An Antlion Capturing and Eating an Ant

My mother collected these "doodlebugs" a few days ago to show my children.  I got interested and decided to try to video them in action.  They are called doodlebugs because of the doodly patterns they sometimes make in the sand when moving about.  They are also called antlions because ants are a staple of their diet.  We have fed them so many ants and they always seem ready for more.  Antlions are the larval form of an insect in the order Neuroptera, which also includes the green lacewing.  They are classified in the family Myrmeleontidae, genus Myrmeleon.  I do not know which species this individual belongs to.

It is really interesting to watch them build and use their sand pit traps.  They move backwards burrowing into the sand in a circular pattern while tossing the sand out of the pits with rapid jerking of their heads.  When the pit is deep enough they sit at the bottom with only their jaws exposed and wait on their prey, usually ants.  If the ant is able to gain the footing to get out, the antlion showers it with sand causing it to slide back to the bottom.

Baby Rabbit Decomposition in Time-Lapse

This young rabbit was found at my dad's doorstep several weeks ago. We believe it was killed and delivered by his cat. I had been thinking about doing a time-lapse of a decomposing animal for quite a while and figured that I would make the best of this fresh carcass. I built a box using a wooden frame and chicken wire to allow smaller animals and bugs in while keeping out the larger animals that might just drag it off.  Here is the "rot box".  Since the lid is removable to allow full sunlight, I may call it the "grow box" for future projects.

Here is the box after this project was completed with the lid open and the camera in place.

For the filming I used my new Pentax Optio WG-1 which is really durable and versatile. I started taking 1 picture every 12 minutes, but as the action sped up over the last two days I increased the frequency to once every 5 or six minutes. On the last day when I went out to check the progress, I was disappointed to see the whole rabbit was gone. There were no bones or anything left, so I thought a snake or something had gotten in and carried it off.  However, after watching the playback, I realized that the maggots had devoured the entire rabbit. I was expecting a skeleton to stay together for several weeks and had planted some grass seeds to grow up and eventually beautify the whole gory scene, but it went way faster than I expected.  The entire process took only 4 days.
 

Springtails in a Mud Puddle - Collembola

A couple of weeks ago my father, a farmer who shares an interest in biology with me, told me that he had seen a bunch of springtails in the ditches around the fields on our farm. When I got free one afternoon, I went down with my camera to see for myself. I stopped at a large puddle of water in the middle of a gravel road after a big rain. This is what I saw. Click the pics to enlarge.

If I hadn't been prepared, I would have thought it was just a puddle with some light debris around the edge, but a closer look revealed the prize I was searching for, an abundance of springtails.

Springtails are hexapods that were previously considered by most to be insects that have now been reclassified by many as having a separate lineage from the insects. Springtails (Collembola) have been classified as an order within the class insecta, or as a subclass of Entognatha alongside insects in the subphylum hexapoda, or if considered to be a basal lineage of hexapoda then they are elevated to a class.

Springtails are small, usually less than 6mm, with these shown being 1-2 mm and are very abundant. Many species are known to be agricultural pests in some cases but beneficial in others.

The name springtail is derived from their spring-like abdominal appendage, the furcula, which is tucked underneath the body and held in place by small appendage called a tenaculum (or retinaculum). When threatened, the springtail rapidly and forcefully extends the appendage, forcing it into the air making it very difficult to catch for closer observation or as a quick meal. Shown below is a video I made of these tiny creatures using my iPhone 4S and olloclip macro lens(both are awesome). You can see the tails extending rapidly, but even under my microscope, I haven't clearly identified the tenaculum which is supposed to hold the furcula in place while tucked under the body. **these creatures had not been harmed or injured when I made this video, they just could not handle the smooth texture of the surface on which they were placed. I quickly released them back to nature after the video was made.** Sources Wikipedia - Springtail and bugguide.net



Don't forget to check out Modulator's Friday Ark!!!

Termites and Their Pests, Mites and Nematodes (Roundworms)

I found some little termites living large on the fringe of my compost heap so I put one under my Celestron digital LCD microscope and this is what I found. These are mites and nematodes (roundworms) which are both known to parasitize temites (or it may be commensalism in the case of the mite). The roundworms were living in the head of the termite.

