Biodiversity in Focus Blog

The End is Near…

Entomology, Life as a Grad Student, Taxonomy, Tongue in Cheek 10 Responses »

Apr 132011

My MSc Defense Poster

The Quest for the Master’s Degree is nearing it’s conclusion! If you’ll be in the Guelph area on Monday, I invite you to stop in and see what I’ve been up to for the past 3.5 years. I can promise plenty of taxonomic discussion (hopefully well defended by yours truly), plenty of pictures and diagrams, and the world premiere of 3 species new to science! There will be Timbits and coffee for those who require further encouragement/bribes.

The last month has been all over the place, with periods of extremely long days full of final revisions and paperwork, and an eerie academic Limbo without needing to work on my thesis for the first time in years. There’s always work to be done however, and I’ve been preparing the chapters for peer-reviewed publication. Once everything is said and done, I’ll be doing a series of posts reflecting back on my first graduate degree; the highs, the lows, and some tips for those considering doing graduate work in taxonomy. Until then, have a good weekend, and I’ll see you on the other side!

Tuesday Tunes – Butterfly – Mariah Carey

Fun Stuff, Insects, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes Comments Off

Apr 122011

Ryan Fleacrest Alright, it’s time for another fluffy pop song in the Tuesday Tunes line up. I’ve managed to hold back the swarm of honeydew producing artists since Valentine’s Day, but there are a lot of entomological songs coming out of the pop industry, so they’re going to creep in once in awhile!

Butterfly was the second single off of Mariah Carey’s 1997 album of the same name. This album also featured the hit track Honey, which disappointingly doesn’t feature bees or anything else entomological.

I hear Mariah Carey is currently gravid; I wonder what host plant this butterfly is looking to deposit on? Fleacrest, out!

This song is available on iTunes – Butterfly – Butterfly

The Fly Tree of Life – Big Science, Big Results?

Cool Science, Entomology, Publication, Review, Taxonomy 8 Responses »

Apr 112011

This post is going to be longer and a little more technical than normal; feel free to jump in and out, or just check out some of the photos on your way to the conclusions. Although I may come across as critical and occasionally cynical at times, I’m not picking on anyone just to be a thorn, but rather to promote scientific discussion; I fully encourage you to join the discussion in the comments section. Finally, in the spirit of full disclosure, a portion of my graduate research was funded via the NSF Tree of Life grant behind this paper (although neither myself nor my research contributed to this project in any manner that I’m aware of), and one of my academic advisors is a co-author on the paper.

Robber Fly with Prey - Asilidae - Ecuador

Despite my best efforts here at Biodiversity in Focus, research on flies very rarely makes the mainstream media (besides mosquitoes, malaria and Drosophila of course), so when one of the most important papers on fly evolution was released and started making the science blog circuit, I was excited to see people taking an interest in Dipterology! There was one problem however, which is not limited to the blogosphere and this paper, but has been an increasingly common trend in insect systematics: the blind acceptance and assumption that a new phylogeny is the definitive answer because the researchers used an ever increasing number of genes. One influential blogger, who’s also an evolutionary entomologist, summarized the results of the Diptera tree of life as such:

But they’re solid results, since they’re based on lots of molecular data and the branch positions are well supported. — Jerry A. Coyne, Ph.D

Similarly, the research team who published the tree are encouraging the idea that their results are infallible by labeling their work the “New Periodic Table of Flies”. A bold statement, and one that many taxonomists might be hesitant to make as it implies that they don’t expect future studies to return different relationships, much as the periodic table of chemical elements is not about to change. An analogy like this requires a strong body of evidence to support it, so let’s take a look at what they did and how the Diptera family tree looks!

Tuesday Tunes – Moth’s Wings – Passion Pit

Fun Stuff, Insects, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes 4 Responses »

Apr 052011

It’s that time of the week again, and I’m keeping it short and sweet as I work on a couple of other posts (I promise, they’ll be out soon… seriously this time). Today’s piece has seen some love in pop culture, being featured on the TV shows such as Gossip Girl and Big Love, and on the big screen during Life As We Know It. Of course they’ve hit the real big time with a feature here on Tuesday Tunes!

Alright, they also win points for one of the most random videos featured, and that’s saying quite a bit… How come I never find tomatoes or carrots suspended from trees while I’m collecting in the summer? Wrong neck of the woods I suppose. Well, that’s it for this week, but join me next week as we continue to explore the musical landscape in search of sweet insect songs! Fleacrest, out!

This song is available on iTunes – Moth’s Wings – Manners (Bonus Track Version)

Tuesday Tunes – Outdoor Miner – Wire

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Mar 292011

Many artists write their music about the insects which are commonly encountered; ladybeetles, butterflies, the occasional ant or dragonfly. Very few go that extra step and talk about relatively obscure insects of modest economic importance. When it’s not a beetle but rather a fly, well, that’s like icing on the cake.

Today I bring you a song by the British band Wire. Now, this is where it gets a little ironic, as the fly featured in the song Outdoor Miner is the serpentine leaf miner (Liriomyza brassicae), which although one of the most cosmopolitan Agromyzidae (Leafminer Flies), isn’t found in Britain (as of 2007, 29 years after the song was released). The serpentine leaf miner doesn’t generally result in large crop losses, but can create cosmetic damage which makes roadside sale more difficult. Wire has managed to record the life history of the fly through their lyrics, describing the leaf mining patterns indicative of the fly as well as the pupation behaviour (dropping from the leaf to pupate in the soil, and being born again figuratively speaking). Seems like an awful lot of biology for one song eh?

