Going West

For the past few weeks, I've been trying my best to tie up some loose ends. Last week, I deposited 141 specimens of arthropods I collected in Ohio (mostly Washington County) in the Marietta College Arthropod Collection.

Adding 100+ specimens to the #MariettaCollege Arthropod Collection. #entomology #bugs #finalfarewell https://t.co/uO782sy9D3
— Derek Hennen (@derekhennen) June 20, 2013

All in all, I've contributed about 350 specimens to the MC Collection, and I'm proud of that. They have proper labels and hopefully will be useful to a student/enthusiast/scientist somewhere down the road. There are some really neat species, including 15 assassin bugs collected from the county, a nice set of millipedes and centipedes with identifications, and a lot of records for the Barbara A. Beiser Field Station.

So why did I deposit so many specimens last week (including my personal collection)? I'm moving.

This fall, I will be a graduate student at the University of Arkansas, pursuing my Masters degree in Entomology. I'm starting my research in July, then classes begin in August, so I'm heading down there a little early.

Obviously, this will change the content of this blog and probably the frequency with which it's updated too. I have no intention to stop blogging, and you can still expect more posts about Ohio bugs. I have a lot of stories and bugs I haven't written about, and I still have projects I want to pursue with ties to Ohio. In addition to Ohio, I'll expand to what I'm finding in Arkansas. My project is crazy exciting, and I'll take some time to write a post about it soon.

This is a big change for me, and it feels right to be able to devote myself full-time to the study of insects and other many-legged critters.

I want to make sure to thank each of you who are reading this and have been following my blog. It's been a joy to meet some of you, whether on Twitter/Facebook or in person, and I hope you continue to follow my adventures in Arkansas.

I also want to thank a few more people:

Dr. Dave McShaffrey, one of many great Biology professors at Marietta College, who got me interested in insects in the first place.

Jim McCormac, who many of you are familiar with from his blog, Ohio Birds and Biodiversity. Jim inspired me to start blogging, and meeting him was like meeting a rock star. Since then, he's invited me to hunt for beetles and helped me connect to Ohio's natural history scene. Jim's a stellar guy and is always willing to share his knowledge.

 Rachel Shoop, my very supportive girlfriend. She knows why I'm thankful for her.

There are many more people to thank by name, but in the interest of not droning on in this post (and allowing me to get to bed soon--it's 3 AM, so I'm sure they'll forgive me), I'll just name them rather than giving background (this is not an exhaustive list, I'm certain I've left out people). Andrew Gibson, Dennis Profant, Katy Lustofin, Marilyn Ortt, Eric Eaton, MaLisa Spring, Tim Catalano, Morgan Jackson, Kathy McDonald...the list really does go on and on. I couldn't have done even a quarter of what I have without you all, and I thank you.

I still need to talk about Mothapalooza, so expect that post soon.

For now, it's time to start a new chapter.

A Primer on Ohio Millipedes

23 May 2021: An update

 

Hi there! It's been 8 years and a few days since I wrote this post, and enough has happened that I felt like I should update it. Here's the big news: there is now a guide to the millipedes of Ohio! I worked with my colleague Jeff Brown on a guide for the Ohio Division of Wildlife's Ohio Field Guide series, and you can find the finished project here: Millipedes of Ohio Field Guide.

 

The field guide includes color photos and information for 51 millipede species you can find in Ohio and also includes information on centipedes, pauropods, and symphylans. The guide also includes information on how to find millipedes, their habitats, their predators, and more. It contains much more detail than I included in this blog post, and I hope it's helpful for your own personal millipede journey. It's also the first field guide to millipedes in the US ever, which I'm very proud of. Be cautious when using it to identify millipedes outside of Ohio, however: many other genera and families occur in other areas of the US, and it's likely that your local species will be different than the ones discussed in the guide.

If you'd like to learn more about the creation of the guide, I gave a talk about it at the 2021 Ohio Wildlife Diversity Conference, which you can watch on YouTube.

 

 Below is the original blogpost.

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Millipede - Abacion sp.

I've been doing some research lately on a few millipede genera and have found myself lamenting the lack of well-written and accessible resources for millipedes. I have a good enough knowledge base to navigate through the published literature, but it's too inaccessible for general audiences. BugGuide's millipede page is probably the best online resource, but it still lacks good introductory resources for people wanting to learn more about the many-legged critters. You're able to submit a picture, and if you're lucky, someone will help you get it down to genus and maybe tell you how they identified it.

