Posts by theantlady@arthropod.social
(DIR) Post #AnTZet7nNcR70t2y5w by theantlady@arthropod.social
2024-10-28T20:18:04Z
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We know far more about why some of these leafcutting colonies are very successful, compared to what we know about why the unsuccessful ones have failed. My main hypotheses are that something went wrong with mating, and/or something is wrong with their fungus gardens.https://flic.kr/p/2qqBA9U
(DIR) Post #AnZzOtJcfNPEjDN4pU by theantlady@arthropod.social
2024-10-31T22:38:21Z
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@futurebird After everything has gone overboard with touchscreens, the knobs and buttons are particularly appealing.
(DIR) Post #AnqecjYWkiHOG4J0mu by theantlady@arthropod.social
2024-11-08T23:35:47Z
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@futurebird @llewelly NY has a pretty good supply of stored water but I worry about the effects of the lack of rainfall on forests and trees.
(DIR) Post #AnylgYFyxS95Jh4uoK by theantlady@arthropod.social
2024-11-12T21:32:37Z
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@futurebird For me I think a part of the plan needs to include community. When I get back to New York there's one specific organization I will get involved with that does sustainability education. We do need to take care of ourselves but we also need to connect with other people who can help us work towards a better future.
(DIR) Post #ApslrJAgffPue5WoxU by theantlady@arthropod.social
2025-01-08T19:33:35Z
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@futurebird This just makes me think of Conan the Librarian.
(DIR) Post #ArZNM1SSPyJi6L34zo by theantlady@arthropod.social
2025-02-27T22:24:23Z
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ALERT: The USGS Wild Bee Lab is currently going into hibernation mode. They are accepting volunteer help as they work to shutter collections without knowing whether/when they will be able to work on them again.https://www.usgs.gov/centers/eesc/science/usgs-bee-lab-eastern-ecological-science-center
(DIR) Post #ArsbLI0gTz6OVaqDfU by theantlady@arthropod.social
2025-03-09T13:36:51Z
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@futurebird This is part of why I encourage students to be skeptical of applications where the only information requested about candidates is things like their grades (or standardized test scores). It's a lot of work to provide more context for that information (e.g. through recommendation letters), but so crucial. To me a lot of my work as an educator revolves around teaching students how to think differently about teaching, learning, and evaluation.
(DIR) Post #AsEHrncokaKMDp1LZg by theantlady@arthropod.social
2025-03-19T23:10:05Z
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Hey, science folks! Do any of you know why and how orchid bees are such a beautiful shiny, metallic green? Curious students would love to know.
(DIR) Post #Av7JAWmsSoj7hWTQuG by theantlady@arthropod.social
2025-06-14T09:25:03Z
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@futurebird I haven't seen all that many instances of this extreme of a drawing style among ant biology colleagues.Cell is typically a well-regarded journal, although not one that is regularly read by many ant biologists.
(DIR) Post #AvIvGNRo2HaFT6ORFo by theantlady@arthropod.social
2025-06-19T23:50:58Z
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I was also amazed by this drawer with dried, inflated caterpillars. Just immaculate!https://flic.kr/p/2rbQhx3
(DIR) Post #AwQdKMY7WDQgo2Zo3s by theantlady@arthropod.social
2025-07-23T15:04:15Z
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Okay, folks. I want to create a "Tools for Interacting with Insects" workshop for an organization in my community. This will be aimed at high school to college-aged people. What would you include in such a workshop? Please tag others who might have suggestions or even pre-built resources.@futurebird @alexwild
(DIR) Post #AwQdMyTnSwEF1XndoW by theantlady@arthropod.social
2025-07-23T15:05:37Z
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@futurebird @alexwild I plan to bring sweep nets, aspirators, small containers, magnifiers with me. I don't have classical Entomologist training but am thinking to experiment with Seek and maybe BugGuide for more of a deep dive.
(DIR) Post #Ay0NisiVCwX5kLzfay by theantlady@arthropod.social
2025-09-08T18:47:41Z
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Interesting to think of the ant black market (nb not the same as the "black ant market") as a sign of the times.https://www.marketplace.org/story/2025/09/04/federal-staffing-cuts-are-fueling-the-illegal-ant-trade
(DIR) Post #Ay0O6CosdEp2ks6BI8 by theantlady@arthropod.social
2025-09-08T18:58:47Z
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@futurebird Agreed, the "invasive species" aspect of that article is way overblown.What do you mean by the bigger issue being the collecting and poor documentation?
(DIR) Post #Ay0OcYisjPxDxAiiRc by theantlady@arthropod.social
2025-09-08T19:04:38Z
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@futurebird I can appreciate those concerns! I haven't poked around at all to see whether the ants offered for sale tend to be colonies or queens.The ease of getting permits can vary a lot (I say as someone keeping out-of-state ants who maintains USDA permits to transport and house - NOT easy.).I personally think most ant fanciers should just focus their first efforts on locally-available species, and enjoy the process of finding them as much as keeping them.
(DIR) Post #Ay0OqrMYE48Dom5uHg by theantlady@arthropod.social
2025-09-08T19:05:55Z
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@futurebird One of the other kind of weird ant production items out there has been nest casts - mostly of fire ants, mostly displayed upside-down, badly poured. Different from the casts Tschinkel and colleagues make for research and museum purposes.
(DIR) Post #B0aI2jMDK3xDbkUCmW by theantlady@arthropod.social
2025-11-24T22:07:39Z
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Do any of you know much of anything about acquiring some scraps of leather to serve as patches/reinforcement for a bike pannier? @scrottie gave me a random piece of green leather once that has been magical, I'm looking for something similar.Maybe @luke knows?
(DIR) Post #B1MBaTz7btXfgXuOeW by theantlady@arthropod.social
2025-12-18T00:58:31Z
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@futurebird The species with bigger colonies are definitely a handful to keep up with, especially ones on display like that one! We were SO THRILLED to meet the exhibit's curator last summer! https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCivx4
(DIR) Post #B1cACwaMtjmATwek4G by theantlady@arthropod.social
2025-12-24T01:38:19Z
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Do any of you happen to know of any podcasts that are about ants? I don't really listen to podcasts but am curious. Thanks in advance!#ants
(DIR) Post #B2OOsdMk9MdV2BRuPw by theantlady@arthropod.social
2026-01-18T00:28:48Z
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@futurebird @Photo55 Here's a review paper by some collaborators on dormancy, which might be helpful? Part of the reason they wrote it was to try and unify understanding across different types of animals.https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.13718