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Angler's Entomology Podcast


Welcome to the Angler's Entomology Podcast.  On this podcast and blog, I am documenting my re-entry into the world of entomology.   Join us as my wife and I explore the environment in which trout live and the insects and other creatures that live in and share that space.  This is not just a dry recitation of facts, I hope to bring these creatures alive - show you how they live, what makes them fascinating in their own right, and help you understand how they interact with trout in ways that will help your fishing.  So, please join us.  I hope you enjoy the program...

Links:

Selene's Blog and Page for Classic Streamers; and you can finder her interview on the podcast the Liar's Club. 

NEW QUIZ PAGES

I'm setting up a new set of Quizizz pages to help you learn about different insect groups.  I'll be honest - the best way to learn insects is to look at a lot of insects.  So, give these a whirl and don't get discouraged if you do poorly.   Just try again every so often.   The quizzes will be tiered- so they will get more detailed and complicated as we increase in levels.   The first ones are just about learning the different orders.    

This first quiz is about identifying the four major aquatic insect orders

Quiz #2 is a continuation on Mayfly, Stonefly, Dragon and Damselfly, and Caddisfly Orders. 

This Quiz includes other orders of insects that are important to anglers, but is only the adults.  

 

Episode 15: Pics and Notes for Ants

Sep 30, 2017

Well, I don't have a lot of pics of ants.  I mean, they are so ubiquitous that one never really gets excited and says, "oooh, and ant!  Let me get a picture of that!".  

As promised, however, I do have a picture of ants tending aphids - which I got while up around Grand Lake Stream in Maine:

 

Ants tending aphids

More of interest, I think, are the resources I can point you to should you be interested in poking around more. 

Here is Holldobler's and Wilson's epic work, the Ants:

https://www.amazon.com/Ants-Bert-Holldobler/dp/0674040759/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1506765560&sr=1-1&keywords=ants+wilson

Everything you could want to know about ant is in this book.  Well, maybe not everything, but darn close. 

I have not read this work, but from what I understand Deborah Gordon's work is excellent.  I've heard it is an interesting contrast to Wilson's work. 

https://www.amazon.com/Ants-At-Work-Society-Organized/dp/1451665709/ref=sr_1_23?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1506765661&sr=1-23&keywords=ants

If you live in New England, and really want to get into ants, this is the book to have: 

https://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Ants-New-England/dp/0300169302/ref=sr_1_74?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1506765812&sr=1-74&keywords=ants

I know there are other books out there for other regions, so poke around - you'll likely be able to find a good reference book for ants in your area. 

But mostly I wanted to give you a smattering here of the incredible amount of diversity and volume of ant research that is going on.  I record these episode about a month in advance.   Here is a list of current ant research that I just happened to come across over the last month:

A great little article about a medical condition, it's link to ants, and the role of indigenous cultures in knowledge: 

https://entomologytoday.org/2017/09/29/the-story-of-the-little-fire-ant-and-why-modern-medicine-can-learn-from-indigenous-cultures/

A really cool article about how ants interact with each other: 

https://phys.org/news/2017-09-ant-species-coexist-territory.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter

an article about discovering 74 new species of ants from Australia.  74!!!

pub_releases/2017-09/pp-haa092117.php

An article about mutualism between plants and ants - 

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-09/uot-ssm091817.php

A cool article about a really wierd fossil ant:

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2146821-meet-the-vampire-ant-from-hell-with-huge-jaws-and-a-metal-horn

A lastly great article about "lazy" ants - kind of an interesting counterbalance to all the anthropomorphic descriptions of ants as industrious: 

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-09/uoa-lam090817.php

All of this I just came across over the last month.  Pretty impressive and interesting.