Here is a study from Florida Entomologist on "Mites and Nematodes Associated with Three Subterranean Termite Species (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)"

My best guess based on the the above paper and not much else is that the organisms here are as follows:
Eastern Subterranean Termite - Reticulitermes flavipes
Mite - Family Acaridae, Genus Australhypopus
Nematode - Family Rhabditidae, Genus Rhabditis

Anyone with more knowledge of these species please feel free to offer corrections in the comments.

And don't forget to check out Modulator's Friday Ark!

Head Louse: Pediculus humanus capitis

I previously posted pics of these human head lice about 6 years ago.

Now I have a new toy sitting in my office waiting for an opportunity to get some better pictures of small critters of this sort. Today I plucked this head louse from the head of a little girl who was brought in to my office to see me for a cold. My astute nurse pointed out the fact that she had lice so I grabbed one to view under my new microscope. The first part is at the lowest power then the final two parts are at a higher power. The final part was done when it was still alive and its innards were still moving. I used a Celestron LCD digital microscope for the video.

And don't forget to check out Modulator's Friday Ark!!

An Aphid Live Birth and Predation Time-lapse

I have previously posted some pictures and info on the mutualistic relationship between ants and aphids, but I hadn't really given any thought to the reproductive cycle of aphids. Neil Bromhall has made an excellent time-lapse video of aphid live birth and subsequent predation of the aphids by hoverfly larvae.



I was surprised to learn that aphids give live birth so I read the Wikipedia entry on aphid reproduction. It is far to complex and variable for me to try to summarize here. I will just say that it is quite amazing an worth a read.

Wool Sower Gall Wasp - Callirhytis seminator

Several weeks ago my neighbor showed me these interesting growths on one of his white oak trees.

I thought it probably was some type of gall so after a few minutes research I found that it was a gall produced by a small wasp called a wool sower gall wasp, Callirhytis seminator, which only makes its galls on white oak trees. The female wasp lays her eggs in the plant and after hatching, the grubb induces the gall formation.

In the center of these galls are tiny seed-like structures, which is why this type of gall is sometimes also called an oak seed gall. Each one contains a larva which is protected and nourished by the tree.

I cut of a few of the galls from the tree and brought kept them in my garage. After about 2 weeks they had all made their way out of the gall leaving these neat little holes in the side of the galls.

Here are some close-ups of the tiny wasps.

For More information:
Galls on Oaks - NC State University
Springfield Plateau Wool-sower Gall
Wikipedia - Gall Wasp

And don't forget to check out Friday Ark #340!

Time-lapse of the Week #3

Here is a nice time-lapse video of the assembly of a giraffe skeleton in the library of the Santa Rosa Junior College Petaluma campus. This was posted by ThePressDemocrat.



Also, yesterday I posted a brief video time-lapse of the compost heap in my backyard. It is just a brief preview of an ongoing project.

Time-lapse of the Week

Here is my time-lapse that I posted on YouTube this week. It is of a small rice field being harvested. The period of filming was about 2 hours. I took a picture every 5 seconds then played them back at a rate of 30 fps.

Here is an awesome video showing the life cycle of the Sara Orange Tip Butterfly using high speed, traditional and time-lapse filming techniques from one of the best, jcmegabyte:

And here is a great one of a construction project from timelapseman:

Cecropia Moths, Hyalophora cecropia

Sometime back in mid March, I was fishing at our farm's reservoir and I ran across a large cocoon. It was attached along the length of a small tree branch right on the edge of the water.

Not having any idea what was in it, I tore it open and I found this very large pupa.

I brought them both home, did some research, and found with suprising ease (thanks to this expert) that these were Cecropia moth pupae. Wanting desperately to film the emergence of this moth, I set up my time-lapse rig in my gargage closet and began shooting. I suspected from my reading that it would be about 2 weeks before eclosure so I spaced the photos out to about every 5-10 minutes at first. I waited and waited and waited. after about 3 weeks I got tired of watching time-lapse videos of a moth pupa sitting still, so I added some growing soybeans into the frame and continued the filming. At this point I was shooting 1 picture every 20 minutes. I wasn't prepared for the emergence of the first moth from the intact cocoon, but it came out and sat for a while. I missed the best part of the action of the moth emerging due to the long interval between pics. I did take some great photos of the adult moth before letting it go. Here is the video showing the whole above mentioned process:

Below is a nice pic of the moth after it emerged. It had a wingspan of around 5.5 inches. Here is a large version of my best Cecropia moth photo.

