Happy Holidays and What Lies Ahead

Work, work, activism. That is what Bug Eric has been up to lately, and mostly what the immediate future holds in store. I just added a new page to this blog, though, and can share with you some upcoming events near and far that you might want to be aware of in 2019. Happy New Year!

Guava Skipper from Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas, demonstrating the "rule of thirds" in photography

My good friend Nancy Miorelli created a wonderful handout on how to take great images of insects and arachnids with your smartphone. You can find that document under the tab above, entitled "Take Great Bug Pics." Many of the tips she gives also apply to photography in general, so please check it out. Nancy is an outstanding science communicator, gifted artist, and tour guide if you ever want to visit her in Ecuador.

Specimens awaiting my attention....

Right now I am busy identifying all manner of arthropods, from insects to spiders to millipedes and woodlice and amphipods from pitfall trap samples taken in Miami, Florida. This is part of a nationwide project funded by a National Science Foundation grant and there are more stakeholders than I can count. Once the results are compiled, I'll let you know the outcome. Meanwhile, what are snails doing in here....

You'll only see the Mexican Bluewing along the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas

The continuing saga of the border wall, especially in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of south Texas, is a nightmare for those of us who value not only the rights of global citizens to seek asylum from violence and abuse in their countries of origin, but for the wildlife and ecology of this unique region. The National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas has become the center of the storm, both figuratively and literally. I urge you to visit their website to understand what is at stake, and to see updates to the travesty that is unfolding and how you can act to stop it. This has ceased to be about politics and has become a situation of wanton destruction and abuse of power.

A lovely native sweat bee, Agapostemon sp.

Locally, the Mile High Bug Club just announced the formation of a chapter in Denver, Colorado (club headquarters are in Colorado Springs). Mark your calendars for the kickoff, on Sunday, February 10, at 6 PM (to 8 PM), at Highlands Event Center, 3401 W. 29th Ave., Denver, 80211. Chapter founder Ryan Bartlett will be giving a presentation on native bees for your entertainment and education. Watch this blog for announcements of other events, including a behind-the-scenes visit to the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster.

Buprestis langii, a type of jewel beetle

I will be giving a presentation about "Colorful Colorado....Beetles!" for the Aiken Audubon Society at Bear Creek Nature Center in Colorado Springs on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, 7-9 PM. This should be a nice preview for the Mile High Bug Club's annual tiger beetle hunt, which usually takes place in April at Lake Pueblo State Park, dates and times to be announced.

Pleasing Fungus Beetles

Additionally, Denver, Boulder, Ft. Collins, Golden, and Colorado Springs are participating in the 2019 City Nature Challenge. The event is like a bioblitz, with participating individuals taking images of plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms April 26-29, and then uploading the observations to iNaturalist where experts will help identify them, April 30-May 5. The event started several years ago as a challenge between Los Angeles and San Francisco and has now grown to a global scale. Check the website to find out if your city is participating.

Birds are ok....except when they eat the bugs!

The Pikes Peak Birding and Nature Festival will celebrate its fifth anniversary from Friday evening, May 17-Sunday afternoon, May 19. Please consider attending to visit some of our more spectacular natural wonders, view local specialties like Black-billed Magpie,and check out the blacklighting for moths, presented by Mile High Bug Club. MHBC will also have a table at the "Birds and Brews" social event Saturday night, May 18. All field trips will originate in Colorado Springs.

Come "mothing" with Mile High Bug Club© Amanda Accamando

The Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History will be hosting its ever-popular Bug Fair, also the weekend of May 18-19. The museum regularly breaks attendance records with this shindig. I may make an appearance to sign copies of Insects Did it First and the Kaufman field guide, as well as promote Mile High Bug Club to a larger audience. It is well worth the visit despite the crowds. One year I met Dominic Monaghan of Lost fame. You never know who you might run into....

White Peacock butterfly from Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas

I will try and resolve to put up more posts here in 2019 than I did in 2018, but I make no promises. What are your resolutions for the new year? I hope they include continuing to explore, be it a new state, province, or country, or even a local park or your backyard. There are so many discoveries still awaiting us. You might be the one to find something new or shed new light on the familiar.

"Arach" is Back!

One of the things I look forward to each autumn is the annual Flickr event known as "Arachtober". It is a Flickr group which slumbers between November and the following September, but remains a tradition among arachnophiles and macro photographers. There are always mesmerizing images posted from all corners of the globe.

