Recent "Bug Eric" News

Bioblitz on the Snadon Tract of Coyne Prairie, Missouri, USA.

I was honored to be invited to be a guest on This Green Earth, a podcast, and NPR talk show hosted by KPCW in Park City, Utah, USA, last Tuesday, June 3. I spent a delightful twenty minutes or so with Claire Wiley and Christopher Cherniak, discussing wasps, and my book Wasps: The Astonishing Diversity of a Misunderstood Insect. If you would be interested in having me as a guest on your own podcast, please contact me via email: bugeric247ATgmailDOTcom. Thank you.

This past Saturday and Sunday, Heidi and I participated as group leaders for the annual prairie bioblitz organized by Missouri Prairie Foundation. This year it celebrated National Prairie Day at the Snadon Tract, a new addition to MPF's existing Coyne Prairie in Dade County, Missouri, USA. A future blog post will detail some of our insect and arachnid findings there.

Indian paintbrush flowers on the Snadon Tract of Coyne Prairie.

The bioblitz events of Missouri Prairie Foundation keep getting bigger and bigger. It is humbling to realize that a few attendees come specifically to meet myself and Heidi, and go on "bug walks" with us as we document the macrofauna. MPF is one of the most friendly and accomplished nonprofit organizations I have ever encountered, and I encourage my followers to consider membership or donations.

More personal traveling is on the horizon, but I will do my best to post notification of any public engagements. Meanwhile, the official publication date of my new book, Bugwatching: The Art, Joy, and Importance of Observing Insects is July 22. Please see the top of the sidebar if you wish to preorder. Thank you as always for your loyalty and support.

Wasp Webinar Presentation to Athol Bird & Nature Club

Last night I presented a webinar on "Wasps: The Astonishing Diversity of a Misunderstood Insect" to the Athol Bird & Nature Club. Here is the embedded recording from Youtube if you would like to view it. I cannot guarantee an indefinite duration for the link. Thank you.

The Changing Conversation Around Invasive Species

Recently, the debate about invasive species has become more polarized than ever, with a degree of defensiveness and anger not seen previously. The reasons for this are many, some difficult to admit to.

Chinese Clematis may be invasive, but it deserves a less bigoted name.

I attended a webinar a few weeks ago in which the presenter asserted that “invasive species” is a “militarized term.” My instinctive reaction was that this was accusatory, bordering on defamation of science, when there is clear evidence that the introduction of a species to a new ecosystem can have devastating consequences.

Spongy Moth is still a bonafide forest pest, but now has a more appropriate moniker.

Pondering his comment further, it occurred to me that most of the animals, and plants, we label as invasive have some sort of obvious and negative economic impact. We have, as a consumer culture, become conditioned to frame everything in terms of business and monetary interests rather than ecological concerns. This has become more complicated by angst over climate change, and the resulting vulnerability of humanity to emerging threats, be they viruses or “murder hornets.”

© Yasunori Koide and Wikimedia Commons. Asian Giant Hornet only "murders" in the beehive, but is a serious threat to apiculture because of that proclivity.

The sudden, and/or overwhelming appearance of a novel organism is going to cause alarm, and the public seldom has comprehensive, appropriate knowledge for interpretation of potential impacts. We are at the mercy of what news outlets tell us. Because traditional print, radio, and television media now compete with social media, sensationalism is the order of the day. “Click bait” banners prevail over more accurate but less provocative headlines.

© Kim Fleming and Bugguide.net. Joro Spider, Trichonephila clavata, is not currently considered invasive.

Initial forecasts can also be premature. The jury is still out on whether some recently-introduced species will become problematic. They may not. The Joro Spider is a case in point. It is locally abundant in some parts of the southeast U.S., but whether this translates to a displacement of native spiders remains an unanswered question.

We collectively have a fascination with heroes and villains, too, and there are no more menacing villains than alien-looking insects, spiders, and other arthropods. Fantasy melds with reality and it becomes difficult to separate the two if you are not scientifically literate, or have a business model that demands public hatred of a particular creature.

© USDA ARS, public domain. Spotted Lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula, adult and nymphs. This species is a potential agricultural pest of serious magnitude.

In opposition to nativism is the idea that there is no such thing as invasive species. After all, man is part of nature, and therefore our actions are natural processes. The outcomes of those activities are circumstances to which we, and other species, will adapt.