I then rearranged the set up for the exposed pupa and the soybeans and waited for another week or so. I was about to give up on this pupa thinking it must have died from excessive handling when, just before going to bed, I rechecked and saw the pupa moving wildly and realized she was on her way out. I rearranged the set up again for a closer view and changed to 6 second intervals then varied from 6-20 second intervals. I was unbelievably excited about getting this whole event on camera but the excitement faded a little as I realized that her wings were a little deformed and she probably wouldn't fly as the other one had. I am not sure of what caused this. The shell of the pupa remained stuck around its right wing as they unfurled and I eventually had to pull it off between frames, but it may have been too late and that may be at least partly to blame for the deformity of her wings. Here is the video of the emerging moth:

This post and many better ones are on board Modulator's Friday Ark #291 so don't forget to have a look!!

Common Housefly Life Cycle In Time-lapse

Time-lapse fly development, 640x480, .mov, 9.9 mb, 2 min.
Time-lapse fly development, 640x480, .AVI, 9 mb, 2 min.

This is a time-lapse video of the growth and devopment of the common housefly, Musca domestica. I started the project by taking a leftover piece of baked chicken and leaving it outside, in the warm summer sun for a few hours. I then took the container in overnight. By the time I came back the next afternoon, the eggs had hatched. This is where the video picks up. After about 4 days, I moved some of the maggots to the glass container, where it was cooler and dry, so they could pupate, which began taking place a couple of days later. Then, I removed the pupae and placed them in the small bowl containing sand. I left the glass container in view in the back so the remaining larvae could continue to be observed. As an afterthought, I placed a larva that had gotten away on the sand beside the pupae and luckily it stayed in view as it prepared to pupate. You can see the pupae darken as they age, which is typical. After about 5 days the adult flies began to emerge and this lasted for several more days. I used my Canon PowerShot S3 IS and GBTimelapse software on a laptop. Until the adult flies emerged, I was shooting each picture at a rate of 1 picture every 3 to eight minutes. Then I had to speed it up to every 5 seconds because they came out so fast. The movie was then played back at 30 fps. I used Sony Acid Music Studio to make the accompanying music. The YouTube version of this video is available here. I also Made a real time video of an emerging fly which can be seen below or a higher quality wmv version can be seen here.

I used the U of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences' web page for the house fly as my resource for the expected timing of the stages of development and other information.

All my time-lapse and other videos viewed from my time-lapse home page or on my YouTube player page.

Don't forget to check out Modulator's Friday Ark.

Friday Herplogging - Red-eared Slider, Trachemys scripta elegans

This is a red-eared slider, Trachymys scripta elegans. It is one of 4 subspecies of a turtle known as sliders. This turtle is commonly found in the south central and south eastern U. S. The most distinguishing characteristic of this turtle is the horizontal red patch behind each eye, though they are not actually ears as the name would imply. This one was found in the garage of my neighbor and kept as a pet for a few days by their young daughter who is almost always holding on to some kind of little creature. Red-eared sliders are commonly kept and sold as pets. Because of their size as adults, their longevity and their heavy trade, they are also frequently dumped in both native and non-native habitats and are therefore considered invasive species in some areas such as Florida.

Pictured above is the carapace, which is smooth, slightly domed and hard. The color and markings are usually yellow-green to green and can darken to black with increasing age, especially in males. The rear of the carapace is mildly serrated.

The plastron pictured above is hingeless, and is yellow with dark markings in the center of each scute.

The above picture is a close-up of the serrations along the rear of the carapace.

Don't forget to check out Modulator's Friday Ark.

This and other animals can be seen anytime at the Webiocosm Zoo.

Circus of the Spineless #30

Circus of the Spineless #30 is now up at A DC Birding Blog, so get on over and check it out.

