16 GMT -8
I'm a chemist so I wouldn't dare give you an electrical answer, but I think you are right to be cautious. If I remember my E&M, a diode has quite low resistance in the forward direction. If it needs 300 mamps to attain max brightness, you can't just hook it up to a constant voltage source like a battery. It will pull too much current and burn out. Instead you put, in series, a current-limiting resistor so that no more than 300 mamps can be delivered.
I would probably only add a capacitor to the input to filter out voltage spikes depending on what you were using for voltage. Hopefully someone more electrical can send you a circuit diagram. Rick
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Post by rjb on Jul 14, 2012 5:53:34 GMT -8
It's sensible to be scared of insects if you don't know a lot about them. Their habits seem random and strange until you spend enough time with them to understand and predict their behavior. Lots of insects have defense mechanisms like biting or stinging. Until you know them well enough, you might get stung because the insect can't tell that you have noble intentions as you hold it. I have been bitten and stung many times, especially when I was young. Now as I grab a tiger beetle and hold it badly I say, "dang this one is going to bite me ... Ow!" When you have handled enough of them, you will know how to avoid scaring them and they won't scare you. Rick
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Post by rjb on Jul 13, 2012 7:53:02 GMT -8
Probably a roach. Shouldn't make you sick, they don't hurt anything. Bugguide says German cockroachs range up to 16mm or about 3/4 inch (I would have thought larger). Certainly other roaches get a lot larger. Or if you are using hallucinogens maybe you imagined it all. Shouldn't use drugs- they make you stupid (my unsolicited opinion, sorry).
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rjb
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Post by rjb on May 13, 2012 2:38:23 GMT -8
Well if you smoke aren't you basically suicidal anyway?
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Post by rjb on May 10, 2012 9:16:16 GMT -8
Wollastoni: I think you can take ethyl acetate as being very safe. It is found in most alcoholic beverages. If you remember your organic chemistry, whenever you mix alcohol and vinegar you get some ethyl acetate. Check out the MSDS. You can practically drink it straight- but I don't think it tastes so good. When I am catching tiny beetles I often lick my finger so I can tap the beetle and transfer the stuck beetle to ethyl acetate. Then if I am doing many of these quickly, I end up dabbing EA onto my tongue a lot. It is OK but not as good as Bordeaux. The problem with EA is it has a similar evaporation rate to alcohol, much higher than P-dichlorobenzene. If you try to fumigate your cases with it, most will evaporate and be gone in a few hours. Rick
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