I found Mymarommatidae!

[Nanohedron]

one in Cretaceous amber

What was the last thing on his mind before he hit the dinosaur?

djm

Nyuk.

[Roderick [Rod] Sprague IV]

I have an update. I am up to five specimens. I told my friend James "Ding" Johnson, a good insect taxonomist about them and he got very excited. It seems likely we have a new species on our hands. The only other sighting of this family in North America is one species from around the Washington DC area. Ours are from the panhandle of Idaho and Western Montana area. Nothing definitive is known about what their hosts are for any members of the family.

[Denny]

I'd think that a Washington DC area insect found in the Idaho panhandle would be cause for more that a little concern.....

-OR-

Congratulations!

[s1m0n]

See - that explains why people think dinosaurs are extinct. They just aren't prepared to spare enough alcohol for a large-sized pitfall.

Though I've gotta say, I've been mired to my axles in few over the years...

[s1m0n]

Way to go! How many pitfalls and drowned, pickled insects did you have to set up and stare at to get this bingo?

[Roderick [Rod] Sprague IV]

Way to go! How many pitfalls and drowned, pickled insects did you have to set up and stare at to get this bingo?

Let's see, 5 pitfalls a day, 6 months with 20 work days a month, 50 mostly insects per pitfall, roughly 30,000 critters.

[Coffee]

Ain't field research grand!
Wha'cha gonna call yer new species?

[Roderick [Rod] Sprague IV]

I'm not the Mymarommatidae taxonomist, so I don't know what it might end up being named. I'm simply the lab tech who realized they were Mymarommatidae. They might be more common and people simply think they are Mymaridae and leave it at that. It is very rare that insects get identified much past the family level. Also, people tend to deal with the macro-insects more often than not.

[s1m0n]

Go figure. Back when I was pouring out pure alcohol and staring at creepy crawlies*, they called it 'toxicology', not 'taxonomy'.

*Not strictly true.

[Roderick [Rod] Sprague IV]

The odd fringed wings have evolved more than once in minute insects. There is an entire family of minute beetles known as the feather-winged beetles. Aerodynamics is influenced by the size of the organism, as air gets more viscous the smaller things get, so I would guess air does not slip between the fringes as readily at that size or there is some other thing going on at that level.

[Lambchop]

Way to go! How many pitfalls and drowned, pickled insects did you have to set up and stare at to get this bingo?

Let's see, 5 pitfalls a day, 6 months with 20 work days a month, 50 mostly insects per pitfall, roughly 30,000 critters.

Oh, Caroluna! Yoo hoo! There's your solution to Izzie's dietary dilemma!

[s1m0n]

There's your solution to Izzie's dietary dilemma!

Here's an excellent recipe:

1. Wring the bugs out, reserving them to a small bowl. For the time being, set remaining liquid to one side.
2. Feed the contents of the bowl, one at a time, to the Venus flytrap.
3. Quickly slurp up the ethanol. After steps one and two, you will need a drink badly.

[Caroluna]

Oh, Caroluna! Yoo hoo! There's your solution to Izzie's dietary dilemma!

<hic>


Rod, your beastie looked familiar. Is that what's on the cover of Hymenoptera of the World: an Identification Guide to Families?

[anniemcu]

Way to go! How many pitfalls and drowned, pickled insects did you have to set up and stare at to get this bingo?

Let's see, 5 pitfalls a day, 6 months with 20 work days a month, 50 mostly insects per pitfall, roughly 30,000 critters.

And not even enough to make a tiny droplet in the bucket! We humans tend to be so self-centered. If we all dropped dead at the very same instant, the insect world would have a nice fast feast and go on about its business.

[Roderick [Rod] Sprague IV]

Rod, your beastie looked familiar. Is that what's on the cover of Hymenoptera of the World: an Identification Guide to Families?

Yes, that cover was actually my first clue as to what I had.