insect talks at Hennig XXVIII
I just got back from the Willi Hennig Society annual meeting at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Rudolf Meier, fly systematist extraordinaire and organizer of this year's event, invited me to present on ontologies in evolutionary biology. The venue was visually stunning (see above), and the program was absolutely chock-a-block with entomology - of the 65 presentations (including 11 posters) 24 (37%) focused on insects and/or spiders. I was especially heartened to see so many researchers talking about practical and realistic applications of DNA barcoding, and Frank Friedrich et al.'s talk on micro computer-tomography (μ-CT) included some of the most amazing illustrations of insects I've ever seen (including a synchrotron radiation-based micro computed tomograph of a hymenopteran: Tenthredo vespa - note to self: we need to do this for the (forthcoming) Hymenoptera Anatomical Atlas!).
My entomological experiences, of course, were not limited to slides in the meeting room. Walking through the Botanic Gardens revealed singing cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) and swarms of stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini), and my hike through the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve included observations of nesting wasps (Vespidae: Stenogastrinae), dancing dragonflies (Libellulidae), resting plant hoppers (Hemiptera: Flatidae), GIGANTIC patrolling ants (Formicidae: Camponotus gigas), swarming pomace flies (Drosophilidae), and nervous ant-mimicking jumping spiders (Salticidae: Myrmarachne maxillosa). Here's a taste, from my efforts with a point and shoot:
This cicada was waaaay up on a tree. I had to zoom it to the max and then massively crop this photo to even see it. I'm sure if I was patient I could find one closer to the ground, like this stunning photo from InSectHunter, also shot in the Singapore Botanic Gardens. I think it's a Chremistica sp. (Cicadidae).
I reached into a mass of swarming bees outside one of the orchid houses (see the video) and pulled out this little bee. I think it's a Trigona sp. (Apidae).
Very large plant hopper (~2.5 cm long; Flatidae) resting on a leaf.
This carabid beetle (Carabidae) was cruising the foliage, looking for prey. It was very skittish, so I took this from way far away and cropped it.
Hover wasp nest (Vespidae: Stenogastrinae) dangling from a rock ledge.