Marbled Orbweaver, Kansas

Arachtober manages to recruit several new participants each year through word of mouth, blogs, and sheer curiosity. Not only spiders, but scorpions, ticks, mites, harvestmen, and all other arachnids are eligible for inclusion. Don't forget the artistry of spider webs, too, whether dew-adorned or dry.

Apache Jumping Spider male, Colorado

The only hard and fast rule of Arachtober is that the images you post to the group must not have appeared on your own Flickr photostream previously. Allowed quantity of images per day varies at the discretion of the group administrator.

Banded Garden Spider female, Colorado

Overall, interest in spiders seems to be increasing among the general public, and arachnids are achieving a much higher profile than ever before. This is great news, for there is still a great deal of work to be done to combat myth, superstition, misinformation, and fear.

Wolf spider, Alopecosa sp., Colorado

Please consider contributing to "Arachtober" on Flickr, or find another way to dedicate some time to sharing your spider observations, questions, or images. There are many groups on Facebook devoted to spiders and their identification, for example; and presumably, the same applies to Instagram. There is much you can contribute to our collective knowledge by doing so. Thank you.

Edward S. Ross: A Gentleman and a Scholar Passes

Much of the enthusiasm I had for entomology as a child can be attributed to scientists who made a point of publishing in popular magazines. Perhaps no one did I hold in higher esteem than Edward S. Ross, a pioneering photographer of insects and other arthropods, whose work appeared semi-regularly in the pages of National Geographic Magazine in the 1960s and 1970s. On March 16, Dr. Ross passed away at age 100. I venture to say he leaves a legacy that will last at least another century.

Edward S. Ross ©Jeff Vendsel, Marin Independent Journal

Beyond his accomplishments as a photographer and writer, he was the world authority on web-spinners, bizarre insects of the order Embiidina (formerly Embioptera). There are few species in North America, and even some of them were introduced from elsewhere, so Ross had to travel the globe in pursuit of specimens. Naturally, he described countless new species in the process.

Male web-spinners are frequently mistaken for winged termites.

Most of his expeditions were under the auspices of the California Academy of Sciences, with which he was affiliated for 75 years. He became Curator of Entomology there, and eventually Chairman of that department as well. A more complete biography can be found online at the Marin Independent Journal.

Female Oligotoma web-spinner from Arizona. They spin silk from glands in their "Popeye arms."

What I treasure most is a letter I received from Dr. Ross in response to one I had written to him. I easily found it in my files, as it offers timeless advice; and it speaks to just how much scientists of his era felt obliged to mentor the next generation. Here is the text of that document:

"Dr. Mr. Eaton:

I am on the eve of departure on a 6-month trip (via VW camper) to N. Africa, Turkey, etc., and haven't time to do justice to a reply to your many questions. If I have had success, it is due to an evolutionary process much of which was based on my photography - not writing.

The publication of "Insects Close Up" in 1953 was very helpful but, with a distribution of 20,000 copies, it stimulated competition. I also have a good, world-scope research project which brought me to many exciting photographic and writing subjects. I don't even begin to tap my resources.

I would advise writing articles for outlets, such as Ranger Rick, before tackling Natl. Geographic. The subjects must 'well up' within the writer - an article should never be written simply to write an article. Start with expositions about things you know well. Another approach is little-known info about familiar subjects. In general, articles should be journalistic - have a philosophical point - and not be simply descriptive.

I believe that Natl. Geo. has a pamphlet on 'How to Write for Natl. Geographic.' You might write and obtain a copy. Sorry, I just can't write more in the time available. In great haste."
Sincerely,
Edward S. Ross

Interestingly, I did end up writing a couple of articles for Ranger Rick. I also queried National Geographic and received positive interest, even though nothing ever became of my proposal. Were it not for the wisdom of my elders, I can guarantee I would not be where I am today. There is simply no way I can adequately express my profound appreciation of their time and nurturing character.

Return of "Arachtober!"

Like your favorite horror movie trilogy, sequel, or whatever, Flickr's group "Arachtober" returns with a vengeance(?) this month. It has become an annual treat for arachnophiles and macro photographers, but perhaps a cruel trick on arachnophobes.

Female Philodromus sp. guarding egg sac

This year's edition has special meaning for me because I have been contracted to write a new field guide to U.S. spiders for Princeton University Press. I am also responsible for furnishing images, despite having a small budget for image acquisition. Preceding authors of Princeton guides have set a high standard for image quality, and I feel an obligation to publish the best photos I can get my hands on.

