Saturday is Firefly Day!

I wrote last year about a new Citizen Science program called Firefly Watch. It’s a partnership between the Boston Museum of Science and researchers from Tufts University and Fitchburg State College to track these special summer insects.

They ask volunteers to spend some time outside in the evenings and to report what they see online.  Researchers want to  learn about the geographic distribution of fireflies and their activity during the summer season.

The museum is holding a Firefly Day this Saturday to kick off the program!

The Firefly Watch website opens in May–so why not sign up now, and get your data sheets ready?  They even have a neat virtual habitat that you can practice your ID skills in!

I can tell you first-hand that I had a GREAT time doing this last year–kids and grownups both will have a blast.

Join Firefly Watch Today!

Related posts:

• Fireflies and sexual signals

Cicada man!

CicadiaMania alerted me to the strange pleasure that is Cicada Man, or Semi Ningen. 

Semi Ningen (Cicada-Human) is a character from a very odd 1966 Japanese TV series, Ultra Q.  SN is sent to earth (disguised as a human man) by evil alien Cicadas.  He is instructed to use the monster Garamon to create havoc in Tokyo.

Garamon was kind of like a fluffy Godzilla.

Why there were alien cicadas planning to covertly attack Tokyo by hijacking a multi-story dustmop with violent tendencies isn’t really clear.   Interestingly, Semi Ningen is quite dapper, featuring a suit and tie as this one does.  One would think that a labium and stylets would get in the way of traditional western attire, but apparently it’s better to be a Cicada that looks good than one that feels good.

Kaijiart explains the plot:

“Our intrepid Ultra Q team discovers a way to stop his source of control over the Garamon by placing a meteorite (Tilsonite) in a special covering that prevents it’s energy from reaching the Garamon…thus ending the attack.“

Um. OK, maybe that didn’t explain it after all.

You can watch an episode of Ultra Q (Revenge of Garamon) and see Cicada Man. Note to villains: concealing a meteorite in a Cello case is probably not as inconspicuous as you think.

Thanks very much to REdYOdA for the use of the SN photo.

Some good news, for a change!

Yay! Big props to Vermont, Iowa (??? who knew), and DC for recognizing marriage between any two people that love each other–regardless of parts. 

Rather predictably, while most of us rejoice, some others think the world is ending.  I just loved this graphic from Pam’s House Blend illustrating fundamentalist reactions–It make me laugh very much.  I hope they don’t mind me swiping it

Other good news:

New York is closer to passing a bullying bill.

While MSU did not beat UNC, they did come awfully close, and made a lot of Michiganders happy.

It finally stopped snowing.

Yeah, this doesn’t fix the world, but it does help to win a few for a change.

Monday Morning Earwig Genital Cringe

One of the many, many reasons I love insects is that they are just plain weird and kinky.  
(What? I don’t think that implies anything about my personality!)

Today, we look at earwig mating habits. Here’s your water-cooler trivia for the day:
Earwigs have two penises–in case one is broken off.

Kamimura, Y., & Matsuo, Y. (2001). A “spare” compensates for the risk of destruction of the elongated penis of earwigs (Insecta: Dermaptera) Naturwissenschaften, 88 (11), 468-471 DOI: 10.1007/s001140100259

“In Dermaptera (earwigs), males ….have paired, elongated male intromittent organs (virgae)…..Several authors have assumed that one of the paired virgae is non-functional, because it points in the “wrong” direction. We investigated the mating success of handicapped males of Euborellia plebeja in which one of their paired virgae was removed experimentally. These handicapped males succeeded in inseminating a mate. Males with genital damage are found in the field, suggesting that the “spare” functions under natural conditions.

This was a very well done study–in addition to earwig coitus interruptus in the lab, they also spent some time in the field, verifying that males are often disturbed with schlong-snapping results.

That’s how they came up with one of the more unusual primary research sentences I’ve seen:

“When the abdomen of mating males was pinched and they were gently lifted with forceps, 75% of males lost one of their virgae.”

Granted, I’m projecting. But….OW.

This becomes even more cringe-inducing when you know that each earwig penis is about as long as their entire body.

While I have reduced this research to Beavis and Butt-head levels here, this author’s work is a fascinating case study in evolution.  In subsequent work, he found that related earwig taxa may have lost their extra penis when they became “right-handed.”

Kamimura, Y. (2006). Right-handed penises of the earwigLabidura riparia (Insecta, Dermaptera, Labiduridae): Evolutionary relationships between structural and behavioral asymmetries Journal of Morphology, 267 (11), 1381-1389 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.10484

Fascinating stuff!

You may also be interested in:

• King Missile: Detachable penis (video)
• Evolution of asymmetry in arthropod genetalia (A schwing to the right or left is apparently not unknown in the Arthropod world)
• Genitalia: An entomological obsession

 

Insect leaf mimics

Another busy day, so how about some more pretty photos?
A collection of animal camouflage.

Can you spot the mimic?

An amazing collection of insect crypsis, including some videos. Enjoy!

Pretty Picture Thursday

Still tired and have too much work. Also, My attempt at an April Fools Post didn’t sucker as many people as I hoped. Seriously, though–a Mullet Spa was just too good to pass up.

Anyway, here is an amazingly beautiful hopper from Panama. Photo taken by  Adrian Royle.

Enjoy!

(oh, and I also picked a fight with PZ. Windmill tilting–ENGAGE!)