Thursday, October 19, 2017
Aphid Day 2017!
Two weeks ago it looked like the last warmish day, so I tried to bet on the aphids but lost.
Today is unquestionably Aphid Day 2017. On my morning walk I ended up with three of the little squishers glued to my face, and now (10AM) the swarms are dense. Sure enough, they knew another warmish day was waiting.
The warmth arrived atypically at night with a warm push between two cold fronts, but the aphids weren't fooled by the timing.
So, here's the annual reprint with additions...........
= = = = =
[This is the eighth time I've noted it here. Aphid Day in 2010 was the first of Oct; in 2011 it was the end of Oct; in 2012 the first of Oct; in 2013 the last part of Oct; in 2014 the end of Sept; in 2015 end of Sept again; in 2016 end of Sept again; now in 2017 near end of Oct.]
= = = = = BELOW HERE IS REPRINT of the usual.
Every year in Spokane the end of summer is marked by the swarming of tiny white-winged flies.
Insects don't waste much time in adulthood; lots of bugs live several years as larvae and only a few days as adults.
These flies take it to an extreme. Adults are minimally equipped to get in the air and reproduce. They don't have as much brain power as other flies, nor do they have hard shells. Instead of flying purposefully, they drift with the wind like seeds, and die as soon as they bump into anything even at near-zero drifting speed. Result: for a couple of days, your face and clothes are covered with semi-liquid insects.
Despite their lack of navigation, they must have some kind of superior instinct or 'community intelligence', because picking the last warm day is much harder than picking the first warm day of spring. Termites and ants don't need to calculate their swarming day; they only need a simple neuron to detect when temperature rises past a certain threshold, plus an emitted pheromone to trigger the avalanche.
But how do these flies determine that today is not just warm, but the last warmth for their generation? They must be sensing something besides temperature.
At any rate, they serve as a reliable sign for us, even if our supercomputers can't match their calculations.
Polistra has put it into folk-wisdom format:
White flies swarming, no more warming.
= = = = =
[Artistic note: the swarm in the animation turned out nicely, but Polistra's head looks steroid-swollen and South-Park-ish for unknown reasons. Maybe she's allergic to the bugs.]
[Technical note: According to some sources, these bugs are smoky-winged ash aphids, Prociphilus americanus.]
The warmth arrived atypically at night with a warm push between two cold fronts, but the aphids weren't fooled by the timing.
So, here's the annual reprint with additions...........
= = = = =
[This is the eighth time I've noted it here. Aphid Day in 2010 was the first of Oct; in 2011 it was the end of Oct; in 2012 the first of Oct; in 2013 the last part of Oct; in 2014 the end of Sept; in 2015 end of Sept again; in 2016 end of Sept again; now in 2017 near end of Oct.]
= = = = = BELOW HERE IS REPRINT of the usual.
Every year in Spokane the end of summer is marked by the swarming of tiny white-winged flies.
Insects don't waste much time in adulthood; lots of bugs live several years as larvae and only a few days as adults.
These flies take it to an extreme. Adults are minimally equipped to get in the air and reproduce. They don't have as much brain power as other flies, nor do they have hard shells. Instead of flying purposefully, they drift with the wind like seeds, and die as soon as they bump into anything even at near-zero drifting speed. Result: for a couple of days, your face and clothes are covered with semi-liquid insects.
Despite their lack of navigation, they must have some kind of superior instinct or 'community intelligence', because picking the last warm day is much harder than picking the first warm day of spring. Termites and ants don't need to calculate their swarming day; they only need a simple neuron to detect when temperature rises past a certain threshold, plus an emitted pheromone to trigger the avalanche.
But how do these flies determine that today is not just warm, but the last warmth for their generation? They must be sensing something besides temperature.
At any rate, they serve as a reliable sign for us, even if our supercomputers can't match their calculations.
Polistra has put it into folk-wisdom format:
White flies swarming, no more warming.
= = = = =
[Artistic note: the swarm in the animation turned out nicely, but Polistra's head looks steroid-swollen and South-Park-ish for unknown reasons. Maybe she's allergic to the bugs.]
[Technical note: According to some sources, these bugs are smoky-winged ash aphids, Prociphilus americanus.]
Labels: Grand Blueprint, Heimatkunde
¶ 10:42 AM
