Queen of the Sand Ants

Solenopsis pergandei queen and workers
Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA

Photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 50D
ISO 100, f/13, 1/250 sec, diffused twin flash

The Global Ant Project summit in Chicago

An oversized tyrannosaur photo-bombs the Global Ant Project group portrait, November 5-7 2009 at the Chicago Field Museum (photo by Darolyn Striley).

Last week I attended a conference ambitiously titled “Global Ant Project synthesis meeting II“.  Partly, I went out of curiosity about what this “Global Ant Project” might be.  But mostly, I went for the chance to catch up with old myrmecological friends, eavesdrop on the latest ant gossip, and visit Chicago’s fabulous Field Museum of Natural History.  How’d it go?  Mission accomplished on all counts.  You can see my photos of the event here.

It turns out the Global Ant Project (GAP) isn’t really a project, or an organization, or anything in particular. 

Jack Longino unveils the new 2009 line of Pheidole species

Millipedes that glow in the dark

The following is a guest post from millipede expert Paul Marek.

The eerie glow of a Motyxia millipede (photo by P. Marek)

I study millipedes in the family Xystodesmidae (order Polydesmida).  These millipedes contain hydrogen cyanide as a defensive chemical and use aposematic coloration to warn predators of their toxicity.  Coloration patterns in these species include bright yellows, oranges, reds, and violet.

One nocturnal genus in this family, Motyxia, known only from California, does not display conspicuous coloration.  These millipedes do something even more remarkable—they produce a green bioluminescent glow at a dominant wavelength of 500 nm by way of a biological source of light in their exoskeleton.  Scientists have speculated that the emitted light could be a sexual signal to attract mates, or an aposematic warning glow to announce the presence of a cyanide-based chemical defense.

Motyxia sequoiae by daylight (photo by P. Marek)

So far as is known, millipedes in the order Polydesmida all are blind, suggesting that the predator-warning hypothesis might be more likely.  The source of light in Motyxia is a chemical called pterin, first discovered for its role in butterfly pigmentation but perhaps independently evolved in these unique millipedes to function like a luciferin molecule, similar to the well-known firefly luciferin (the structure of the analogous luciferase molecule for Motyxia is unknown).  Other than the genus Motyxia, there are no other confirmed accounts of bioluminescence among millipedes.

Sunday Night Movie: Miniscule flies with spaghetti

Why no blogging?

Sorry. I’ve been really, really busy with projects around the house and in the lab. And for the next few days I’ll be away at the Global Ant Project meeting in Chicago.

Blogging will resume after I return. With any luck there will be plenty of myrmecological gossip and photos to share of the meeting.

In the meantime, check out the new ant articles at Myrmecological News.  And don’t miss Roberto Keller’s discussion of ant eyes.

Friday Beetle Blogging: Tribolium flour beetles

Tribolium castaneum, the Red Flour Beetle

Here’s a beetle that the genetics-inclined entomologist will recognize.  Tribolium castaneum, the red flour beetle, was the first Coleopteran to have its genome sequenced.

This small tenebrionid is native to the Indo-Australian region but has become a pest of stored grains around the world.  I photographed these individuals from a lab culture at the University of Arizona where they were being used in studies on beetle development.

Photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D
ISO 100, f/13, 1/250 sec, diffused flash

Stories of Ants

I’m busy today with lab work.  But if you need an ant blog fix, let me point you in the direction of “Historias de Hormigas” (“Stories of Ants”).  It’s a Spanish blog by José María Gómez Durán, and the current entry is an amazing series of action shots documenting an ant-hunting Crabronid wasp.

It’s not easy being queen…

A Solenopsis invicta queen attempts to escape a pair of tormentors

Life is perilous for young ant queens. This fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) is being pursued by native Forelius ants after her mating flight in central Florida. She frantically climbs a grass blade to escape, but to no avail- the attackers follow. She will make an excellent source of protein to feed the Forelius larvae.

Two larger points about this photo. First, establishing new colonies is tremendously difficult. The founding stage is when most colony-level mortality happens, and this excessive mortality is why ant nests produce hundreds of queens every year in the hopes that a handful survive.

Second, native ants may be our best friends in combating the spread of introduced pest ants. Healthy, intact native habitats with thriving local ant populations make it more difficult for intruders like the fire ant to gain a toe-hold. The more we alter habitat and the more we use generalized pesticides, the more problems we cause our native species and the easier it is for pests to establish.

Photo details: Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D
ISO 400, f/8, 1/500 sec, ambient light

Sunday Night Movie: Self Image

from the always excellent Creature Comforts:

For those sensitive to meaningless violence against ants, you might want to look away around 5:20.