Concise keys for the millipedes don't really exist like they do for other arthropods, due to the characteristics used to identify millipedes. It's not like identifying a moth or a beetle, where coloration, pattern, and overall look can go a long way. You can get to Order from a photograph relatively easily with millipedes, but any deeper can be a problem without (1) very detailed photos or (2) the specimen in hand. If you're interested in taking a millipede down to species, you're most likely going to need a microscope, because at that point they're identified by the male gonopods (sexual structures). If you have a female, you'll probably have to settle for genus.

But to get to that identification, you'll need the help of a millipede expert (starting off, at least). There aren't all that many out there, and not many amateurs focus on millipedes. Instead, most beginners opt for flashier species like dragonflies or butterflies, groups which have wonderful field guides already published.

To break down a few of the hurdles that stop people from learning about millipedes, I've been gathering together some nice photos and information about my local millipede species to share, one of my goals for this blog. So far in this post, you've seen a millipede in the genus Abacion (Order Callipodida: Family Abacionidae) crawling around on the ground. I found this specimen last week in some wood frass at the base of a dead tree. I haven't keyed it out, but I'm 85% sure about my identification (Long millipede, dorsal crests, etc.). I found a similar millipede last summer, so now I know these guys can be found in the eastern and western parts of the county. I'm not sure if I'll get it down to species anytime soon since even I'm lacking resources for this genus, but it's fine for now.

I originally meant for this post to simply cover the new Abacion specimen I caught, but I can't just complain about the lack of millipede identification resources without trying to fix it...so I might as well post my other local species too! Maybe this will help other would-be millipede enthusiasts get started. You can find some more info in my previous posts about millipedes, such as Mushroom & Millipede Hunting and A Calm Millipede's UV Fluorescence. These images were all taken in southeast Ohio, but these millipedes occur in many other states in the eastern US.

We'll start off with the easiest millipede to identify: Narceus americanus (Order Spirobolida: Family Spirobolidae).

Curled up in defensive position.

This species is actually a species complex referred to as the Narceus americanus-annularis-complex, since the two species aren't taxonomically differentiated yet, but that's a technicality that I'm going to ignore for now because it's not helpful for beginners. This millipede can grow up to 4 inches long, making it the largest millipede you're likely to see in the eastern US. It can live up to two years, as I found out when I kept one as a pet. Like most millipedes, it feeds on dead leaves and other detritus on the forest floor, and it can be found under the bark of logs and by turning over the leaf litter from spring through fall.

I've often posted about the above species: Semionellus placidus (Order Polydesmida: Family Xystodesmidae). It exhibits fluorescence under UV light and can also be found in leaf litter. It's about 1.25 inches long and is mostly brown with pinkish-orange stripes on the sides and back of its paranota (the extensions on its back). This species has a wide range in the eastern US, but occurs sporadically. The easiest way to find it is to go out at night with a UV flashlight and shine it over fallen leaves in a forest. If you refer to my second blog post I linked to above, you can see photos of what it looks like under UV light and photos of the male's gonopods.

 Another common species I see is Pseudopolydesmus serratus (Order Polydesmida: Family Polydesmidae), a pretty pink millipede about the size of Semionellus placidus. It can be found under rocks, under the bark of dead logs, and in leaf litter, so it's cosmopolitan in its habitat as far as millipedes go.

Its legs look very needle-like as they taper down to the millipede's feet. Its paranota taper back more on the segments closer to the millipede's posterior.

One of our prettiest millipedes is Euryurus leachii (Order Polydesmida: Family Euryuridae), which may also be the one millipede you can set out to find when you go into the woods. I've always found it in decaying logs, but it can also be found in leaf litter sometimes. (Still though, if you for sure want to find this species, just peel back the bark on a dead log.) Its main body color is purplish-black, with orange spots down its back and on its paranota. It's another that fluoresces under UV light. This species and the previous two are all in the order Polydesmida, which includes many UV fluorescent species--always keep your black light in your insect bag! Don't be too hasty with identifying this species from photos, however: the similar-looking Auturus evides is tough to separate unless you know your stuff.

