Vector Analysis

our new Drosera in action

Remember that old adage about flies and honey? Well, I suppose that explains Dr. Vector’s recent bizarre display of uncharacteristic magnanimity toward microecos. And I didn’t even have to bribe him with free tickets to “Robot Dinosaurs Gone Wild!”

Still, I have to say it’s rather unsettling when Matt effing Wedel compliments you. It’s like when someone comes up to you out of the blue and says “hey, nice shirt.” You just stand there staring back blankly, waiting for the “too bad you have such an ugly face” follow-up.

But seriously, I’m flattered. And the even better news is that I’ve worked out a 3.3 million dollar syndication contract with Univision. So put down your signs, get back to work, strike’s over baby!

Of course, I’m not at liberty to discuss the details of the deal but suffice to say there will be a lot more chicks in bikinis and fat guys dressed up like giant babies around here from now on… $ 3.3 million! That’s like easily 1000 euros right? Snap!

Sorry, I mean “¡GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!”

Moral of the story: “Honey works well for catching flies. But you just can’t beat a ginormous steaming, fetid pile of B.S.” QEFD

Stay tuned for a 2 year anniversarial spectacular in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile I might throw together an insightful, deeply-probibing post or two. So, uh, hold your breath.

I Knew I Had Smart Readers!

Wow, 100% of respondents correctly guessed the ‘micromystery’ , unscientific polling suggests similar results by those who played at home…

Dinnertime 2

 

Because, I suppose, of my photography people have developed a picture of me as an expert entomophile. I often get queries and anecdotes on the order of, ‘I found this beetle in my sink, yesterday, it was black with red spots…’

In fact, short of a lecture or two in an invertebrate biology class way back at the turn of the century, I have very little formal education in the ways of terrestrial arthropods.

Of course, you can learn far more about arthropods simply by watching them, than you can from a thousand lectures. Unfortunately, I must admit that I didn’t really pay much attention until relatively recently.

Dowdy-Cow, Dowdy-Cow, ride away haeme

It gets worse (better?). Those frisky Asian Lady Beetles (Harmonia axyridis), stars of a previous post, are at it again. But this time they’ve brought a male Convergent Lady Beetle (Hippodamia convergens) along for the ride.

As if polyamory wasn’t risque enough, these beetles are blatantly breaking the “inter-species sex taboo“. I imagine the “spicy” personal ad in the Ladybird Beat went something like this:

Mature Asian couple seeks unattached male Coccinellid, gender unimportant, microsporidia and std free, for friendship first…then?

It’s nice to see a California native (though widely exported as a pest-control agent) on top, even if he is a bit too typically misguided.

I would not expect viable offspring to result from a Harmonia x Hippodamia mating, though my knowledge of the breeding biology of beetles is rather slim.

I also came across a Harmonia larva, mowing down aphids on a Fava:

Much commentary on the Pharyngula prop centered upon negative impacts resulting from the introduction of the Asian Lady (H. axyridis).  No doubt may Harmonia may well turn out to be the beetle equivalent of the starling or mongoose.  Still, I have to confess a personal respect for these super-predators after watching larva and adult alike carve swathes through pulsating flocks of aphids.

I also stumbled across a mating Crane Fly (family Tipulidae) couple adopting a more exotic position in the onion rows:

Crane Flies are throbbing here in California just as they are in Maryland and surely much of the Northern Hemisphere. Better Crane Fly pics and much more, including a stacking of Japanese Beetles that puts the ladybugs to shame, can be found at the Bug Love portion of whatsthatbug.com.

I’m still standing on the elytra of goliaths.

Scheme 24.1

 

It's a beautiful Friday.

Scheme XXIV

Seven reproductions of Scheme XXIV from Robert Hooke's Micrographia, most from academic websites. Images link back to original site.

Robert Hooke is probably best known for coining the term "cell" to describe the ordered substructures he noticed when examining cork bark under a microscope of his own design. He is also remembered for a bitter quarrel with this superstitious lout. A full list of his acheivements also includes describing Jupiter's Great Red Spot, working out the mechanism of petrifaction, and inventing the universal joint.

Each reproduction of the stunning twenty-first plate of Micrographia reveals a slightly different set of details and nuances captured in the original. Note the contrasting moiré patterns. You can explore the image in greater detail here. Hooke described the compound-eye of his "grey Drone-Fly":

The greatest Part of the Head consisted of two large semicircular and regular Protu- berances or Eyes, A B C D E ; the Surfaces of which were covered all over with, or shaped into Multitudes of minute Hemispheres, disposed in a triagonal Order, and in that Order forming exact and equidistant Rows, with little Trenches or Furrows between each.

These Hemispheres were of different Sizes in different Parts of each Eye ; the lower- most Half of them looking downwards, viz. C D E, C D E, being a great deal smaller than the Half A B C E, A B C E, looking upwards, fore-right, sideways and backwards ; a Variety unobserved in any other small Fly. (Hooke 1664)

Hooke also understood the implication of all those slightly askew hemispheres:

these rows were so dispos'd, that there was no quarter visible from his head that there was not some of these _Hemispheres_ directed against, so that a Fly may be truly said to have _an eye every way_, and to be really _circumspect_. And it was further observable, that that way where the trunk of his body did hinder his prospect backward, these _protuberances_ were elevated, as it were, above the plain of his shoulders and back, so that he was able to see backwards also over his back. (Ibid)

Hooke also surmised that insects likely had some mechanism of integrating the information coming from the "Multitudes of minute Hemispheres", just as the humans brain integrates discrete images from both retinas into one composite image with depth.

Current scientific understanding of the optical systems of insects suggest that while they probably do not resolve distant objects as well as human eyes, they are exceptionally adept at detecting nearby motion (as anyone who has tried to swat a fly knows). Additionally many insects are able to distinguish polarity and see UV light, both things that humans have had to invent instruments to do for them.

One of the most amazing things about Hooke's fly illustration is how well it stands up to comparison with the images produced by modern microscopy like the beautiful stuff at Microangela. It's amusing to reflect on the snark of some unknown 17th century critic who described Hooke as "a Sot, that has spent 2000 £ in Microscopes, to find out the nature of Eels in Vinegar, Mites in Cheese, and the Blue of Plums which he has subtly found out to be living creatures."

We're still "standing on the shoulders of giants!"

This animation is very, very cool (but takes a good connection).