Web of Labyrinth Spider, Metepeira sp.

Arachtober manages to recruit several new participants each year through word of mouth, blogs, and sheer curiosity. Not only spiders, but scorpions, ticks, mites, harvestmen, and all other arachnids are eligible for inclusion. The only hard and fast rule is that the image you post to the group must not have appeared on your own Flickr photostream previously.

Female Southern Black Widow, Latrodectus mactans

Overall, interest in spiders seems to be increasing among the general public. Judging by the many new groups that have been created on Facebook, turnouts at special exhibits like "Eight-legged Encounters," new blogs, and other indications, arachnids are achieving a much higher profile than ever before. This is great news, for there is still a great deal of work to be done to combat myth, superstition, misinformation, and fear.

Male jumping spider, Hentzia palmarum

Please consider contributing to "Arachtober" on Flickr, or find another way to dedicate some time to sharing your spider observations, questions, or images. There is much you can contribute to our collective knowledge by doing so.

When "Arachtober" Attacks!

October is one of my favorite months, made all the sweeter in the last three years because I have participated in the “Arachtober” group on Flickr.

Many folks who photograph insects and other small animals save the spider images they have accrued over the year to share with the Arachtober pool. This is because one of the few rules of the group is that you post only those images that have not appeared on your Flickr photostream previously. It is worth the wait.

Sometimes, participants forget that there are other arachnids besides spiders: mites, ticks, scorpions, whipscorpions, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, and others. A few members of the group actually find things like ticks to be too disgusting to embrace even in the artistic sense. A few scorpions and “daddy long-legs” pictures will still manage to appear, though.

The biggest challenge to Arachtober’s popularity this year may be the graphic changes brought to Flickr as a whole by its new owner, Yahoo!. Fewer people view my own photostream any more because of the new format that has rendered Flickr just a shadow of its former clean, aesthetic past. The initial outrage demonstrated by the Flickr faithful has either faded, been completely ignored by Yahoo!, or both. The future of photosharing may be Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram, but mobile devices really don’t do quality images justice.

All the same, I invite you not only to follow Arachtober daily, but to participate as well by sharing your own images of all things eight-legged. Thank you.

Spider Sunday: "Arachtober" is B-a-a-a-a-a-ck!

Just like the sequel to your favorite horror movie, the Flickr group ”Arachtober” is back tomorrow to feature still more “scary” spider, scorpions, solifuges, and other arachnids.

The group gets bigger and better every year as more people register (free and easy), putting up at least one arachnid image per day. The only requirement of note is that you post images that you have not previously added to your own Flickr photo stream.

I have been saving up all my 2012 spider images for just this occasion, though I have used some of them in this blog. Here’s a preview of what I’ll be adding to Arachtober in the coming weeks:

Ground spider, Zelotes sp. (family Gnaphosidae)

Funnel-web weaver, family Agelenidae

Spinybacked Orbweaver, Gasteracantha cancriformis

Western Lynx Spider, Oxyopes scalaris

Thin-legged wolf spider, Pardosa sp.

Jumping spider, Habronattus sp.

I look forward to seeing your images over there as well. There are enough arachnid experts that contribute that we can probably identify any of your “mystery” spiders as well. Good luck!

Insect Photography Contests (Hurry!)

I am entering a couple of insect photography contests and I wanted to let the rest of you know about them while there is still time. Not that I want the competition, mind you, but there are some very talented photographers out there and I would love for them to have their images seen more widely, too.

The first one is not really a contest, but the Entomological Society of America produces a calendar every year, and they always solicit images for it. Here are the entry rules. Note that you only have until May 16 to submit images.

The next one I am entering is more local. The “Pollinators in Action” digital photography contest is sponsored by Tohono Chul Park in northwest Tucson, in collaboration with the Pollinator Partnership, Bat Conservation International, and the Tucson Audubon Society. The subjects of the images must be species found within the state of Arizona. The contest is a celebration of National Pollinator Week, June 20-26, 2011. The entry deadline for this one is June 1, 2011.

I know I would enjoy hearing about more such competitions myself, so please share any that you are aware of. Start your own for that matter. Artistic photography goes a long way toward educating people about the value of invertebrates by showing just how beautiful and industrious those creatures are. Good luck!