#mosquito egg raft

[sitting-on-me-bum]

"Mosquito Egg Raft"

"I spotted dozens of these tiny mosquito egg rafts on the surface of a water butt while I was working as a gardener. The rafts would not stay still long enough for me to photograph them. So I carefully fished one of the egg rafts out, using a teaspoon, and placed it in an inverted bottle top filled with water. A pebble was positioned in the middle of the bottle top, and the raft was then carefully moved onto the pebble to keep it stationary. After taking the pictures, the egg raft was returned to the water butt."

By Barry Webb

Close-Up Photographer of the Year 

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

"Mosquito Egg Raft"

A raft of mosquito eggs floats on water in this award-winning image by Barry Webb. Capillary effects stretch and distort the interface, creating a complicated meniscus where the eggs meet the water. (Image credit: B. Webb from CUPOTY; via Gizmodo) Read the full article

[itsoctopuses]

Week 3 observations:

1.15.25

Common Snapdragon

Antirrhinum majus

Observed at home on Galveston Island.

This is not native but also not invasive to Texas. It’s found in gardens and is great for our pollinators, including hummingbirds. They are cool season annuals, come in a variety of colors, the florets are edible and they’re even deer resistant due to the bright colors and distinctive shape! The reason for the name, snapdragon, is because when you pinch the sides of the flower it looking like a dragon’s mouth snapping open.

#commonsnapdragon #Antirrhinummajus #citizenscience #flora #flowers #garden #nature #outdoors #january #january15 #2025 #picoftheday #project365 #day15

1.16.25

Channeled Duck Clam

Raeta plicatella

Observed all along Galveston Island beaches. I’ve only ever seen the empty shell halves but apparently the clam lives in the sandy shallows outside the surf zone. They’re native to Texas and I’ve seen them wash ashore year round, especially after drastic tide changes and storms. The shells are very thin and crunch like fall leaves. Crunched up shells add to the composition of the beach and it’s therapeutic!

#channeledduckclam #Raetaplicatella #citizenscience #clamshell #shells #crunchedshells #beach #nature #outdoors #january #january16 #2025 #picoftheday #project365 #day16

1.17.25

Milkweed Assassin Bug

Zelus longipes

Native to this area.

Observed at the beach on Galveston Island though it’s usually found in gardens and landscapes. It looks a little creepy but if you see one leave it be because it preys on pests like beetles, caterpillars and even mosquitoes. Its bite may hurt due to the salivary secretion it uses to dissolve the tissues of its prey but in a human it’s not serious.

#milkweedassassinbug #Zeluslongipes #citizenscience #truebug #nativespecies #insect #beach #january #january17 #2025 #picoftheday #project365 #day17

1.18.2025

Bur Clover

Medicago polymorpha

Introduced from the Mediterranean Basin and is invasive in Texas.

Observed at Galveston Island State Park at 1.18.25. It’s usually found in moist open habitats. This was taken in the middle of a trail at the park directly behind the dunes.

Is considered a pest due to the burs and can be toxic to livestock.

#burclover #Medicagopolymorpha #citizenscience #invasivespecies #nature #outdoors #january #january18 #2025 #picoftheday #project365 #day18

1.19.25

African Cotton Leafworm Moth

Spodoptera littoralis

My app actually identified this as an oriental leafworm moth, but under the description of that particular moth it hasn’t really made its way over to the US whereas the African cotton leafworm moth has, and the only way to tell the difference between the two is looking at its genitalia and I can tell you I did not do that. 🤣

Both species are considered pests and can devastate crops so different methods of control have been created.

Observed at Galveston Island State Park 1.19.25.

#africancottonleafwormmoth #Spodopteralittoralis #citizenscience #moth #insect #invasive #january #january19 #2025 #picoftheday #project365 #day19

1.20.25

American Coot

Fulica americana

Observed at home on Galveston Island on 1.20.25. The are common and native to North America. They live in Texas year round.

They are not ducks even though they look like them. Instead of webbed feet they have broad, loved scales on their toes and legs.

A group of coots is called a raft.

Fun fact, they usually build floating nests and lay 8-10 eggs per clutch!

#americancoot #Fulicaamericana #citizenscience #birds #bayou #nativespecies #outdoors #nature #january #january20 #2025 #picoftheday #project365

1.21.25

Least Sandpiper

Calidris minutilla

We weren’t the only ones out today! Observed at Galveston Island State Park on a snowy 1.21.25! Even saw them catch a couple fish!

