Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge by Edward O. Wilson

Color	red, green, blue pigments in cones, genes on X chromosome: see discrete colors (RGBY), but continuous intensity
Arrowleaf	nature/nurture norm of reaction: 1 gene can adapt to diff env, arrowhead on land, pad in shallow, grass in deep

Consilience: The Diversity of Life by Edward O. Wilson

Island biogeography: area effect: 10-fold increase in area - double species.

Bugs in the System by May R. Berenbaum

Spiracles	O2 larger than H20: trachea minimizes H2) loss by muscle contraction of spiracles
Wings	mostly cuticle, little epidermis: cannot be replaced, cannot molt. hemolymph(blood)
Cricket	forewing base file, upper scraper, most Gryllidae right over left. tympana on forelegs. triumphal song
Firefly	O2+luciferin/luciferase. Photuris females mimic signals

Ninety-Nine Gnats, Nits, and Nibblers by May R. Berenbaum

"time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like an apple" - p. 9
Fruit flies	(Drosophila melanogaster) have Alcohol Dehydrogenase (ADH), like rotting grape, pest in wineries
Flies	regurgitate non-liquid food and sop it up. Cars reduced horse manure and reduced fly populations.
Silverfish	no wings, adults continue to molt. Thysanurans eat carbohydrates: book bindings, nylon, starched collar, paste
Carpenter ant	swarm in spring to mate, raid houses in spring for sugar: no aphid honeydew
Carpet beetle	digest keratin
Clothes moths	digest keratin (animal protein): wool, hair, fur, feather, leather, not plant fibers (linen, cotton)
Spider	Males intromittent organ at end of palps, spin sperm web and suck sperm into palps, webs used as bandage Europe
Earwig	hind wings earlike, not strong flier. omnivorous; rear pincers can pinch, stink gland from abdominal segment
Dust mite	Aspergillus fungus predigests fat in dandruff(10%), can cause allergies
Termite	black queen and king swarm in spring. cellulose microbes passed by anal feeding, subterranean need moist
Black Swallowtail	caterpillar has osmeterium, release isobutyric acid
Spittlebug	feed on xylem sap, not phloem, low in nutrients, can stunt plants. adults are froghoppers.
Click beetle	wireworms eat roots and tubers 3-8 years. excommunicated by bishop in Switzerland
Migratory Grasshopper	Melanoplus bilituratus egg pod in ground overwinter
Lacewing	larvae aphidlions. "aphidwolves" pluck off waxy filaments from wooly alder aphids as disguise on its back
Goldenrod ball gall fly	Eurosta solidaginis
Goldenrod ball gall fly	diapause in winter, pupate spring in puparium. Large galls Downy woodpecker & Chickadee
Painted Lady	larva weaves nest, add thistle spines. return to basking spot if disturbed
Parsnip webworm	burrows into stem to pupate, overwinter as adult
Praying mantis	both male and female head inhibit mating behavior
Sulfur butterfly	Orange reflects UV, Common does not, often hybridize
Wooly bear	Isia isabella overwinter as caterpillar
Patent leather beetle	copulate in missionary position
Sowbug	moist gills, brood pouch under thorax, release ammonia directly. eat feces for copper. 14 legs, 4 antennae
Springtail	furcula(spring) in 4/5 segment hooks into tentaculum in 3rd. breathe thru sik, molt as adults. spermatophore
Snowy tree cricket	count 15 seconds, add 37
Dragonfly	Odonata 30,000 facets. males deposit sperm into sack behind legs, grab female behind head
Damselfly	Odonata intromittent organ has 2 spoons to scoop out sperm from female
Whirlygig beetle	plimsoll line: body is water repellent, unsinkable. 4 eyes: 2 above 2 below, can dive, fly
Chiggers	mites sensitive to CO2, inject enzyme to digest skin cells. Follicle mites in follicles and sebaceous glands

Broadsides from the Other Orders by Sue Hubbell

Fly	Diptera use halteres to stabilize flight
Midge	Nonbiting males swarm, do not feed. Biting midges no-see-um females bite. Gnats: plant feeders
Gall gnat	paedogenesis: Larvae can lay eggs and hatch, devour parent larva.
Army worm	Sciara militaris , snake worms: march in snakelike masses
Daddylonglegs	have jaws, movable nervous system
Water strider	wave communication: males tap to females, also to lay eggs after copulation, aggressive frequencies.
Katydid	We can imitate female calls, ears on forelegs. Males pass protein-rich spermatophore to female to eat after cop
Silkworm	Bombix mori adults do not feed, cannot fly.
Gypsy moth	Lymantria dispar, predators titmice and wrens.
Bumblebee	can raise body temperature, morning fliers.

