Posted in Photography, arizona, tagged grand canyon, landscapes, Nature on May 11, 2008 | 2 Comments »
The visit of Australian friends a couple weeks ago provided an excuse to go photograph Arizona’s most famous landmark. Appearances aside, the Grand Canyon is not an easy subject. Most shots appear flat in comparison to real-time views, failing to capture the canyon’s immense depths or the enormity of the open space. [...]
Posted in Blogging, Insects, Photography, arizona, tagged entomology, mother's day, Nature on May 11, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Rose Aphids - Macrosiphum rosae
Tucson, Arizona
It’s fair to say that without the encouragement of my mother, who allowed all manner of newts, snakes, caterpillars, tadpoles and ants into the house, I would not have gone on to become a biologist.
Thanks Mom, and happy mother’s day!
photo details: Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon [...]
Posted in Insects, Photography, arizona, beetles, tagged Nature, phengodidae on May 2, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Distremocephalus - Phengodidae
Arizona
The beetle family Phengodidae is odd any way you look at it. The adult female (not pictured) is larviform, which means she never loses her grub-like appearance as she grows into sexual maturity. She has no wings and no long antennae. But she does bioluminesce, and that gives the family their [...]
Posted in Ants, Insects, Photography, Science, arizona, tagged behavior, ecology, national geographic on April 16, 2008 | 8 Comments »
Forelius maccooki (small ants) & Pogonomyrmex desertorum
Tucson, Arizona
In last August’s National Geographic, photographer Mark Moffett has a controversial photo essay depicting a large, motionless harvester ant being worked over by smaller Dorymyrmex workers. Moffett’s interpretation of the behavior is this:
While observing seed-harvester ants on the desert flats west of Portal, Arizona, I noticed workers [...]
Posted in Insects, Photography, arizona, beetles, tagged entomology, Nature on April 11, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Temnoscheila Bark-Gnawing Beetle, Arizona
Trogossitidae
This colorful insect arrived to a blacklight in my backyard a couple of years back, right when I first moved to Tucson. Previously I’d encountered Temnoscheila only under the bark of dead trees, where they apparently prey on the larvae of other beetles. I’ve always wondered why a beetle that [...]
Posted in Ants, Insects, Photography, Science, arizona, tagged entomology, Nature on April 7, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Deserts are difficult places to live for more reasons than just drought and heat. During dry seasons deserts are relatively inactive, and there’s not much around for animals to eat. To survive times of dearth, several lineages of desert ants have taken to harvesting plant seeds in the brief periods of bounty [...]
Posted in Ants, Insects, Photography, arizona, tagged Nature on April 6, 2008 | No Comments »
Pogonomyrmex desertorum
harvesting grass seeds, Tucson
Posted in Insects, Photography, Science, arizona, beetles, tagged chemistry, entomology, meloidae, Nature on April 4, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Epicauta pardalis - spotted blister beetle
Tucson, Arizona
Here’s a beetle so toxic it can kill a horse. The horse doesn’t even need to ingest the beetle, it just needs to ingest something that the beetle bled on. Blister beetles produce the defensive compound cantharadin- the active ingredient of the aphrodesiac Spanish Fly- which they [...]
Posted in Ants, Insects, Photography, arizona, tagged entomology, Nature, photoshop on April 2, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Acromyrmex versicolor - the desert leafcutter
Here’s the original:
Posted in Ants, Insects, Photography, arizona, tagged flowers, macro, Nature, saguaro on March 23, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Rather than blather on about my Easter Sunday, I’ll just share a few images from a morning hike in Tucson’s Rincon mountains. Winter rains have given way to wildflowers, and in particular the Encelia brittlebush was spectacular.
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