These little guys are the smallest of the shore birds. They winter here on the coast and migrate north to breed. The females will leave early so the babies will feed themselves and are ready to fly in 2 weeks from hatching!

They will probe the muddy shores for invertebrates (and sometimes small fish…though I didn’t actually witness them eating the fish).

#leastsandpiper #Calidrisminutilla #citizenscience #snowday #marsh #shorebirds #native #nature #outdoors #january #january21 #2025 #picoftheday #project365 #day21

[patternseekers]

https://fyfluiddynamics.com/2024/02/mosquito-egg-raft/

[screenshots123]

📆 12 Oct 2023 📰 West Nile virus in Alberta forecasting maps still on hold after COVID pause

Alberta Health Services has reported nine confirmed cases of West Nile virus this year, including two in Edmonton. Until recently, northern parts of the province were protected from the Culex mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus by its moderate climate. Now they are here and have quickly become entrenched.

"In 2020, we verified that (Culex pipiens) had showed up in Edmonton," said Mike Jenkins, pest management coordinator with the City of Edmonton.

"Almost as soon as it showed up, it suddenly became well-established in all of the environments around the city, and are well-represented in our mosquito population dynamics," he said.

Researchers predicted that climate change would cause a range expansion for the disease-vector mosquitoes, and the prairie provinces might see this shift between 2020 and 2080. Jenkins said he was surprised to find the Culex pipiens "at the earliest dates from those climate models."

"We were kind of expecting that they were going to show up. And so we were looking for them. But we didn't really expect them to show up that quickly or become as established as they have been," he said.

Unlike many other mosquitoes in the region, Culex pipiens take advantage of container habitats like old tires, bird baths, eaves troughs, or storm drains and "lay a raft of eggs on the surface of the water, which hatch almost immediately, and start their development there," Jenkins said.

These environments are much more difficult to treat than the sloughs and ponds where other species lay their eggs, and the city is exploring different mosquito control products better suited to the resilient pipiens.

[bugoutpest]

Power Pest Control Redcliffe

Termites

Termites are destructive wood-eating eusocial insects that occupy and damage homes, offices, and other structures. They can chew through a building’s framing and cause costly structural damage.

Termite colonies can contain thousands or millions of individuals. They are governed by a caste system that includes reproductives, workers, soldiers, and nymphs. Several species are known to infest buildings and other structures. These include dampwood and drywood termites. To know more about Power Pest Control Redcliffe, visit the Bug Out Pest Solutions website or call 0426263320.

Crazy ants are attracted to outlets and electrical components and can cause them to malfunction. They release alarm pheromones when electrocuted and summon other ants to help. When enough ants touch the live wires, they will get shocked and could shut off your air conditioner or short out appliances.

Spray an equal mixture of water and vinegar on ant trails to erase their pheromone scents.

Cockroaches carry germs and trigger allergies in some people. They also shed bits of their skin, which can cause asthma symptoms when inhaled. It’s important to limit their hiding places by sealing cracks, crevices and gaps.

Outdoors, cockroaches live in damp locations such as garages and basements, wood piles, drains and water meter boxes. Indoors, they hide in cupboard cracks and under appliances.

Bed bugs, once a worldwide problem, have made a comeback. They infest homes, apartment buildings, hotels, dormitories and shelters, mainly because people unknowingly bring them home on clothing and luggage.

Adults and nymphs are wingless and flat, allowing them to fit in crevices where they hide by day. Their bodies elongate after feeding. Infestations are often identified by dark spots of dried excrement and by a foul, rotting smell.

Although wasps have a bad reputation for their painful stings, they play a crucial role in ecosystems. They help with pest control and nutrient cycling. However, they can become a nuisance when they build nests in people’s backyards.

When a wasp’s nest is disturbed, it will defend itself by stinging intruders. To reduce the risk of getting stung, remove the nest during the night when they are less active.

Mosquitoes are slender, segmented flies that belong to the family Culicidae. They have one pair of wings, halteres and three pairs of long legs. They also have elongated mouthparts.

Mosquitoes lay their eggs in standing water. This includes water features, bird baths and buckets, flower pot saucers, or low patches in your lawn that collect rainwater. Eggs of Anopheles and Culex are laid on the water surface in raft-like clusters.