Arhtropod Friday: Triops, Triops longicaudatus

This is a Triops, or Triops longicaudatus. It is in the class Branchiopoda and order Nostraca and is sometimes also referred to as a tadpole shrimp. This little crustacean was raised from an egg along with a bunch of other eggs that came in a kit called "Triassic Triops", which I purchased at a local hobby store. I was hoping to put the eggs in a small container and then make a time-lapse video of these things growing over a week or so. For many reasons it didn't work out but I have had a good time watching the two that made it. They are intersting because according to Wikipedia, Their external morphology has apparently not changed since the Triassic appearance of Triops cancriformis around 220 million years ago. Triops cancriformis may therefore be the "oldest living animal species on earth." They also grow very fast and for the first week or more, a substantial increase in size can be seen from day to day. Having had no prior knowledge of this animal, there are too many fine details about its morphology and habits for me to try to get in to so I will just leave you with a couple of good links from people who actually know these animals. Here is the page of the company that produces the kit I bought. Here is the Triops information page.

The above pics show the size of my triops after 2-3 weeks, what the underside looks like (they frequently swim upside down), and the box that the kit came in.

Here is a brief video of my Triops pair at YouTube or a larger, sharper Quicktime Triops video is here (7.5 mb, 27 sec.).

Don't forget to check out Modulator's Friday Ark.

Also visit Circus of the Spineless #30 at A DC Birding Blog for some down home invertebrate goodness.

Friday Herplogging: Red Milk Snake, Lampropeltis triangulum syspila

A few weeks ago I was out jogging in my neighborhood, when I came across this beautiful small snake on the side of the road right next to my house. After my initial reaction, which was as usual to suddenly leap about 5 feet into the air, I went back to inspect it. I quickly employed a rule of thumb for dealing with snakes having this sort of coloration - "Red on yellow, kill a fellow. Red on black friend of Jack" - to identify this as a nonpoisonous specimen. I knew there were some coral snake mimics around here, but I had never seen any so I grabbed it and took it in for the photo session and identification. I found that this is a red milk snake or Lampropeltis triangulum syspila. Here are the Steps I took to ID this snake using the book The Amphibians and Reptiles of Arkansas by Stanley Trauth et al:

1. Facial pit absent, pupil of eye round, double row of subcaudal scales extending to near tip of tail.

2. Dorsum with red, black, yellow, and/or white bands and rings.

3. Dorsum with red bands not bordered by yellow; red and black bands or blotches touching; bands not encircling the body; no fangs present.

4. Snout blunt (rostral scale not enlarged), venter with irregular clusters of dark scutes.

5. Dorsum of head red; lateral blotches greatly reduced or absent.

After the pictures were taken I let the snake go of course. With further research, I discovered a few interesting facts:

1. Another variation of the rhyme mentioned above is "Red touches yellow, kill a fellow. Red touches black, venom lack."
2. The Texas Coral Snake, Micrurus tener tener, the snake I was intending to avoid playing with by using the above rhyme, is the only species of coral snake that lives in Arkansas and is only in the southwestern part.
3. Those rhyming rules only apply to coral snakes living in North America as I found by unsuccessfully applying the rule to these coral snakes.

Don't forget to check out Modulator's Friday Ark.

This red milk snake has been added to the Webiocosm Zoo.

Updated 4/17/2010, Just for fun, here is a depiction of the coral snake by the South Park gang:

Arthropod Friday: Common House Centipede, Scutigera coleoptrata

click to enlarge

This is a common house centipede, Scutigera coleoptrata. I saw several of them and took this picture 2 days ago while cleaning out a storage area under my house. They were very fast moving and made me jump when I first saw them. Animals like this don't usually bother me too much, but I was already in a heightened state of creepiness because of all the brown recluse spiders I had been seeing. After the photo session, I killed a few of them but a couple got away. I began to regret that a little after reading about their feeding habits, because they eat alot of household pests such as spiders, bedbugs, termites, cockroaches, silverfish. I have never seen one of these in my living space, so I am not too worried about them bothering us. Apparently they can bite humans and sometimes deliver some venom but the bite is about equivalent to a honey bee sting.

The house centipede, when fully grown, has an average of 17 pairs of long legs, which allow them to run faster than other centipedes, up walls and along ceilings and floors. Young centipedes have four pairs of legs when they are hatched. They gain a new pair with the first molting, and two pairs with every subsequent molting.Its body is yellowish grey or brown and has three dark-colored dorsal stripes running down its length; the legs also have dark stripes. They also have well developed faceted eyes unlike most other centipedes.

