Jurassic Song

Fossils are a window to the past: but rarely are such windows clear. And looking at a thing through "a glass distorted", of course, distorts our view of that thing. Restoring the appearances of prehistory's creatures is difficult; reconstructing their behavior is often impossible. But once in a long while paleontologists find—preserved perfectly by petrifaction—easily legible evidence of a long-dead organism's daily habits.

Such was the case earlier this year with Archaboilus musicus, a 165-million-year-old katydid/bush-cricket (Tettigoniidae) found in that fount of glorious fossils, China. Its modern kin, naturally, are well-known for their males' stridulatory songs, used to attract mates: and it turns out at least some of them did the same as early as the Jurassic Period. By examining the hind angles of the forewings belonging to A. musicus' (presumably male) holotype, and comparing these stridulatory organs to those of extant katydids, researchers have deduced the precise sound of the ancient katydid's song—which was indeed musical, like the melodies of its modern kin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC6vVmkU8i0). 

Interestingly, with a frequency of 6.5 kHz, A. musicus had a rather lower bandwidth than most of its said extant cousins. It's speculated that this reflects the different constituency of Jurassic forests: dominated not by tall, shady deciduous trees, but by thick fern bracken underneath conifers—deep acoustics would be required to penetrate this more claustrophobic sylvan environ. 

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night...




Refs.:
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Gu, J. J.; Montealegre, Z.; Robert, D.; Engel, M. S.; Qiao, G. X.; and Ren, D. (2012). Wing stridulation in a Jurassic katydid (Insecta, Orthoptera) produced low-pitched musical calls to attract females. Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109 (10): 3868.

Mormotomyiidae: They're Terrible, They're Hairy, & They're Flies

I now present the promised post on Mormotomyia hirsuta, the "terrible hairy fly" from a lone Kenyan cave that may be the rarest fly in the world (http://gentlecentipede.blogspot.com/). The collection of live specimens in 2010 for the first time in 62 years resulted in more than one dipterist wetting their pants with joy. (I, ahem, was not one of them.)

The Top Twenty Coolest Flies

I just discovered this countdown of the top twenty coolest flies, compiled by Jonathan Wojcik (http://bogleech.com/bio-flies.html). It truly gives one an excellent idea of the Diptera's incredible diversity; it even brought to my attention flies of which I was previously unaware, such as Thaumatoxena wasmanni (Phoridae), the females of which are wingless, legless, mite-like indestructible lozenges that inhabit termite fungus gardens; and Wandolleckia achatinae (also Phoridae), the females of which reside as commensals on the bodies of snails, swimming in the snail-snot itself. (I've always wanted to use that phrase.) 

The article also has the only photographs of the New Zealand bat fly (Mystacinobiidae)—the only social fly known to man—that I've ever seen; and there's a fantastic image of an ant-decapitating fly (Pseudacteon) bursting from its host's head. My only complaint is that the terrible hairy fly (Mormotomyiidae; subject of a forthcoming post on my personal blog) is absent from the list.

" ...The Claws of a Velociraptor ... " (Yes, This Is About Insects)

"[An] unusual insect, it has arms cocked like those of a [mantidfly], the ... stance of an Ichneumonid, the ... gait of a [long-legged fly], the claws of a Velociraptor, and the watchfulness of a [mantis]."

...Thus spake Stephen Luk, student at the University of Guelph, whom I respectfully quote here due to his capturing the aesthetic essence of...well, whatever he was describing. You can determine that creature's identity for yourself by reading my post (http://gentlecentipede.blogspot.com/2012/12/little-bags-of-horror-three-obscure.html) at my new blog, Life, et al.

Hope this is worth your time...

Black-Legged Ticks

We guest-wrote another brief article for the Kentucky Native Plant and Wildlife blog, a site maintained by U.K. Wildlife Extension Specialist Dr. Tom Barnes. The topic: black-legged ticks. These are the ticks that spread Lyme disease in the northeastern United States. Well, the tick has been found in Kentucky now, too. Are we at risk for Lyme disease? Take a look at the article and find out.

Monarch Tagging at the Children's Garden

Blake Newton, UK Extension Entomology

Come to the UK-LGUCG Arboretum in Lexington Kentucky during the month of September to help with monarch butterfly tagging!

Monarch butterflies are one of the few butterfly species that migrate long distances. The monarchs that hatch in Kentucky during the summer actually migrate all the way to Mexico at the end of the year. Then, they return to Kentucky next year to lay more eggs! Scientists are interested in studying their migration patterns and survival rates, and the best way to do this is by capturing live monarch butterflies and tagging them with  harmless stickers. Then, when the butterflies have completed their southern migration, those stickers are cataloged by scientists in Mexico.

Kids (and their parents) can help by going to the Children's Garden at the Lexington Arboretum. There, you can take command of a butterfly net and try to catch a monarch. It's tougher than it sounds: I chased one around for 15 minutes the other day and I still couldn't catch it. They're aerodynamic! But most kids are faster than I am, so take a trip to the Children's Garden on a sunny, warm day in September and ask to help with butterfly tagging!

You can read more about the monarch tagging project at MonarchWatch.org.

2012 Kentucky State Fair: 4-H Entomology Winners

Blake Newton, UK Extension Entomologist 

The Kentucky State Fair is happening right now in Louisville, Kentucky. Last week, I had a chance to judge this year's entries in the 4-H Entomology insect collection contest! Overall, we had 28 collections and I think that they looked better than ever. Here are the winners for each category... 

1st Year (Class 687): Emmett King, Oldham Co 
2nd Year (Class 688): Cody Hart, Metcalfe Co 
3rd Year (Class 689): T.J. Svoboda, Clark Co 
5th Year (Class 691): Sandra Brock, Harrison Co 

 And the overall champs: 
Grand Champion: T.J. Svoboda - Clark Co (Class 689) 
Reserve Champion: Cindesta Belcher - Estill Co (Class 689) 

 It was nice to see that several of last year's winners were able to win this year as well (you can see last year's winners here). Congratulations to everyone, and keep it up for next year! You can learn more about making a 4-H Entomology insect collection here.