Bug Girl's Annex

Being unemployed is like high school.

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 23:00:50 -0400

I realized today that the process of trying to find a job is very much like the most painful parts of high school.

That job that’s a perfect match for you? It’s the dreamy crush that you can’t stop thinking about. You make all sorts of plans for what your life together will be like.

You spend days composing a giant crush note (with attached resume) and agonize about whether or not you should send it.

You send it.

You wait.

And the dreamy crush just keeps walking right by you in the hall like you don’t even exist. Or worse, they respond: “Yo, read your letter and I see absolutely nothing in common between us.”

But…you are perfect for them!
You’re soul mates!

And then you cry. Because your heart is broken.

And then you find a new dream date.
And you fall in love again.
And have your heart stomped.
Again.

You do this over and over and over and over and over, week after week.

That’s what being unemployed is like. It’s like having your heart broken in high school. Daily.

Oh MYYY. Bawdy Hymenoptera Limericks.

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:01:50 -0500

Oh MYYY. Bawdy Hymenoptera Limericks.

This is not a sunflower. Look closer.

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 18:13:20 -0500

This is not a sunflower. Look closer.

SQUEEEEEE baby mantids

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 13:00:50 -0500

SQUEEEEEE baby mantids

evopropinquitous: Things I Learned as a Field Biologist...

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 13:01:03 -0500

evopropinquitous:

Things I Learned as a Field Biologist #294

One day, you may notice that one of your mosquito bites has begun to hurt… like a needle being pushed insistently and repeatedly into your skin. As the days pass by, the poking becomes more intense, and the pain a bit deeper, and the bump is beginning to grow…

When you look more closely at the offending bite, you may see something mildly horrifying: a small proboscis, wetly reaching out for air, before disappearing quickly back into a tiny, suppurating hole in your skin.

Congratulations.

You have a botfly.

Pay attention now, here’s what you should do:

1) DO NOT JUST LET IT GO.

I know you’re tempted… we’ve all been there: “Something is parasitizing me in a most vile and disgusting manner?! Let’s leave it alone and see what it does!” But this is just not acceptable. It’s gross. And I think by now we should all know that it cannot turn out well.

If you doubt me, see the above video (in which several friends and I can be seen having a beer while contemplating the spectacle - and biceps - of someone NOT paying attention to point 1 above).

2) Name it.

Naming things makes them marginally less disgusting. My first botfly was called Fergie (after someone whose vocal presence roughly approximates the feeling of being stabbed by a needle over and over again).

3) Kill it.

Killing a botfly is fairly simple. To suffocate the bot, a bit of duct tape can be applied to the bite area. I recommend also putting a bit of vaseline directly over the air hole, to deprive it of even the remotest possibility of breathing and thus continuing to feed off of my bodily fluids. Some try to coax the bot out using either positive stimuli (raw meat) or negative stimuli (tobacco, cigarette butts), but this beats around the bush. Just kill it.

Why kill it, you may ask? Well, dear friend, because this is what it looks like. Every time you try to extract it while alive, it will dig in with those spikes (see video above for an example of a difficult live birth - and more biceps).

4) Birth it.

Once the bot is dead (it usually takes a day or two using the duct tape method), you get to extract the corpse! This is the best part. I typically use a standard snake bite suction kit. Simply latch on, and increase the suction by pushing in the plunger. Naturally, because of the spikes, this will take a while, and more suction than one might expect, but the results are spectacular and not a little satisfying. Soon you’ll have a bloody, pussy explosion inside the cup! Birth!

5) Save it.

Be sure to rifle through the schrapnel of your bot’s explosive parturition to find the bot, because now that it’s no longer feeding on your vital fluids, it’s actually really frakking awesome (and looks incredible in a small test tube on the mantle).

Free book from ScienceOnline2013. I am a little geeked.

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 17:37:01 -0500

Free book from ScienceOnline2013. I am a little geeked.