Fleas thrive in hot and humid climates. They are most active in sheltered animal enclosures, crawl spaces where feral animals may sleep, and vegetated areas adjacent to buildings.

Their laterally compressed bodies allow them to move swiftly through the hairs or feathers of their hosts. They can also attach themselves to clothing, shoes, blankets and pet fur. Their mouthparts are modified for sucking blood.

Ticks are a serious problem for people who live in wooded or brushy areas and like to spend time outdoors. These arachnids transmit a number of serious diseases that cause symptoms such as fever or chills, body aches and headache, and rashes.

Ticks are more difficult to repel than mosquitoes, but rodent-targeted approaches and deer fencing can provide effective protection for residential properties. Also, new plant compounds with acaricidal effects are being explored.

The bee is a winged insect that feeds on flower pollen and nectar. Its branched body hairs help it recognize the smell of flowers.

Bees use the bristles on their hind legs to comb through the anther cells of flower petals to collect pollen grains. Then, when the bee lands on another flower, it transfers the pollen to the fertilized pistils.

Pesticides can disrupt hives and cause long-term damage to wildflowers and other flowering plants. To prevent drift, do not spray near puddles where pollinators may drink.

Wasps have some of the most interesting and complex life cycles. These hard-working insects build nests to house their colonies.

Observe their flight paths and look for the rounded, grayish-brown nests that they construct. These can be found in sheltered spots such as roof spaces, wall cavities, bird boxes under eaves and sheds.

Care should be taken when spraying a wasp nest, particularly if the homeowner has an allergy to the stings. A professional pest control company can assist with safely removing wasp nests from your property. To know more about Power Pest Control Redcliffe, visit the Bug Out Pest Solutions website or call 0426263320.

[hatehatrekho]

Mosquito Life Cycle

The life cycle of a mosquito typically consists of four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. This life cycle is known as complete metamorphosis. Let’s go through each stage: EGG: The life cycle begins when a female mosquito lays her eggs in or near stagnant water. Mosquito eggs are usually laid in clusters called rafts, which float on the water’s surface. The eggs are very small and can be…

[drhoz]

#1455 - Fam. Hydrophilidae- Water Scavenger Beetle

A fairly sizable insect larva I found in a puddle at the Alison Baird Flora Reserve, as the lower-lying areas were filling up with ground water last year.

Water Scavenger Beetles range in size from 1mm to over 50, and may be found in water films, water-filled cavities in plants, waterways, lakes, and ponds, or even terrestrially or in decaying matter, depending on subfamily and species. 

Most Hydrophilid larvae are voracious aquatic predators, despite the common name of the family, and some are predators of mosquito larvae, while others specialise in snails. They do their digestion externally, and since most genera lack channeled jaws they have to lift prey out of the water to feed.  Some larvae respire through the cuticle, or via tracheal gills. In other species the last spiracles open into a respiratory cavity which is closed when submerged.

Adults, on the other hand breath via a very small air store under the elytra where the spiracles open. This air store connects with an air film covering a large area of the beetle’s underside, which acts as a compressible gill held in place by water-repellent hairs. For gas exchange, the beetles break the water surface film with their short, clubbed, water-repellent antennae, forming a channel between the atmosphere and the air store. Unlike other water beetles, Hydrophilids are generally not very good swimmers, and like their young, clamber over submerged vegetation.

Adults are frequently attracted to lights when flying at night, and many can produce sound, either in reproductive displays or when disturbed. Females produce silk cocoons or cases that contain the eggs, with some species carrying the cases under the abdomen, and others building free-floating rafts.

Water Grove, Perth

[wovav]

The Odonata

Within minutes of settling an old cast-iron tub into our perennial border and filling it with water, we were watching the aerial antics of several dragonflies as they swooped and darted about the garden. Intended to accommodate a few aquatic plants and provide water for wildlife, the new garden feature was clearly also going to provide plenty of easily viewed entertainment. We were delighted! Dragonflies are large, heavy-bodied, strong fliers, with wings held flat at rest—the “cargo plane” of the order Odonata. Typically they are about 3 inches long. Closely related damselflies are more fragile-looking and about half as large. They are more accurately likened to helicopters. Slender, weak fliers, they generally hold their gossamer wings over the top of their body when at rest. In both groups, the aquatic larvae (naiads) can live a few weeks to several years overwintering in water. Adults, on the other hand, live only a few weeks (in temperate species), and die in winter.