It may be no coincidence that a backlash against the idea of invasive species is more evident now that we are recognizing, and attempting to mitigate, a history of colonialism. A convincing argument could be made that White settlers are the original invasive species. Here, in North America, we annihilated and displaced Indigenous members of our own species. We enslaved others. To this day we continue missionary work and other forms of colonialism. Therefore, the idea of invasive species becomes one of self-loathing, certainly an eventual threat to White supremacy and privilege. White people do not want to see themselves as villains.

Meanwhile, we demonize human immigrants and refugees as criminals and threats to domestic labor pools. We clamor for the closure of borders to our fellow humans, but allow our boundaries to be permeated by everything else. Not that human-imposed boundaries reflect natural ones.

The Cross Orbweaver, Araneus diadematus, is an example of a naturalized arachnid in North America.

Scientists have an uphill battle in resolving these opposing perspectives and initiating constructive dialogue. Looking to the past we see how some species from foreign lands have become “naturalized” over time, becoming innocuous additions to our flora and fauna. The average citizen may be shocked to learn that dandelions are not native to the U.S. They have become a fixture in our lawnscapes, even if we are instructed to use weed-killers against them.

Myrtle Spurge, aka "Donkeytail," Euphorbia myrsinites, is classified as a noxious weed in some jurisdictions, but not everywhere.

What is lost in all of this is attribution of the modern problem of invasive species to global consumer culture. Historically, human colonists brought other species with them as a guarantee of food and other necessary resources when venturing into unknown territory. Soon after, those species and their products became valuable in trade, a way to establish meaningful and positive relationships with Indigenous peoples, or other settlers. The pace of travel was slow, and the scale of enterprise miniscule compared to twenty-first century business.

Today, we mostly covet plants and animals of far-off lands. Plants, especially, can harbor potential insect pests. The containers used to transport international commerce are frequently occupied by insects, rodents, and other organisms. We seldom make that connection between our consumer habits and the state of ecosystems around the world.

Captive Reticulated Python. Release of unwanted Burmese Pythons into the Everglades by irresponsible pet owners has been....problematic.

We cannot turn the clock back, but we should make more informed and conscientious individual choices in the marketplace. We should promote the welfare of Indigenous peoples, and actively seek their counsel and leadership in crafting a world better able to withstand climate change. A permanent end to colonialism would not be a bad thing, either.

Talking Feral With Paul Boyce

Earlier this month I had the occasion to record an episode of the podcast Talking Feral. The host, Paul Boyce, is a doctoral candidate in Canada, but is originally from New Zealand, so his accent alone is worth the listen, but he asks insightful questions that ignite the minds of his guests and audience. Our conversation touches on a number of topics related to science and academia, so strays into arenas I usually reserve for my Sense of Misplaced blog. It was refreshing to talk about the bigger picture, and how different scientific disciplines, social constructs, and economic interests are interconnected, both personally and at large.

Please do not stop at my episode. I will not be offended if you skip it entirely, in fact, but do lend and ear to other installments of the show. Podcasts, I am happy to report, are free of the formality and constraints of traditional media, and allow us to confront issues and topics at a more visceral level. No sound bites here, but far better connections with those who tune in.

How Humanity Manufactures Its Own Pests

There are only a handful of insects that are associated only with our species, Homo sapiens. The rest of what we call pests are products of our own personal, social, and industrial behaviors, plus media sensationalism. We have become experts at creating adversaries that do not exist naturally.

Yellowjackets are not pests, they are pest control

Human lice of three species, and the bed bug (Cimex lectularius) are the only naturally occurring pests of humanity. They are so closely adapted to our bodies and lifestyles that they cannot exist without us. We are their food and habitat rolled into one. Why, then, do we insist that other insects, and often spiders, scorpions, and other invertebrates, are also pests? At worst we could maybe call each of them a "nuisance," something that interferes periodically with the comfort and progress of our personal lives, disrupts the social order or, more importantly, causes financial hardship.