Medium-Deep Thoughts about ScienceOnline2013

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 21:18:07 -0500

An interesting discussion is shaping up about this year’s ScienceOnline. I’ve been to two SciO’s now, and I find that ScienceOnline has several different kinds of sessions.

Some of the sessions teach me how to do new stuff, and I learn how to be a better writer. These are best described as a very open lecture; lots of back and forth between the experts and the audience.

Some of the sessions are group therapy. That is an important function of bringing a really diverse (geographically) group together to see that we all have stuff we struggle with.

Some of the sessions are a brainstorming free-for all, with moderators basically guiding the discussion (which is Karen’s preferred model.)

I think ALL of these are important, and what we really need is a clearer distinction of what we are going to get in each session, not a mandate for one official style.

There are lots of concurrent sessions—I was constantly frustrated that I couldn’t go to everything. So, I don’t really see what the problem is if different sessions are…you know. Different.

Why do we go to SciO? To learn, sure, but also to talk and to re-connect with friends that we may only see once a year. Or once every other year. Or never in meatspace.

It’s exciting to feel like your brain is going to burst open because it’s so full of ideas. It’s terrifying to be in a room with lots of people that are that smart and that talented. Pretty much everything I said about SciO last year is still true.

I am deep in personal drama (still unemployed, etc), so I haven’t had the ability to fully process more about SciO other than I am geeked I got to go, happy our session went pretty well, and thrilled that many more insect bloggers joined me this year.

I don’t know if I will try to go back next year, because I want everyone to have the opportunity to go. [Wait, what am I saying? Fuck Altruism, I want to BE there in 2014.]

At the Entomological Society of America’s Annual...

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 21:01:08 -0500

At the Entomological Society of America’s Annual conference, the Bug Chicks asked people to describe entomology in one word. A great diversity of people, thoughts and disciplines!

Walking Stick Insect research explained…by PhDComics!!...

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:18:25 -0500

Walking Stick Insect research explained…by PhDComics!! This is part of the “describe your thesis in 2 minutes” series.

UC Davis Ph.D. candidate in entomology Matan Shelomi tells us why, when it comes to stick bug research, you should go with your gut.

Today, January 28th, is the day we lost Ron McNair: An amazing...

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 11:57:51 -0500

Today, January 28th, is the day we lost Ron McNair: An amazing man who opened doors for so many. Here’s a little cartoon story of his life. The McNair Scholars Program continues to open doors to science for poor kids and students of color.

Fly On, Ron. Fly On.

http://mcnairscholars.com/

A wonderful video about the european giant mayfly. Spring will...

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 15:01:05 -0500

A wonderful video about the european giant mayfly. Spring will come…eventually.

"Why do we read? In the beginning, as children, why do we love the books we love? For most, I think,..."

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 12:10:24 -0500

““Why do we read? In the beginning, as children, why do we love the books we love? For most, I think, it’s travel, a flight into adventure, into a dream that feels like our own. But for a few it is also escape, flight from boredom, unhappiness, loneliness, from where or who we can no longer bear to be. When I read, the words on the page replace the voice in my head and I cease, for a little while, to be me, or at least to be so painfully aware of being me. These are the real readers, the maniacs, the ones who dose themselves with fiction the way junkies get high, the way lovers adore the beloved: Beyond reason.””

- -David Gordon, The Serialist

This is me. Exactly.

Hey! I was quoted in Smithsonian Magazin--OH.

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 12:01:46 -0500

Hey! I was quoted in Smithsonian Magazin--OH.:

Wait. They went with THAT paragraph??

So my claim to being in Smithsonian Magazine actually involves the phrase “snatch waxing”??!!

I guess this one doesn’t go on the Vita.

This is an introduction to Discoverlife Matrix Identification...

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 10:01:01 -0500

This is an introduction to Discoverlife Matrix Identification guides. (www.discoverlife.org).