Here's another entry for the Polydesmida: the Xystodesmid millipede Apheloria virginiensis corrugata. This is a rather large millipede, with a length of about 1.5 inches, and its body is quite broad. It's another UV fluorescent species, though the fluorescence is mostly limited to the underside of its body. The yellow and black coloration is a warning to predators: like many other millipedes, this one has chemical defenses. This species can emit cyanide in response to an attack, so it's not recommended to pick it up. That's not to say it's very dangerous if you do--just wash your hands afterwards. Interestingly enough, I recently found three individuals of this species: two were dead from drowning in puddles after a rain, while the other was waltzing around in some leaf litter. They were all near the same location, and I was surprised to find three in the span of about 16 hours. Usually I have to go hunting for a while to find them. Note that this species has many look-alikes, especially in the Appalachian mountains. There's a good amount of variation even within the species, so remember that this is just one subspecies of Apheloria virginiensis.

And now it's time to introduce a few less photogenic millipedes. The above species is in the genus Cleidogona (Order Chordeumatida: Family Cleidogonidae) and is small compared to the previous species in this post. The first photo doesn't show its exact features terribly well, but it shows both its size in reference to dead leaves and its colors during life. Its body is brown with white spots poking through, and it has short setae along its back. The close-up in the second photo is a dead specimen after being preserved in ethanol.

Next up are a few non-native species.

The first is Ophyiulus pilosus (Order Julida: Family Julidae), an imported species from Europe. It's usually found in yards rather than forested areas, but the specimen I've found was collected from leaf litter in a forest in late fall. It's a slender dark brown/black millipede, and its epiproct is useful for identification: that's the part at the end of the body that looks like a pointed tail (blurry in the first photo).

Another non-native species is the ubiquitous Greenhouse Millipede, Oxidus gracilis (Order Polydesmida: Family Paradoxosomatidae), imported from Asia. It's common throughout the US, and can be recognized by the transverse grooves on its back. It's a thin millipede about an inch long, and can usually be found mating. You've probably come across this species if you've done some gardening or turned over a rock or two in your yard. I personally am sick of seeing this millipede all over the place.

I've included some diagnostic characters for identifying these millipedes, but keep in mind that for most millipedes, you'll need to use a microscope to positively identify them. Some are distinctive enough to identify just from a photo, but even then you can get look-alikes (such as Euryurus and Auturus). However, once you become accustomed to working with millipedes and spend some time identifying your local species, it gets easier. For now, these are photos that you can trust are identified correctly--that's better than what Google will give you.

For more resources on millipedes, check out BugGuide's Millipede Hub, which is the most accessible online resource for millipedes. Rowland Shelley, who frequently helps to identify millipedes on BugGuide, has a nice collection of millipede photos on his site here. That is a resource you can DEFINITELY trust, Shelley is a world expert on millipedes. For published literature sources, you can find older articles about millipedes by searching through the Biodiversity Heritage Library, a wonderful site that has provided me with a ton of primary literature on millipedes--which is often where you need to go for keys, illustrations, and general biological information. Milli-PEET is another site with useful information, including a good key to order for millipedes. Milli-PEET is a project that was funded by the National Science Foundation, with the goal of making millipede research more accessible and succeeded in reaching that goal.

EDIT (6 November 2013): The Myriapoda Flickr group is also a great resource, with many gorgeous photos of millipedes and other Myriapods.

I hope that this post is helpful to those of you interested in learning more about millipedes, and that it inspires you to start taking photos of the millipedes in your area, wherever that may be. The millipedes are in the taxonomic class Diplopoda (that's a taxonomic position on the same level as the Insecta, which we definitely devote a lot of research to), and that includes about 10,000 species, with many more to be discovered. Millipedes are important organisms for nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, yet they're criminally under-studied. The best way to change that is by making it easy to break into millipede research, so why not start at the most basic level? People need to have the resources to identify these organisms, and photos are some of the best sources for identification (even with their limitations for millipede taxonomy). If nothing else, they can help people get a better feel for the overall "look" of different millipede taxa. So get out there and start trying to identify your local millipedes. Take some photos, put them online, and let's give some names to our many-legged friends!

Of course I had to include a photo of millipede UV fluorescence! Not all millipedes exhibit it, but the ones that do look spectacular.