Carpet beetle larvae eat your woolens, but the adults pollinate flowers (in this case it is the invasive tamarisk tree, though)

As I wrote in the Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America, "'Pest" is a label we ascribe to any organism that competes for 'our' resources. It is an artificial concept. Nature recognizes no ownership...." We have only ourselves to blame for most of the creatures we call pests. The worst pests are those that have been introduced from abroad, either intentionally or accidentally, and unleashed in landscapes where they face few, if any, natural predators, parasites, diseases, and other mortality factors. Meanwhile, we grow their favorite host plants as vast monoculture crops and then wonder why they show up in droves to feast on them. Spraying pesticides to suppress one pest often leads to the explosion of another pest that had been previously outcompeted by the one you are now controlling.

The Turkestan Cockroach is one of our "newer" invasive species

Back in the city, nearly all of our domiciliary (structure-dwelling) cockroach species have their origins in tropical Africa. Is this the bad karma we are forced to endure for the slave trade of our ancestors? Since urban slums suffer the most from cockroach infestations, that is apparently not the case. Cockroaches do have another quality to their profile that is independent of race and economic status: they take full advantage of our often sloppy housekeeping habits. Well, we can't possibly take responsibility for that, so we label roaches as pests.

This is less of a conspiracy theory than it is a shrewd business model and marketing strategy.

It is important to note that while cockroaches have been implicated in the mechanical transmission of bacteria and other contaminating pathogens, they have never been proven to do so. Cockroaches, and also "filth flies" like house flies, blow flies, and flesh flies, groom themselves constantly, as they must to prevent themselves from suffering diseases, as well as keep their delicate sensory bristles, hairs, eyes, and antennae sharp enough to detect potential predators. Yes, prolonged exposure to large cockroach populations can trigger asthma, especially in children. That is a fact.

Termites break down dead wood into soil

Let us revisit our own culpability in pest creation. We insist on having cats and dogs live with us, but wage war on fleas and ticks. We build our homes out of wood but won't share them with termites. We plant our gardens and yards with exotic plants that are not acclimated to our region and are therefore more vulnerable to even native insects and fungi and viruses. We covet animals and plants from other countries, creating commercial demand for wildlife that has no place in our captivity, while unintentionally creating invasive species. Yes, I am exaggerating with the first two examples, but my goal is to have you understand how your personal choices have consequences. You can avoid most perceived pest problems by making different choices, like planting native trees, shrubs, and flowers instead of weak, exotic cultivars, for example.

It is terribly ironic that humanity is more tolerant of invasive foreign species than it is of human immigrants and refugees.

Our desire to externalize our problems, and their solutions, falls perfectly into place for those commercial industries that feed off of our laziness and failure to understand how ecosystems function, be they outdoors, or inside the home, office, or tool shed. That alone is not enough to satisfy the desire for profits, so these industries create additional villains that can only be slain through the products and services of said industries. This is less of a conspiracy theory than it is a shrewd business model and marketing strategy. It is no accident that caricatures and CGI effects are employed in advertising to convince us that a given creature is a menace. It is the equivalent of war propaganda and institutional racism.

Female Anopheles mosquito. What good are mosquitoes? Ask a Plasmodium.

One of the tragic consequences of a "pest mentality" is that it can eventually spill over into how we view members of our own species. This is dramatically evident in today's political landscape. It is terribly ironic that humanity is more tolerant of invasive foreign species than it is of human immigrants and refugees. If one defines a pest as a competitor or predator, then it is easy to paint other people that way, especially in economic terms since economies are essentially ecosystems of only one species: us.

The Gypsy Moth was introduced in hopes of starting a silk industry in North America. That worked out well....

We have allowed ourselves to be conditioned by corporations and corporate media into viewing every other organism, every other human being, as either good or evil, an asset or a liability, a boon or a bane, guilty or innocent. The physicians' pledge to "first, do no harm" should perhaps be applied to every profession, including law enforcement, but maybe to the agricultural, nursery, and landscaping industries most of all. It should well be a personal motto, too. Do your homework. Do not blindly accept the so-called truths repeated by industries that profit from ignorance, and shame you for an unkempt house or yard. Promote biodiversity, exterminate instead the predatory practices of the marketplace.

Death Into Art

There are countless artists who render insects and other animals with traditional media like pen, ink, pencil, paints, clay, wood, and other materials, creating a realistic representation of the organism itself or, alternatively, a whimsical or inspired interpretation thereof. What, then, do we make of art that uses deceased life forms as the medium?