Sources: Wikipedia, ADW

Don't forget to check out Modulator's Friday Ark.

Friday Herplogging: Western Cottonmouth, Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma

This is a western cottonmouth, Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma. This species is found in the southeastern United States and is sometimes also called water moccasin. Just about any aquatic situation with a vegetated shoreline and objects for basking prey is a potential home for it. However, that doesn't mean that any snake found near the water is a cottonmouth, like many (or most) assume. Many unrelated, nonvenomous water snakes are found in these same areas and are much more common. This particular cottonmouth was killed by my father, after almost accidentally stepping on it near a rice field. It struck his boot several times, but was unable to penetrate, before he stepped on it, rolled it over and shot its underside. It is about 30 inches long. The species is in the family Viperidae, also known as pit vipers, which also includes rattlesnakes and copperheads. The pit is a heat sensing organ for locating prey. Cottonmouths are well known for their tendency to stand their ground with their whitish mouths gaping wide open when approached or threatened, hence the name cottonmouth.

Though I already new the Identity of this species when I got it, I went through the key in the book, The Amphibians and Reptiles of Arkansas by Stanley Trauth et al to point out its distinguishing characteristics. Here are the steps I took:

1. Facial pit between eye and nostril (black arrow, above); eye pupil elliptical (and vertical); single row of subcaudal scales extending to near tip of tail (yellow arrow, above)...Family Viperidae.

2. Tip of tail lacking a rattle or button...Genus Agkistrodon

3. Dorsum lacking hourglass-shaped crossbands, but rather dark brown or black bands; head black with dark stripe behind eye, pale labial stripe (red arrow, above)...western cottonmouth

Below are pictures of the snakes long retractable fangs. Here is some more information about bites from these snakes and their venom.

Don't forget to check out Modulator's Friday Ark.

Snakes Eating Things

Last weekend while I was fishing with my family, we ran across this water snake eating a fish. I made everyone move away and fish elsewhere while I filmed. The footage is a little sketchy because it was taking so long and I knew I would run out of memory on my digital camera if I let it run continuously. The total time from when I began filming to the end was 24 minutes. In the second to last segment, if you listen closely, you can hear my wife cheering for my 2 1/2 year old son as he catches his first fish ever all by himself. Of course, I took a scolding for filming the snake and fish scene instead of that precious moment, but what is a fella to do?

Here are a couple of pictures of the scene that are a little more clear:

I found this next video while getting ready to post my own. This is a snake eating a toad, essentially from start to finish. There is a little more action in this video, but it lasts 10 minutes. The dialogue from the "camera crew" makes it a little more worthwhile as well.

Good job fellas.

Don't forget to check out Modulator's Friday Ark!

Herp Friday: Broadhead Skink, Eumeces laticeps

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This broadhead skink, Eumeces laticeps, has been seen hanging around my house several times in the last few weeks. I was able to get some extreme close-ups of it one day when it was cool outside and he was a little sluggish. I had a fairly easy time identifying it simply based on its appearance, but to be certain, I used the key to the lizards of Arkansas contained in the excellent book, The Amphibians and Reptiles of Arkansas by Stanley Trauth et al. Here are the basic steps I went through (not numbered here as in the key but as the number of steps I took):

1. Four legs present.
2. Body scales smooth, shiny and overlapping. (That places them in the family Scincidae).
3. Frontal scale rectangle shaped; supranasal scales present (see below); lower eyelid without transparent disk. (not pictured)
4. Dorsal and lateral scales in parallel rows with the long axis of the body (2nd picture above).
5. Chin with 2 postmental scales. (not pictured)
6. Eight or nine upper labials; no postlabial or if present one or two small postlabials, the sixth labial is the first to contact the orbit (see below); maximum SVL over 85 mm (didn't measure)........Broadhead skink, Eumeces laticeps

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These are relatively large lizard for this area. The adults are usually tan or brown except for the head which may turn red or orange in males during breeding season. This lizard's home range is essentially the southeastern quarter of the U.S., which overlaps with that of the Five-lined skink. These species have very similar appearances as hatchlings and can easily be confused. Some people incorrectly call broadhead skinks "scorpions", probably because they may bite if mishandled, though their bite is not poisonous.

Don't forget to check out Modulator's Friday Ark.