Dead Logs are a Wasp's Aphrodisiac

I set out on a hike today in search of anything neat I missed during yesterday's hike, which I started too late to take full advantage of the daylight. I made it through the entire trail today, and had quite the detour along the way. I stopped by a dead Sycamore tree to look for beetles, since I found a neat species of Osmoderma beetle in it last year, but no dice this time. I trudged on, arriving at a small area with some fallen trees, and decided to stay a while.

I quickly noticed that there were wasps flying around EVERYWHERE. Thankfully, these were Ichneumonid wasps in the genus Megarhyssa, which are harmless to humans.

A male Megarhyssa sp. wasp.

There were dozens of males like the one above flying around and landing on the fallen tree I was examining. Some were larger with vaguely different markings, indicating that I had at least two different species around, which seems to be normal for the genus, I usually see groups of more than species. The males were gathered to find females, which lay their eggs in dead logs. I was surprised at their sheer numbers this time--if I had a phobia of wasps I might have passed out!

When it comes down to it, you're looking for the same thing the males are: a female, which surpasses the males in the coolness department...

Female Megarhyssa macrurus, drilling into the wood.

The female has a four inch long ovipositor that looks intimidating, but is thankfully not used to sting humans. Instead, it's made up of three filaments that together drill into dead wood, and upon finding a wasp larva of a horntail wasp, sting and paralyze it. The wasp then throws in an egg, which hatches and eats the other wasp larva. It's breathtaking to see the drilling process in action and the raw power of the wasp's actions is surprising.

Female Megarhyssa atrata ovipositing in dead wood.

There was also another female of a different species nearby! This is Megarhyssa atrata, immediately recognizable by its jet-black body and yellow head and front legs. I've never seen this species before today and was in awe upon finding it. I actually almost missed it because it was on the same log as the female Megarhyssa macrurus, which had all my attention! It was fascinating to watch both these wasps go about their business, and I sat there for almost an hour watching them.

Male Megarhyssa sp. wasps hanging out and making friends.

The males were quite funny in their antics. They would scatter if I moved around too suddenly, but then return to the log within minutes. Some of them would dive bomb other males and attempt to mate with them, thinking they were females. They realized their folly after a few seconds and jumped off. Apparently it was more important for them to take every chance they had instead of dealing with unimportant things like making sure they were humping the correct gender.

 Male Megarhyssa sp.

When a female finally did visit, a few males would switch to dive bombing her in attempts to mate, but they were unsuccessful. She either flew away or shrugged them off: she had other business to attend to.

Apparently, sometimes the ovipositor can break off inside of the hole, as the above photo shows. I didn't witness it, but I found two holes like this one in the log. It probably didn't feel too great for the wasp.

Pinned Megarhyssa atratra.

You can see the disassembled ovipositor itself in the above photo with its three parts: two that work together to drill into the wood, and a long thin tube that deposits the egg. All in all, it's a stunning wasp and a beauty to find. This one is going into my collection that I bring with me whenever I give a presentation about insects, so it's sure to garner a lot of attention.

I learned a very important lesson today while watching these wasps. Well, a few important lessons. 1. Knowledge is power, especially when it's knowing that the swarm of wasps flying around are harmless and there's no reason to freak out. 2. I shouldn't tell someone an estimated time when I will be back after a hike, because I always get distracted by something cool.

Wings Spread

When spring took its first few cautious steps in March, I found a neat little green caterpillar in the yard. Not knowing what it was, I of course put it in a terrarium and fed it so I could monitor its growth and figure out what species it was.

The mystery.

I gave it grass, since that's what it was eating when I first found it, and thankfully the caterpillar was satisfied with its simple diet. Soon, it progressed through its instars, darkening from a light green to a yellow-green and brown color.

After a few weeks, the caterpillar pupated and mostly just sat around while its insides were reorganizing and making it more furry. And at last, it eclosed into a moth!

At last, I had enough data for an ID. It was a bittersweet moment: the moth is a non-native introduction from Europe. One thing did make up for it though:

At least it's pretty!

This is the Large Yellow Underwing, which goes by the regal name of Noctua pronuba. The orange hindwings, hidden by the drab brown forewings, lend the species its common name. Underwings are moths that will surprise you, and the bursts of color seen during their flight are reminders that moths still have some tricks up their sleeves.

