rjb
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Post by rjb on Apr 7, 2013 5:28:31 GMT -8
Yes, you are correct- certainly a weevil. Probably subfamily Dryophthorinae. A few of these are pests of stored products worldwide. If she has a lot of them, then she might check any stored grain or dried foods.
Rick
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Mar 19, 2013 18:43:59 GMT -8
Looks a lot like a beetle but what do I know?
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Mar 18, 2013 17:04:18 GMT -8
I had a little trouble last week when I went there. It was because I was using Chrome and I had disabled Javascript except where I have OK'd it. Was having a little virus problem. Once I approved Bioquip for Javascript it loaded fine.
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Feb 19, 2013 6:03:42 GMT -8
It might depend on your local humidity. In New Mexico where I am now, the air is quite dry and the large Prionus beetles dry rapidly, even after a week. When I was in Ohio with high summer humidity I allowed much more time. Rick
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Feb 17, 2013 19:06:13 GMT -8
Yes I see. A number of more recent studies are showing that those neo-nicotinoids are a big problem for the bees. Also maybe the pesticide companies have sponsored some very questionable studies that have confused the issue. This is reminiscent of the tobacco industry trying to confuse the issue of tobacco being unsafe to smoke. Maybe these nicotine and neo-nicotinoids have a negative effect on the moral fiber of company executives? I wouldn't know ... Rick
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Feb 17, 2013 18:09:37 GMT -8
Interesting! Science rarely proves anything. It only comes up with evidence and theories. I had read that the studies attributing CCD to the neo-nicotinoids was not widely accepted. I'll have to research it some more. Thanks, Rick
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Feb 17, 2013 8:37:27 GMT -8
On a related but more bug oriented subject, there is a big controversy about that honey-bee problem with colony-collapse disorder CCD. A study linked the problem to some insecticides, the class of neo-nicotinoids like Imidocloprid. Others said the study was wrong but some governments including France and Canada have banned the use of these chemicals. Now I see the EU is proposing a two-year ban on these compounds. I've had some Canadian friends ask me to acquire Imidocloprid for them because it is great for ridding ones orchids of scale insects. These chemicals are widely available in the US still. One "activist" group in Germany (Coalition against Bayer Dangers), that apparently hates Bayer (manufacturer of Imidocloprid and others) wants all of these chemicals banned forever. Who knows how the science will settle out on this, but it seems that for all the study and immense importance of honey bees, it still isn't resolved whether CCD is more from virus and mites or insecticides or maybe both.
Bluemoth's link above to the sheep deaths in India from eating GM-cotton with BT toxin is a single anecdote from 7 years ago with no study. It is so hard to get answers to a one-off anecdotal event like that when you can't even resolve a major recurring problem like HoneyBee colony collapse.
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Feb 17, 2013 6:37:45 GMT -8
Bluemoth has given us links to several web stories that suggest that GM crops have caused sickness and death. We all know the web is full of both useful information and worthless junk. How can I tell the difference? There are several good rules for evaluating stories you read to make a guess whether they are worth anything: 1) find in the report where the information was published. Anecdotal stories, not published in a scientific journal are very often garbage- maybe even invented for political or publicity reasons. If the story doesn't mention publication (like the links Bluemoth gave us), then reject them, and wait for follow-up stories that tell you the data were good and published. 2) For anything medical-related, the study must be double-blind. For consuming GM corn, that would mean the village population gets divided into two groups. One gets GM corn, the other gets normal corn. The subjects must not know which one they got (the first "blind" part). The team evaluating the people's health before and after eating the corn must not know which person ate which corn (the second "Blind"). If the study is not done double-blind, it is very likely a bad study. This effect has been found repeatedly. If people think they are getting a treatment that is good, they "get better". Likewise if someone tells them they have eaten poison then they get sick. Also the scientists doing the study can be easily biased and see the results they expect to see. This is so well known, there is no justification for doing a study without double-blinding.
If I see a report like the village that ate GM-corn and had people get sick and die, I assume it is worthless unless it was published in a peer-reviewed paper and was a controlled study, double-blind. If the village people were told by their leaders that they were being fed poisonous corn from evil countries and they got sick- then the corn isn't to blame ... their leaders are the criminals who made them sick.
I wouldn't spread around that kind of junk report lest I make people sick and thus become part of the problem.
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Feb 11, 2013 17:45:25 GMT -8
I totally support the development of genetically modified critters. With the population of the world continuing to grow out of control, our descendants face massive starvation. We have pretty much done what we could with fertilizer and are faced with finding/creating plants/animals that are more productive. The GM foods are almost certainly safe and that African report is complete garbage. They were eating what we in the US eat daily. You can bet if anyone here got sick they would be suing immediately- and they would lose the lawsuit because that corn is safe.
Don't be a biology-Luddite. Electricity was a nice invention though the original Luddites tried to stop its implementation. The electronic revolution has been astonishing and has changed the standard of living of the world for the better.
The next revolution is biological and GM foods is the very beginning. There will be problems, but there is no progress without risk. Just my opinion, of course.
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Jan 9, 2013 19:14:02 GMT -8
60K is not so many considering how many are out there. I don't buy, I only field collect and it has been 40 years and lots of weeks in tropical jungles and I favor small beetles. So 96 drawers holds everything. Now 60K purchased Saturnids would cost quite a bit and take up a lot of space! Rick
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Jan 9, 2013 7:14:56 GMT -8
My guess is that both statements are correct. The fish and wildlife guys have a rule that is too general and says you can't slap a mosquito, however... it is obviously BS and will not be enforced (for now!). Typical lawmaking. The US National Parks have been "off limits" to collecting for a long time, but when I was young I'd ask the ranger at the visitor center if I could collect beetles and they would (almost) always say sure they didn't care about insects. That has changed to where now you would expect to get in a lot of trouble catching insects at Yosemite. The law didn't change, just the attitude of the Park. Bad laws rarely go away. Rick
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Jan 9, 2013 6:51:34 GMT -8
Anthrenus beetles are a common pest of insect collections. They are found in homes worldwide, and they mostly eat animal protein like wool and discarded flakes from human or pet skin. If they find your dried insect specimen, they will feed on it, usually leaving a pile of frass that you can see, and reducing the specimen to nothing. I lost quite a few click beetles when I missed an infestation that got into one of my elaterid drawers. Over the years I've lost maybe 100 out of my 60,000 beetles this way. Wool clothes are stored with moth repellent to keep away wool-moths and Anthrenus beetles. You also have to protect your dried insects somehow or you will have a problem. There has been a lot of discussion about this on insectnet in other threads. Rick
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Jan 6, 2013 8:37:58 GMT -8
Well, I wanted a condor, but I couldn't get a big enough cage, Rick
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Jan 5, 2013 20:32:56 GMT -8
I keep a culture of them going just for fun. Not the obnoxious insect collection-eating Anthrenus, just some carrion eating Dermestes. Whenever I trap deer mice in our attic, I donate them to the Dermestes culture. The deer mice carry hantavirus which is really a nasty disease, so no one wants deer mice in their home. The Dermestes just keep thriving year after year. If a sharp-shinned hawk gets a dove in the yard, I grab the remains and the Dermestes have a feast. Rick
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rjb
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Post by rjb on Nov 27, 2012 19:51:58 GMT -8
Ha Ha! Hawaii IS in the USA- was that a trick question? Anyway, I've been there many times and collected lots of beetles and brought them to the mainland with no problems. But do not bring any live specimens. There are several very nasty pests established in Hawaii like the Mediterranean fruit fly which the mainland is trying hard to keep out. Rick
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