I went over to Borders immediately and bought 2 books: "Insects of the Great Lakes Region" by Gary Dunn,
 and "Fresh Water" by E. C. Pielou.  I had finished 2 books by Pielou this year, "After the Ice Age" and
 "The World of Northern Evergreens".
  I had been meaning to summarize some interesting factoids from the latter book and from another book that have some
 relevance to Forest Ecology, so here gooes without further procrastination, first from the Evergreens book:
  Chapter 5, "The Life and Growth of a Conifer"
 * Angiosperms (angeion = vessel) contain vessels in the wood, that
   can be seen in the stumps.  Vessels are all about the same size,
   so annual rings are harder to see than in gymnosperms.  But rays
   are easier to see in angiosperms.
  * Gymnosperms contain tracheids instead of vessels.  They are less
   efficient at transporting water than vessels, so should transpire
   much less water than angiosperms.  Tracheid cells are dead; in
   the heartwood they are clogged with resins, gums, and tannins,
   and cannot conduct sap.  Color contrast between heartwood and
   sapwood is low in spruce and fir.
  * In a leaning trunk or branch, gymnosperms develop compression
   wood: wider rings on the underside.  Angiosperms develop tension
   wood: wider rings on the upperside.  But most of the angiosperm
   trees I've checked do not show the latter pattern?
  * Conifers develop spiral grain (the chains of tracheids) in the
   wood: left spiral when young, turning to right spiral when mature.
   Usually can only be seen when the bark has fallen off, except
   Arbor Vitae, where the bark often show the spiral grain.
  * On some conifers, the white bands along the leaves are stomata;
   under a hand lens they show up as tiny dots, which are wax covering
   the cuticle.  She says you can see this on hemlock, fir,
   Douglas-fir, and Common Juniper.  Unless I'm mistaken, I also saw
   them on a spruce (probably Picea abies) today.
  Chapter 8, "The Elements": * Conifers do not resprout from stump.
  From "Reading the Forested Landscape," by Tom Wessels:
 Chapter 1, "The Age Discontinuity"
 * Pines, spruce, and oaks that are heat-killed are very rot resistant
   and can remain snags for over 50 years.
  Chapter 3, "A Study in Stumps"
 * Conifer logs decay from outside in.  Their heartwood stores toxic
   substances that are resistent to insects and fungi.  Hardwood trees
   decay from inside out, or uniformly.  Beech and maple logs can
   develop black fungus on bark that look like charcoal.
  * Root grafting can allow stumps to continue low-level growth.
   Sometimes can see growth rings inside the bark above the cut.
  * Hemlock bark is very rot resistant and supports little growth of
   moss or lichen, due to high tannin content.
  Chapter 6, "Pillows and Cradles"
 * Beech, maple, and birch logs decay too quickly to develop moss.
   Little moss on oak logs due to rot-resistant sapwood.  Conifer
   logs most often moss covered: rot slowly from outside in.  A
   moss-covered log can serve as a "nurse log" for the germination
   of other trees.

