hermann_gruber's Favorites

Tidepooling. Very exciting Halgerda-ish find under a rock! When I turned the rock over this critter did the usual thing of immediately heading at top speed for the other side of the rock, but on its way it happened to intersect a patch of little purple tunicates, which it hung out on for a while. I was suspicious it was eating them, and indeed it was! Last two photos show the before and after of the tunicate patch. Those photos are only 5 minutes apart, so it didn't take very long for it to take two whole pieces out of the tunicate pie.

What is this?? I think some sort of mold on a small volvate, white Amanita. I know and have found Mycogone rosea but this is much redder and darker, a beautiful color and true as pictured. Also quite wet. Update: It's a bacteria. See below. Last photo, a domestic habitat (shower stall)

I just looked closer at these pictures and the queen and workers carried by the Temnothorax unifasciatus workers. I already thought the coloration was strange but looking closer, it isnt T. unifasciatus. For me a crazy exciting find for my thesis.

length 8.8 mm

Based on the "relatively yellow" legs and gaster underside, I IDed the individual as L. flavus. However, please feel free to disagree since I am a layman in ant taxonomy.

The gyne was found at the edge of a mixed forest on rotting Salix branches.

It's quite similar to T. rathkii. They can be distinguished by the location of the pore fields. While they are close to the margin of the tergites in T.rathkii, they are separated from the margin 2-4x their diameter in T. nodulosus (on pereionites 2-4). The pores are triangular.
Also, according to Schmidt 1997, in T. nodulosus the lateral cephalon lobes surpass the median lobe, while they are of equal length in T. rathkii.
https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/121/2/129/2633670
http://biozoojournals.ro/nwjz/content/v11s1/nwjz_e150301_Tomescu.pdf

This Northern Amber Bumblebee has a small bronze beetle, likely a fungus beetle (Antherophagus species, perhaps ochraceus) traveling on its mouthparts. The best of a series of 4 photos that seem to show that behaviour. Hidden Valley, Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada. 28 July 2022
'A. ochraceus, along with some other members of Cryptophagidae, engage in phoresy. The beetles are transported by attaching to the legs, mouthparts, or antennae of bumblebees. It remains attached by clamping down with its mandibles.[6] It does not release until the bee returns to the nest. A. ochraceus adults lay eggs in bumblebee nests, where the eggs develop into larvae. In the larval stage, the beetles remain in the nest and eat organic matter and detritus. Specifically, they are presumed to consume honey, bee feces, and comb debris.[6][7]'

Link to inaturalist phoresis page:
inaturalist.ca/observation_fields/11626
I have never observed this behavior. I didn't notice the beetle on the photos until now.

Antherophagus as tentative beetle genus

Link to phoresis page https://inaturalist.ca/observation_fields/11626

The previous inhabitants of the home of this crustacean were sradines in a spicy sauce. He seemed very happy in his hypermodern dwelling, even gaining a bonus to his movement speed... at the expense of charisma. :-)

American foulbrood

An infectious disease which targets the bees' larvae. By law you are required to report all cases to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The hive, comb and honey have to be burnt as the only way of destroying the bacterial spores. Any hive tools used must be sterilised.