Detail of Jennifer Angus' In the Midnight Garden, 2015© Smithsonian Magazine

Your appreciation, or disapproval, may hinge on one or more facets of personal taste or ethics. Have we given collective thought to the implications of such works? Maybe we should. People tend to place animals into one or more general categories. One category is reserved for other species that benefit people directly, and usually economically, though often framed as pets or companions for which we like to think there is no "price" we could assign to those individual animals.

Another group we call "pests," or vermin, enemy species that cost us economically in terms of damage to property, pets, livestock, or livelihoods. They may even cost us our lives if they are species that can prey upon us. Those are the two major categories, though most species fall through the chasm between the two, ignored or unknown to most members of Homo sapiens

Ideally, when it comes to animals, art is a way to enhance the appreciation of other species, encourage us to think differently about them, inform us as to their unique behaviors and place in the bigger picture (outside the frame, if you will), and inspire us to learn more once we leave the gallery. I personally know dozens of artists who share that intent, and who execute amazing works. I also know artists for whom I assume that is the foundation of their works, but who use insects themselves as raw material for their works. This begins to make me feel uncomfortable.

© Christopher Marley

The overwhelming message I receive from artwork composed of dead insects or their body parts is that the creature itself is not a complete expression of beauty unless it is modified by human hands into something "greater." I am quite certain this thought never crosses the mind of the artist, and that is understandable. I might even go so far as to say it is human nature to have the desire to "improve" other objects, other species. Look at every domesticated animal, every plant cultivar.

The second ethical aspect of turning deceased animals into art has to do with sourcing. Where did the specimens come from? The acclaimed artist Damien Hirst is currently creating art from dead butterflies, carefully removing the wings and applying them to boards in colorful patterns. He obtains specimens by purchasing old collections. Re-using and repurposing, so what is so bad about that? Nothing, if the collections have no scientific value, but a travesty if the specimens had location data with them. They belong in museums in that event. Other artists use "farmed" specimens bred in captivity so there is no detriment to wild populations.

An absolute purist would argue that even the best sourcing of specimens is still taking away from the carbon and nutrient cycles that other organisms benefit from. Hirst and other artists might consider simply putting out dead insects and letting carpet beetles and booklice reduce them to powder that can then be used to create more art. What an installation that would be, to bring awareness to the natural process of decay.

Dermestid beetle damage© deanslab.org

The final insult, and I would welcome a better word, is that the artist employing organisms or their parts makes money from the exploitation of nature's works. Artists might consider donating at least a percentage of income to wildlife conservation organizations for the protection of the living versions of the dead ones they use in their works. Maybe, like Christopher Marley, they do and it is simply not widespread public knowledge.

Artists have the power to change our minds, our attitudes, and our behaviors, but it would be nice to see more respectful methods in the madness. More murals. Huge insect images like the ones rendered by Portugese artist Sergio Odeith. Spectacular glassworks like those of Rafael Glass. The real creative challenge, then, is finding new ways to exhalt nature without exploiting her. It can be done. I have faith that way.

A Different Direction

Friends, I want to thank you for your continued patronage of this blog over the years. It has been, and continues to be, a privilege to serve you. At present, and for the foreseeable future, I find my life trending in different directions, and you will probably find fewer pieces of new content from now on. Please allow me to explain.

Most of the work I do to inform, educate, and fascinate is now done through social media, namely Facebook. I doubt I will ever indulge much in Twitter, or any of the other platforms, since I do not interact well with mobile devices (I am almost literally "all thumbs" on a tablet or smartphone). These platforms do, however, reflect something important that I must be cognizant of, and responsive to.

We are at a point where "instant gratification" is now possible through texting, internet messaging, and social media. The era of the blog may even be slowly coming to a close. No one wants to wait for a blog post when they are having a panic attack now over the spider crossing the kitchen floor. They can take a picture of it with their phone and send it over the airwaves to me or another expert immediately. This is the new 9-1-1, and 4-1-1, all wrapped up into one thing.

I honestly can't fault people for demanding information faster; and I would rather have it be me giving them a correct answer and advice than someone who does not know a brown recluse from a harmless wolf spider. Heck, I myself am "guilty" of using social media to get specimen identifications from authorities I trust. This is today's reality, and one must adapt or lose their impact and relevance.

