How dragonfly (and damselfly) wings work

Newly emerged male bluet on a mat of algae at a University of Illinois pond, First and Windsor in Champaign. Click/double click image to enlarge.

“Dragonfly Wings in Slow Motion & Close-Up” is an excellent six minute video dealing with direct flight musculature, found in damselflies and dragonflies. Check it out.

The producers of the video use a high speed Phantom Miro video camera. I was excited to see these video cameras available for $1,500, but quickly disappointed to see that is a daily rental rate. Ranging from $26,000 to $60,000, I would like one. My birthday is coming up in another week…

Chaco golden knee tarantula (Grammostola pulchripes) post-molt changes

Nine days post-molt the spiderling’s coloring has deepened and it has fed heavily. Immediate post-molt images were taken on May 22, 2013. Click/double click image to enlarge.

Defensive posture nine days post-molt. Compare to defensive image taken immediately after molt on May 22, 2013.

Outstanding online cicada life cycle video and resource

Dog day cicada (Tibicen canicularis) photographed July 28, 2012 in our yard. Click/double click image to enlarge.

I recently became aware of a beautifully filmed and presented eight minute video regarding the periodical cicada (Magicicada septendecim) life cycle. “Return of the Cicadas” is as artistic as it is informative. Best of all, it is freely accessible via the Internet.

An additional resource worth checking out is Cicada Mania. Despite its name, this professionally presented resource is an exceptional compilation of regularly updated periodical cicada information. I was particularly pleased to see that Illinois is slated as one of three states that should experience a large-scale periodical cicada emergence in 2014. I’ve never experienced a massive emergence before, but plan to document as much as I can when it occurs!

Mexican red leg tarantulas (Brachypelma emilia) and CITES

Juvenile Mexican red leg tarantula (Brachypelma emilia) showing size perspective. Click/double click image to enlarge.

Our local independent pet store’s (Sailfin Pet Shop) recent relationship with a tarantula breeder has significantly increased the store’s captive-bred tarantula species diversity. I debated between this species and the Mexican red knees (Brachypelma smithi) when I purchased my first tarantulas in October, 2011.

Sailfin’s weekend arachnid sale brought the price down significantly, allowing me to purchase this captive bred individual for less than I’ve paid for shipping alone on some invertebrates I’ve purchased in the past. I’ve found this juvenile to be as tractable and docile as the Mexican red knees, both at the store and at home. No hair kicking, no panicked desire to escape. It will work well in my classroom.

Like the Mexican red knees, Mexican red leg tarantulas are listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which prevents any unlicensed international trade of either live specimens or body parts. Captive bred populations of both tarantula species are thriving and slowly increasing, though the same regulations that prevent wild caught individuals from being transported across borders prevent captive-bred individuals from being reintroduced to their species’ area of origin. For now, anyway.

I hope to work with my students in increasing the number of Mexican red knees available for education purposes and sharing with various U.S. zoos involved in Mexican red knee captive breeding. I’m certain I’ll find the Mexican red legs, as well as their story, to be equally compelling!

Mexican red leg tarantulas (Brachypelma emilia) are readily identified by the black triangular marking at the front of the cephalothorax and the pink-red hairs on the tibiae, the third leg region counting upward from the end. Click/double click image to enlarge.

The more brilliantly marked Mexican red knee (Brachypelma smithi) shows distinct orange/red markings on the patellas, the fourth leg region counting upward from the end, as well as along the margin of the cephalothorax. Click/double click image to enlarge.

Juvenile Honduran curly hair tarantula (Brachypelma albopilosum) determined to be male

Male curly hair tarantula (Brachypelma albopilosum, right) nine days after his most recent molt. Note the increase in size of his cephalothorax, which enlarges only during a several hour period immediately after each molt. Click/double click image to enlarge.

The lack of any discernable structures immediately above the vent make clear he is male. Females at this size have easily discernable spermathecae. Image captured May 17, 2013.

Waiting in line to be photographed. Click/double click image to enlarge.

Chaco golden knee tarantula (Grammostola pulchripes) molt

Newly eclosed Chaco golden knee tarantula (Grammostola pulchripes) and its freshly shed exoskeleton. Click image to enlarge.

Chaco golden knees (Grammostola pulchripes), native to Argentina, Uraguay and Paraguy, are large tarantulas that may achieve an adult diagonal leg span of 8.5″. One of the more docile species, they are easily recognized by the distinct golden striped legs markings that are so obvious in the adults.

Adult chaco golden knee image courtesy of www.jonathansjungleroadshow.co.uk

Nick Stevens sent me the spiderling in January as a photography competition prize. It’s been very healthy, though an iffy eater and a slow grower thus far, though I suspect this individual’s growth rate will pick up quickly.

The dull-shiny abdomen and shiny, cellophane-like legs indicate that a molt is imminent. Photograph taken May 22, 2013. Double click for full imapct.

Note the freshly molted spiderling’s increased size relative to that of the exoskeleton that housed it a few hours earlier. Photograph taken May 22, 2013. Double click image for full impact.

Chaco golden knee spiderling showing a raised abdomen defensive posture. It will darken significantly and subtle leg marking should appear over the next few days. Click/double click image to enlarge.

Sperm web success the second time around!

Male Honduran curly hair tarantula (Brachypelma albopilosum) with his successfully constructed sperm web, May 15, 2013. Click/double click image to magnify.

I think he got it right this time…

The male Honduran curly hair tarantula (Brachypelma albopilosum) that molted into his final adult form on March 3, 2013, and then produced his first sperm web several days ago, produced what appears to be a well formed, classic sperm web.

Unlike the previous web, this one is tent-like and open on both ends. Spun against the side of his enclosure, he crawled upside down underneath the web and deposited a droplet of semen on the underside of the silk tent, alternately loading the boxing glove-like bulbs at the ends of his pedipalps with sperm.

Assuming his pedipalps to now be “locked and loaded”, my online search for a young mature female B. albopilosum becomes all the more urgent.

Double click the image below to fully experience a very large version of his intricately spun sperm web.

Front view of a successfully constructed sperm web. Click/double click image to magnify.