Tuesday Tunes – Call of the Dung Beettle – Knowdaverbs

 Biology, Insects, Publication, Tuesday Tunes  2 Responses »
Aug 232011
 

Ryan FleacrestWhen I first found this song, I had to double check that the artist actually titled it “Call of the Beettle”, and sure enough, it was spelled that horribly. I guess it’s supposed to be “hip”, I don’t know.

With that settled, I was curious whether there was any scientific validity to a song about calling dung beetles, and it just so happens that there are plenty of dung beetles which signal one another through stridulation! Take for example Aphodius ater, a European dung beetle which has been shown to serenade ladies over a fine meal of barn yard waste (Hirschberger, 2001)!

 

Aphodius ater – photo by BioImages – the Virtual Fieldguide (UK) (CC BY-NC-SA accessed via EOL)

 

It seems that most (if not all) of the 1200 Aphodius species communicate in a similar manner (Kasper & Hirschberger, 2005). The sounds themselves are made by rubbing a file (found on the base of the membranous hind wings) against a structure known as the plectrum on the first abdominal segment. As can be seen, the structures are variable between species, and so are the resulting songs.

 

Aphodius Stridulatory Morphology from Kasper & Hirschberger 2005

Kaspar & Hirschberger 2005 Aphodius Stridulation Patterns

Aphodius Stridulation Patterns from Kasper & Hirschberger 2005

 

 

 

 

 

So now that we know that the artist can’t spell but does have  a solid handle on scarab beetle biology, lets check out the song!

I assume Aphodius beetles understand one another better than I understand that song… Reading the lyrics doesn’t help either, and may have confused me even more! Oh well, at least we learned about dung beetle dinner conversation!

 

This song is available on iTunes – Call of the Dung Beettle – Sonic Imperial – Sounds of the Prophets

 

 

ResearchBlogging.org
Hirschberger, P. (2001). Stridulation in Aphodius Dung Beetles: Behavioral
Context and Intraspecific Variability of Song Patterns
in Aphodius ater (Scarabaeidae) Journal of Insect Behavior, 14 (1), 69-88 DOI: 10.1023/A:1007801713479

Kasper, J., & Hirschberger, P. (2005). Stridulation in Aphodius dung beetles: Songs and morphology of stridulatory organs in North American Aphodius species (Scarabaeidae) Journal of Natural History, 39 (1), 91-99 DOI: 10.1080/00222930310001018877

Tuesday Tunes – Fireflies – Owl City

 Fun Stuff, Insects, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes  No Responses »
Jun 072011
 

Ryan FleacrestWell it seems the summer has finally arrived, and with it the warm temperatures! I always associate fireflies with summer, with their flickering lights during hot nights. I’m going to attribute my procrastination lately to the heat, and call in lame, providing you a simple song with simple lyrics! Perhaps, take a moment and think back to summer’s past and the memories you’ve had with fireflies!

 

 

I’ll try to stop being lame this week and finish up all those posts I promised for last week! Until then, keep cool and enjoy the summer’s eve!

 

This song is available on iTunes – Fireflies – Ocean Eyes

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
 

Ryan FleacrestIt’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 – Firefly – Breaking Benjamin

 Fun Stuff, Insects, Pop Culture, Tuesday Tunes  1 Response »
Mar 012011
 

Ryan FleacrestJust 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

Get it while you can!

 Blogosphere, Fun Stuff, Pop Culture  1 Response »
Oct 132010
 

One of my daily internet stops is TeeFury, a t-shirt site which offers independent designers the chance to showcase their work for one day only, and offers shirts for $9US! Usually there’s some pretty catchy shirts, but today’s is one of their better designs!

Image courtesy of TeeFury.com

I’ve already ordered mine, so get yours while you can! The shirt will be off the market forever at 11:59:59PM Wednesday night, so act fast. Click here to order yours today.

I have no affiliation with TeeFury.com, just a big fan of t-shirts!

Blogs for Beginners – Find More!

 Blogosphere, General Information  1 Response »
Apr 092010
 

Yesterday you got the best of my blogroll, and now you’re ready for more? Well then, today I’ll share a couple of resources for you to find other blogs that might interest you!

Dicerca divaricata (Buprestidae) on sunny log

For a dipterist, I've been featuring a lot of beetles lately....

To start, I would go through the list of  blogs at the Nature Blog Network. You can find any nature related topic you could ever want with a multiple authors to choose from in each. Insects, photography, birding, conservation, and marine biology are only a few of the topics that you can peruse at your leisure!

Nature not your thing? A lot of mainstream topics can be found through AllTop. This is essentially a blog aggregator, but rather than you getting to choose which blogs show up, you can see a selection for a given buzz word and go from there. A little clunky at times, but none the less a lot of high profile blogs to check out, from politics to food and beyond!

Do you subscribe to monthly magazines? Why not browse some of the blog carnivals that float around the ‘net! These are essentially periodicals of related blog entries from a bunch of different authors. Some of the larger ones that I’m aware of include the Carnival of Evolution (featuring some of the best science bloggers online), An Inordinate Fondness (for all the beetley goodness), and House of Herps (snakes, turtles, frogs, crocs, and all the other reptiles and amphibians are featured here).

Still need more? Google it, and all will be revealed! Also, bloggers are full of community spirit and often link to all sorts of interesting topics, so join the community and dive in to the blogging world!

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