Second, recent major expenses dictate that I must seek paying writing assignments and related work. I may even need to secure a traditional job outside the home, though I do not relish that prospect. Those who know me understand that I am not "greedy" or materialistic. Far from it. Still, even basic expenditures must be paid, and my income has increasingly stagnated. Doctor visits become more frequent as I age, with corresponding increases for medical bills. You get the idea.

Lastly, I have found increasing satisfaction from writing about topics completely unrelated to insects and spiders. So far, the outlet for this has been my other blog, Sense of Misplaced, but I am on the verge of seeking paying markets for personal essays and social commentary. I have loyal readers of that blog to thank for giving me the confidence and courage to believe that I can reach a far larger audience, and perhaps even influence cultural change and regulatory policies.

Our country, indeed the world, is in such a state of crisis that we need every voice to be heard. Every innovation, every idea, needs to gain an audience from those in places where those suggestions can be evaluated and implemented. I aim to be one of those voices for positive change, empathy, and leadership. I hope my audience here can transfer to my other blog, and on into mainstream media.

Meanwhile, I have enough posts in the Bug Eric archives that I feel it is still a sustainable resource. I continue to get positive, non-spam comments from new "recruits" delighted to find here the answer to that "mystery bug." I will still blog here periodically, at the very least to promote the work of others. Thank you again for your support.

Celebrity Spiders

I was watching The Tonight Show on Wednesday, December 18, and one of the guests was actress Christina Applegate. I don’t normally pay much mind to celebrities, but when she started talking about a spider that is living outside a window of her home, my ears perked up. She and her daughter have more or less adopted the arachnid and named her “Seymour.”

Ok, obviously, they named the spider before it was determined to be a female. Ms. Applegate has kept a running account of their spider via tweets on Twitter, including the above picture. There has been much chatter on her Twitter page, most of it supportive and helpful. Christina informed The Tonight Show audience that “Seymour” had been identified as a Tropical Orbweaver, Eriophora ravilla, which at first glance it resembles. I remembered that this species does not occur in southern California, though, and took a closer look at the image. Ah, Araneus gemma instead. I tweeted the correction, but never got a response. Gee, Christina can’t be *that* swamped, right?

While she admitted that if a spider that size were found inside her house, “it would be on the bottom of my shoe,” she and her daughter have embraced Seymour as an “outdoor” spider. They even sing to it at bedtime.

We cannot have enough positive stories like this of both parenting and arachnid appreciation. It is encouraging the number of celebrities who share their passion for the eight-legged world.

I had the pleasure of meeting Dominic Monaghan, “Charlie” of Lost fame, when he came through the 25th annual “Bug Fair” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History back in May, 2011. He, too, had been on The Tonight Show, where he had talked about joining an expedition to search for an enormous tarantula species recently re-discovered in a museum collection. I asked if he had gone and he said they hadn’t been able to make it happen. Since, then, Dominic has gone on several expeditions for his BBC America series Wild Things. His “average Joe” approach is refreshing, and he is usually cautious in handling venomous species. He makes a good ambassador for popular entomology, arachnology, and herpetology.

Back on Twitter, Heidi Klum, the supermodel, made headlines by tweeting a photo of herself posing with “Brutus,” a large tarantula, her “new friend for the day.” That one photo op can cause such a sensation should not be dismissed. The American Arachnological Society might do well to find a celebrity spokesperson for arachnids, or even enlist someone from its own ranks, like Dr. Greta Binford.

The point is, we can make a big impact on changing public attitudes towards organisms that are traditionally feared, but we might have to cozy up to the media. Scientists are loathe to speak to journalists since there have been so many misquotes, and information taken out of context, in previous history. We have to keep trying, though, and become the media ourselves through blogs, social media, and other creative outlets. Heck, don’t just read my blog, “re-tweet” it, and more importantly, write your own, too.

An Entomologist in Hollywood?

Yesterday I applied to be a host for a new television series being produced by Asylum Entertainment "and a major cable network." Wish me luck. I did share the link to my YouTube demo reel, but I fear they may think I'm not animated enough. I'm no Steve Irwin, but I am no stick in the mud, either. Maybe they will notice the stand-up performance in my YouTube account....