		Heart of the Land
Dandelion=dent de lion, lion's tooth(MF)
http://www.wildbirds.com/favorites_FAQ.htm
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 1/10 oz (3 g):			1st class letter 30 g
Chickadee: 1/3 oz=8 g 3 pennies, 2 nickels: 		1 penny: 2.5 gram
Amber: mono and sesquiterpenes, nonvolatile diterpenes, 3-8% succinic acid
	Baltic: Araucariaceae broad-leafed conifers contain succinite
	New World from Hymenaea protera (West Indian locust H. courbaril) retinite
	Pine pitch is not as resistant to microbial decay
	True gums are polysaccharides, do not form resin. 
		Carl Strang: Interpretive Undercurrents
Firefly Photuris females mimic flashing of smaller prey,
	wingless females called glowworms
	larvae feed on earthworms, snails & slugs; frogs eat & glow
	most adults eat only pollen, or not at all
	none W of Rockies
	O2+Luciferin -> luciferase ~100% (light bulb 10%)
	Photinus pyralis (Lampyridae, Coleoptera)
Slug mantle: head can retract.  2-chambered heart on left, breathing hole on right, anus
	behind it.  radula has 27K teeth.
Cream Wild Indigo Baptisia leucophaea
	flower in early spring, large lipped flowers need strong insect:
	bumblebee queen bee-only bee surviving winter
	Jack&Jill in the pulpit Paulette Bierzychudek Nat Hist 91(3):22-27
Jack-in-the-pulpit: death of pollinating insects in flower of female plants
ants eat elaiosome seed flaps of wild ginger, violets, trout lilly, trillium
Poison Ivy: important food plants for deer and cottontail in Feb.
	resin reacts with skin proteins to produce rash
		Gary Paul Nabhan: Gathering the Desert
Mesquite seeds destroyed by boring beetles - killed by vertebrate gut juice
	roots to 50 meters
	Desert packrats collect mesquite seeds in mounds
		William K Stevens: Miracle Under the Oaks
Schulenberg Prairie:	10 acres/110 species
Fermilab;		1000 acres/125 species
		Brian Swimme & Thomas Berry
Milky Way: 100 billion stars, Virgo Cluster(1000 galaxies), Local Group
	sun 28,000 light years from center, Orion arm
1 pair aphids->.5 trillion offspring in 1 year.
Wisconsin glaciation(Wurm in Europe) furthest sout 18,000 years ago
		John McPhee: In Suspect Terrain
I-80 marks Winconsin ice sheet in Poconos
NY: stop at Flatbush (Brooklyn means broken land)
	look in cemeteries for moraines: poor farmland, easy dig, well drained
Coney Island: end of outwash basin, glacier from NJ: Palisades in Central Park
Manhattan Schist: rock lying near surface in midtown, on Wall St, within 40 ft
	in between (SOHO,GV,Chinatown)filled with glacial till
petroleum window: 50-150 degrees C
Dolomite quarry: coral reef in Silurian; I-80 crosses atoll, MG replaces Ca
Cincinnati Arch: left Morton Salt and US Gypsum
1959 Montana earthquake: birds left the mountain the day before
		Jason Gardner: The Sacred Earth
1 acre of forest absorbs 6 tons of CO2/year P.68
Wordsworth walked 186,000 miles in his lifetime
Lightning: 10,000 volts, 500 miles/hr, 30,000amp back up. P.16
1 cell contains 1/4 million protein molecules
	Chet Raymo: Honey from Stone
Sun 93M miles(8 minutes) away
Rising sun takes 2 minutes: .5 degree of earth
1000 miles/hour toward Orion, 68K mph around sun, 34k mph around galaxy,
Milky Way turns 80k mph.  Perseid meteors 150k mph
No snakes in Ireland: driven out by glacier, returned to England from France,
	but Ireland became an island before snakes can cross
50,000 species of snout beetles
	Rick Bass: The Book of Yaak
Forest Service world's biggest road building company: .5M miles logging roads
	Douglas Adams: Last Chance to See
northern hemisphere: drain clockwise
	Wayne Lampa: The Phoenix Land
Silurian(440M) corals and shell fish->reefs->limestone
	Edward Duensing,A. B. Millmoss: Backyard and beyond
	Donald Stokes,Deborah Prince (Illustrator): A Guide to Observing Insect Lives
	Gale Lawrence: A field Guide to the Familiar
pigeons suck, produce milk (by male & female) with hormone prolactin,
Cabbage white: uric acid white color, resistent to Bacillus thuringiensis
	John Acorn: Nature Nut
Yucca moth females don't eat, just pollinate yucca
june bugs: feed on foliage, white grubs eat roots, 2-3 years
7-spotted ladybug: introduced alien

	Pigments:
	chlorophyll (a&b): MG porphyrin
	hemoglobin: Fe (CU if green blood in invertebrates)

Erica: heath
Cynthia: Krigia biflora
Jasmine
Holly
ecosystem: 
	abiotic and biotic
	interdependence
	flow of energy in tropihc levels: producers, consumers, decomposers
		each level loses 90% of energy
	cyclung of nutrients
		water
		carbon oxygen
	
Starling: Henry IV
Cuticle:	plants: polymer of fatty acids
		arthropods:	polysaccharide fibre (chitin) in an extensive stabilised protein matrix
		fingernail: btween skin & nail lpate, keratin