I must also say that I'm very glad to have authentic insect pins. They make the pinning process so much simpler and are long enough that I can get good use out of my Styrofoam pinning board. For another illustration of my pinning technique, here's another moth I pinned, from this past weekend.

This is the Grapevine Epimenis, Psychomorpha epimenis. I came across this moth while walking with a group along a dirt road on a chilly but sunny Saturday. It landed near us and I snapped it up. Kaufman's Field Guide to Insects of North America helped me quickly narrow down the species by providing a clear picture and noting its tendency to fly on "warm days in early spring." It wasn't super warm, but the sunshine helped! The caterpillars of this species feed on grape leaves, hence the name. It's a small moth, with a wingspan of a little over 1 inch, but its size doesn't take away from its bold patterning and coloration. The more I look at it the more I think I may need to move it to the top of my list of favorite moths.

The Spring Wake Up

After a winter of pining for the insects to come back out, I seem to be up to my ears in new photos to process and new insects to pin and add to my collection. I'm working on new blog posts to accommodate them all, but it's no simple task. While I'm kind of complaining about it, it's like complaining that you have too many chocolate Cadbury eggs---it's a good problem to have.

For now, this nice photo of the leaf of a bloodroot plant (Sanguinaria canadensis) will be the placeholder for my coming posts. I had a nice time camping this weekend in eastern Washington County and came upon a lot of great wildflowers that were just marvelous to see: bloodroot being one of them.

Oh, and if you're interested in seeing some photos that might not make it into my blog posts, you can follow me on Twitter here. I sometimes post photos from my nightly collections in my backyard, which are fun. Note that you don't need to have a Twitter account to see my tweets.

It's a Bee! It's a...Fly? It's both those things!

While flies aren't really my cup of tea, I'm thankful for any insects I find after a long winter like this year's. So while this isn't so satisfying during midsummer...

Epalpus signifer, "a sure sign of Spring," according to a friend.

...when we're on the cusp of Spring, I'll take it. 

Another early season fly I've come across is a species of fly in the family Bombyliidae, better known as the bee flies. It's a fuzzy yellow species that looks like a bee wearing a fur coat at first glance. A glance is all you'll get, because the little bugger is fast.

My best photo from last year. Getting some nectar or pollen from a flower.

Today, however, it wasn't fast enough to escape my net. On the third try, at least. There were many hovering near the ground in a field at the Beiser Field Station, so I snagged one and took it home.

At last--an identifiable picture: the Greater Bee Fly, Bombylius major.

After cooling it down in the fridge, it held still long enough for me to snap some decent photos and I sent it off to BugGuide. I had an identification in less than five minutes, which was super! The Greater Bee Fly is a parasitoid of the larvae of solitary bees and can be seen during early Spring.

The bee flies are an interesting group for sure and are a cool reminder about the diversity of flies. They're more than just fruit flies and house flies! I have one more bee fly I want to find in the coming months, a species that can be found throughout Ohio: the Tiger Bee Fly. It has the coolest scientific name: Xenox tigrinus.

The Arrival of Spring: Take 2(?)

Assuming Spring was about to start when it was warm a few weeks ago was a miscalculation on my part. Between then and now, it got cold again, dumped a bunch of snow on Ohio, and now the weather is tantalizingly warm again. The question being, will it continue that trend?

Hopefully it will. It hit the mid-60s today, and the temperature tonight has hovered around 50 degrees. Would any moths be out? I turned on the light to see.

Bingo.

A few moths were out, and my hopes for the bug season rose again. It's difficult to describe just how antsy I get after the absence of insects all throughout winter, so finding anything after months and months is exciting.

This similar moth was also attracted to the light. I like how well its antennae show up in this photo, they're distinctly pectinate and large, meaning it's probably a male. Their larger antennae help them sense the female's pheromones so they can find each other for some hanky panky.

And of course, an early-season mothing attempt wouldn't be complete without an appearance of the Gray Quaker, Orthosia alurina. I would have gone with a common name more along the lines of Maroon Quaker, but whatever. This species showed up earlier in the moth, and it looks like this time it was sucking on the deck with its tongue. Delicious.

I'm excited to see what else I might find this season. I've got a small list of species I want to find, and I have a black light now! That should nab me some species I haven't found before.