I have a gut-level feeling this is a more legitimate media venue than some of the other opportunities that have crossed my desk, so I really want to make it to the next level in the audition process. My style is to deliver accurate information, allay fears, refute urban legend and folklore, and do so with empathy to those not as sympathetic to the arthropod realm as I am. There have been far too many over-the top hosts already.

Stay tuned, and feel free to offer your support here, on Facebook, and any other public outlets you can think of. Thank you.

Weird Bug News

I try to make a habit of picking up our local alternative newspaper, the Tucson Weekly; if only for my guilty pleasure, the “News of the Weird” by Chuck Shepherd. His column sometimes has me laughing out loud. Not surprisingly, some of the stories revolve around an entomology theme, as did one this week.

The first entry in his column is entitled “Bejeweled Beetle,” and reads thus:

”In January, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers confiscated a live, jeweled beetle that a woman was wearing as an ‘accessory’ on her sweater as she crossed into Brownsville, Texas, from Mexico. Blue jewels were glued onto the beetle’s back, which had been painted gold, and the mobile brooch was tethered by a gold chain attached to a safety pin. Even though the woman orally ‘declared’ the animal, the beetle was confiscated, because she had not completed the bureau’s PPQ Form 526, which is necessary to bring insects into the country. Reportedly, such jewelry is not that rare in Mexico. A spokesperson for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals was, of course, appalled.”

There you have it, folks, your tax dollars at work. I only wish that we were collectively so vigilant when it comes to agricultural and forest pests. There is certainly nothing to fear from the beetle species employed as a living ornament. That would be Zopherus chilensis, an “ironclad beetle” in the family Zopheridae. They are scavengers that feed on organic debris and pose no known threat to the health of humans, pets, livestock, crops, or garden plants. I only wish I could say the same about most of the human characters in “News of the Weird.”

Next Job, Please

We interrupt our regularly-scheduled programming to bring you this important message: I need a new job. One that let’s me use my knowledge, one that let’s me use my skills, one that pays enough so that I can pay my bills….Oh, sorry, I got confused with that Huey Lewis & the News song, “I Want a New Drug.” Well, the basic premise is the same: I would like my next career position to be as rewarding as the last one at the University of Massachusetts.

Ideally, I would like to be at the interface between the scientific community and the general public. I am nothing if not creative and skilled in communications. Scientific journalism, natural history interpretation, and related fields do not seem to be valued here in the United States, however, and such positions are difficult to come by. There is great reliance on docents and other volunteers at museums and parks for example. Most of the professional naturalists I know are behind desks, pushing pencils, and training volunteers to do the actual public programs.

Still, I am cautiously optimistic that I can find a niche. I do need to develop additional professional networks, though. Currently, my professional network consists mostly of entomologists, and I wouldn’t trade that for the world. I need to start befriending more writers and media professionals, however, if I am to advance to a point where I can reach a much larger audience with my message of tolerance and appreciation of the natural world.

I already owe a debt of gratitude to Gwen Pearson for connecting me with a project that promises to take me in the general direction I want to go, and that will help supplement whatever regular income I eventually obtain. Thanks also to Troy Bartlett and Joe Clapp, who understand where I want to go and keep providing job leads. I welcome even more of those potential opportunities from the rest of you. Don’t hesitate to ask me for the same for yourself, either.

Thank you for your indulgence. We will return you shortly to your regularly-scheduled episodes of Bug Eric.

As Seen on TV

Did you ever see the television show Verminators, which aired in the U.S. on the Discovery Channel, Monday nights at ten PM (just in time to give you the heebie-jeebies before bedtime)? Apparently, it has since been cancelled, but it chronicled the adventures of a real-life pest control company in Los Angeles, California.

Some episodes left me wondering which is more disgusting, the pests themselves, or the living habits of the clientele (with apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, you might be a redneck if the roaches in the pantry hand you a shopping list).

While the program did provide some insight into what to expect if you enlist professional help in your battle against pests, it did not always inspire confidence. In one episode I viewed, a novice technician nearly blew an apartment to kingdom come when he failed to notice a lit burner on the stove before he began spraying. Tsk, tsk. That would usually be grounds for dismissal, but the company owner was more forgiving after issuing a strong reprimand.

What do you think of this program? If you were able to stomach an installment or two, share your own review of Verminators here.