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| Xerophloea peltata, Micrutalis sp. |
Here's another filler image for decoration. The Xerophloea, Micrutalis, and singular Graphocephala female have all been doing well now that I seem to be getting a hang of the invisible mystery forces that increase and decrease host palatability over time, although I'm still trying to find a shelter object for the disabled Eleodes acuticauda female that it won't either reject the smell of or get its senile legs caught on. Finding the teneb a piece of bark that doesn't smell like mold is a weirdly difficult task in this part of the country.
But without further ado, here's some research papers/books that I've found fun and/or useful. Useful ones that are not so fun are clustered together, for your convenience. I expect to periodically update this every now and then (last update: 4/17/2026).
An insect-induced novel plant phenotype for sustaining social life in a closed system
(aphids bioengineering trippy gall-sanitation systems)
Hidden in plain orange: aposematic coloration is cryptic to a colorblind insect predator
Learning ability and longevity: a symmetrical evolutionary trade-off in Drosophila
Controlled iris radiance in a diurnal fish looking at prey
(no not bioluminescence, it's cooler than that)
Xmrks the spot: life history tradeoffs, sexual selection and the evolutionary ecology of oncogenesis
Swordtails that use melanomas in courtship displays
Experimental evidence of pollination in marine flowers by invertebrate fauna
Animal-mediated fertilization in bryophytes
Bird feeders have caused a dramatic evolution of California hummingbirds
The Californian urban butterfly fauna is dependent on alien plants
Lethal trap created by adaptive evolutionary response to an exotic resource
Glassfrogs conceal blood in their liver to maintain transparency
Behavioral sabotage of plant defenses by insect herbivores
Method of handling affects post-capture encounter probabilities in male Hypolimnas bolina (L.) (Nymphalidae)
Fungus and fruit consumption by harvestmen and spiders (Opiliones, Araneae): the vegetarian side of two predominantly predaceous arachnid groups
Mostly just worth reading about for the whole "needs successional mosaic habitat" thing. Also since my local climate is more arid than the paper's I believe cryptocephalines in my area are probably population-limited in part by excessive insolation/drought, not a lack of it. They do seem more common in areas adjacent to shade objects.
Disproportionate declines of formerly abundant species underlie insect loss
On the perils of ecological restoration: lessons from the El Segundo Blue Butterfly
Laboratory methods for rearing soil beetles
Owlet Caterpillars of Eastern North America
Free book!
The butterflies of Southern California
Free (but somewhat outdated; it's from 1973) book! The comments about Phoebis sennae being "no longer abundant, and in danger of dying out" are intriguing, given that it was known to be previously common, and in the 21st century is now common again.
Screenshots section:
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| Ethics reasons aside, freezing also takes forever for big or endothermic insects and does not kill taxa able to withstand it through antifreeze secretions |
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| From Cambridge Handbook of Play. The original paper says "autumn-born males play rarely" [not never] and that spring-born male secretions apparently caused autumn-borns to play more. |