Unlike dichotomous keys, these flexible guides allow a user to answer identification questions in any order they like and include geographic location, illustrations, taxonomy, photographs, and often the primarily descriptions for each species as integral parts of the guides.

In this video we use bee species as an example, but the thinking and workflow applies to any taxonomic group and any guide.

This guide was developed by Sam Droge, from the USDA Bee Lab!

BWA hahahahah. Ear guards, to protect your ears from the...

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 08:01:21 -0500

BWA hahahahah. Ear guards, to protect your ears from the thousands of spiders that are NOT looking to live in your ears. Nothing in this video is true, but it did make me laugh very much.

This video of a cicada taking flight has an unexpected surprise:...

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 12:01:52 -0500

This video of a cicada taking flight has an unexpected surprise: Colors! “Butterfly Cicadas”

More info about this group here.

What’s better than a dancing jumping spider? A SINGING...

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 00:30:33 -0500

What’s better than a dancing jumping spider? A SINGING dancing spider!

Adorable video

I love The Tick. That is all.

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 12:01:56 -0500

I love The Tick. That is all.

Some moths are squeaky :) The sound this moth makes is very like...

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:11:09 -0500

Some moths are squeaky :)

The sound this moth makes is very like that of a lot of large insects when disturbed—they force air out their spiracles while holding them partly closed.

The mechanics of sound production are a little like the noise a balloon makes when it’s deflating—just much, much smaller and higher pitched.

Pubic Lice are NOT going Extinct

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 08:25:00 -0500

Oh, this story is making the rounds again:

Brazilian Bikini Waxes Make Crab Lice Endangered Species

Pubic lice, the crab-shaped insects that have dwelled in human groins since the beginning of history, are disappearing. Doctors say bikini waxing may be the reason. Waning infestations of the bloodsuckers have been linked by doctors to pubic depilation

Like the last time, this story is getting a lot of popular press. However, what is presented is a lot of anecdotal evidence—stories without a lot of actual data.

I will say that the evidence is much better than the last time this story made the rounds, and this is a far better written story. However, please note that conspicuously sprinkled through the article are links to a bunch of major grooming appliance and beauty product companies.

Gosh, I can’t imagine why they might have a vested interest in promoting the idea that waxing and shaving your short and curlies might prevent pubic lice.

Here’s an important part of the story:

Incidence data aren’t kept by the World Health Organization in Geneva because the gray, six-legged, millimeter-long louse doesn’t transmit disease, and national authorities such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and U.K.’s Health Protection Agency don’t collect the information.

We only have anecdotal data from local health centers, such as the ones interviewed in the story. And:

Historically, it’s been very difficult to get incidence data on pubic lice simply because people don’t like to report it,” said Richard Russell, director of medical entomology at Sydney’s Westmead Hospital. “In over 40 years, I could count on two hands the number of people who had brought pubic lice in for identification and admitted to knowing what they were.

If you want to start trimming your shrubbery, go right ahead. But don’t do it because you think it will protect yourself from pubic lice, do it because you want to (for some inexplicable reason that I don’t understand myself, frankly.)

You should also be aware that injuries from genital grooming are on the rise, and it is not without risk. This is rightly pointed out in the article, for which I again give them props.

The article ends with this quote from a scientist. Emphasis mine in this quote:

The life cycle of the female pubic louse ends if it’s unable to find a suitable place to lay eggs, Russell said, making it plausible that pubic hair removal is reducing populations of the insect.

“It makes sense from the point of the view of the biology of the beast, but how you’d ever find out, I don’t know,” Russell said in a telephone interview.

We probably won’t ever really know the answer question of habitat destruction for the crab louse. This is ‘news’ only because crotch crickets are interesting because of the pastures they graze in. (Which, of course, is exactly why -I- wrote about them!)

But don’t forget that just because a few people in the US and Down Under (snorf!) remove their body hair, the vast majority of people have intact lady gardens. This is an attention-getting article, not news.

My earlier post debunking the “Pube Lice Going Extinct” claim