Maybe I’m over-interpreting the lyrics a little, but even the lowly silverfish gets the nod! Wire must have had an entomologist on the payroll; excellent! Fleacrest, out!

This song is available on iTunes – Outdoor Miner – Chairs Missing (Remastered)

Tuesday Tunes – The King Beetle On A Coconut Estate – Mewithoutyou

Fun Stuff, Insects, Life as a Grad Student, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes 3 Responses »

Mar 222011

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks here as I work to wrap up my MSc thesis. By the time you’re listening to today’s tune I should have everything finished up and submitted to my advisory committee, and barring any major revisions will be well on my way to completion. I love what I do, but I’m definitely looking forward to a bit of a break soon to relax and do some more blogging and photography!

Today’s song is definitely entomologically related, and it’s about as crazy as I feel right now. In fact, the album it’s off of pretty well sums up the past few weeks for me: “It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All A Dream! It’s Alright”. I’m banking on that last statement coming true…

Hopefully I’ll stop being lame and get back into a more regular posting schedule soon. I’ve got a bunch of topics and ideas that I want to share and expand upon, just haven’t had the time or the energy to do so. Stay tuned for all sorts of fun stuff in the near future! Fleacrest, out!

This song is available on iTunes – The King Beetle On a Coconut Estate – It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All a Dream! It’s Alright

Tuesday Tunes – Dragonflies – Red House Painters

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Mar 152011

Well, this week I don’t have anything witty or pressing to pass along. Busy time of year, and a new major Diptera paper was just published which I’ll be going over soon! Until then enjoy Dragonflies by Red House Painters.

This song is available on iTunes –Dragonflies – Red House Painters I

Ants & Architecture

Environment, Photography, Travel 9 Responses »

Mar 102011

The wife and I took a weekend off last month and headed down to Chicago to visit a friend, take in the sights, and enjoy a bit of a break. I must say that Chicago was one of the coolest big cities I’ve been to, with great architecture, plenty of great food (including the best pizza ever), and a first class entomological exhibit!

Yep, that's a live ant colony within the title sign, a great way to start an exhibit!

The Chicago Field Museum is currently exhibiting “The Romance of Ants“, which follows the life and career of resident myrmecologist Dr. Corrie Moreau. I had the chance to hear Dr. Moreau discuss her research during a recent visiting scientist seminar here at Guelph, so it was great to see and read about her career path. Did I mention that her entire entomological life was illustrated as a comic book? Because it is, and it is awesome!

The formicid scent trail leads through an excellent comic

You might recognize some familiar ant photos from the entomological blog-o-sphere: sprinkled between the comic frames were huge reproductions of Alex Wild’s fantastic photographs. The huge printing of these photos looked great, and really added to the feel of the exhibit by making you feel as if you were a part of the colony!

Art & Science as one

Overall it was a great exhibit, but I worry its position in the museum will cause a lot of people to miss it. Located in a dark corner room which looked like an old Western saloon on the outside, we were the only two in the exhibit for the entire 15-20 minutes it took to take in. The museum wasn’t overly busy despite being a Saturday morning, but there were quite a few people who I saw walk straight on by without recognizing that a great blending of science and art was lying only a few feet away (kind of like ants in everyday life). The exhibit is scheduled to run through the end of 2011, so if you’re in the area, I’d highly recommend checking it out!

I played tourist this trip and tried my hand at some architectural photography while we walked around town. Downtown Chicago features some really amazing architecture and sculptures, which made my attempts a little easier. It’s certainly a different style of photography than I’m used to, but it was great getting a few clicks in again!

Tuesday Tunes – Mardi Gras Special

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Mar 082011

It’s party time down in The Big Easy, with eusocial gatherings in the streets, plenty of ethanol being wasted (i.e. not being used for insect preservation) and females displaying mammary glands for petroleum-based jewelery (or so I’ve heard). In celebration, here’s the Dukes of Dixieland playing the entomological fight song, “When the Ants go Marching In”!

Wait, you mean it’s actually about SAINTS, not ants? And it’s a traditional funeral song? Shit. Well, in that case, enjoy EL-P featuring New Orleans resident (and Academy Award Winner) Trent Reznor – Flyentology (I think I might start referring to myself as a Flyentologist now…)

I’m off to eat some pancakes and pączki with some Jack Daniels Syrup. Fleacrest out!

These songs are available on iTunes – When the Saints Go Marching In – Timeless, The Classic Collection

– Flyentology (Cassettes Won’t Listen Remix) – Single – El-P

Tuesday Tunes – Firefly – Breaking Benjamin

Fun Stuff, Insects, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes 1 Response »

Mar 012011

Just when the snow seemed to be melting, the mercury dropped and we woke up to find some fresh new snow here in the Great White North (how I wish that was an ironic nickname). I’m pretty tired of snow now, and longing for the warm summer nights spent sitting in a field watching beetle asses phosphoresce! There’s nothing that can beat the laser light show put on by fireflies (family Lampyridae) when trying to unwind in the summer with beer in hand… Mmmmm, cold beer on a warm night… Ok, so maybe this wasn’t the best song choice after all!

Breaking Benjamin is one of my favourite bands, and the fact that they have an entomologically themed song only makes it better. Their music always takes me back to undergraduate summers working on the farm and checking the woods for insects! Damn, spring can’t come soon enough!

Now that I’ve gotten myself all worked up with spring fever, better get back to work. Enjoy the last few weeks (or optimistically days) of winter, and check back next week for a sweet new insect song!

This song is available for download on iTunes — Firefly – We Are Not Alone

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