These fascinating creatures are an ancient lineage of insects, not much changed since the time of dinosaurs. The main difference is size; fossil dragonflies with wing spans of over two feet have been found! Although they have powerful, serrated jaws (“mandibles”), dragonflies do not bite people unless roughly handled. With their large compound eyes, they are efficient hunters, both as naiads and adults. If you are lucky, you may one day witness a naiad’s exoskeleton splitting down the back and the magical emergence of a brand-new dragonfly, as its crumpled wings unfold in slow motion. Adults are voracious predators, and will eat just about any flying insect. Flight patterns are usually related to hunting style. Most catch their prey on the wing in a basket formed with their legs. Some dragonflies exhibit “hawking” behavior, relentlessly pursuing prey, while others “sally,” darting out from vegetation, then returning to their perch. Others are “hover-gleaners,” picking insects from vegetation while in flight. Naiads are also predators and often hunt by ambush. Those in my tub are camouflaged with algae, allowing them to sneak up on their prey, when their prehensile lip (labium) shoots forward to snag the hapless victim. While I live fairly close to a large wetland and have undoubtedly lured some of its residents to my yard, many dragonflies will travel a long distance from permanent water to reach a garden water feature. The more delicate damselflies are harder to attract if you are far from water. Garden water features can also attract all sorts of other aquatic insects. I have observed back-swimmers, creeping water bugs, and water striders in mine. Kneeling next to my backyard tub, I always have an amusing circus to observe. If you want to install a garden water feature, here are a few tips. Create one that varies in depth; if you cannot put in a side shelf, just elevate some potted water-loving plants (on overturned pots, rocks, bricks, or cinder blocks). Include a variety of water plants, avoiding those that are invasive in your region. Emergent vegetation such as rushes and sedges provide convenient perching places for adults as well as a safe spot for naiads to molt. A few flat rocks near the edge offer basking spots, not to mention access to the water for bees and other insects and wildlife. Just remember that if you want frogs, you should empty your garden pond annually in fall to discourage hungry dragonfly naiads from decimating the tadpole population. One concern you will have is mosquitoes, which lay individual or tiny “rafts” of eggs in the water, which soon hatch larvae. Odonata naiads dine on the larvae, but may not be able to exert sufficient control. One solution is the addition of a splashing fountain, which disturbs the water’s surface enough to discourage mosquitoes from depositing their eggs but all ows other aquatic insects such as dragonflies to lay theirs. Another solution, which works for me, is to regularly add Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis) to my pond. This bacteria kills only mosquito larvae. It comes in “donuts” or granules, with instructions on when and how to add it to your water garden; follow these carefully.

[thesafepesticide]

Mosquitoes Mosquitoes are familiar flying insects once considered as little more than nuisances. Known for their itch-provoking bites, mosquitoes are now associated with bite-transmitted pathogens that cause serious diseases, including viruses such as West Nile and Zika. Bites from common native mosquitoes and exotic mosquito species may put humans, pets, and large animals at risk.

Mosquito Identification:

Adult mosquitoes are slender, clear-winged insects that typically measure about 1/4 inch long. Sometimes confused with larger, non-biting crane flies, adult mosquitoes have long, needle-like mouthparts that puncture the skin and suck blood. Common native mosquitoes are generally brown, but exotic mosquitoes often have distinctive black and white markings. Mosquito larvae, which mature in standing water, look like tiny caterpillars suspended from the water's surface by their rear tip.

Signs/Damage: 

Mosquito eggs are sure signs of impending mosquito problems. Some common mosquitoes lay clusters of whitish-brown eggs that float like rafts in standing water. Exotic mosquitoes may lay individual eggs right above the waterline; the eggs quickly turn shiny black. Hatched larvae are easily seen at and below the water surface on close inspection.

Controlling Mosquitoes:

Effective mosquito control requires an integrated approach that eliminates potential breeding sites, treats mosquito larvae to prevent adults, and controls adult mosquitoes. Mosquito eggs and larvae must have water to hatch and mature. Anything that holds water — even as small as a bottle cap — can become a mosquito breeding ground. Successful mosquito management starts by eliminating any unnecessary water-holding sites around your home. This includes outdoor watering cans, plant saucers, clogged rain gutters, pet bowls, and children's toys left outdoors—repair leaky faucets and any low-lying areas that stay overly moist from irrigation. Survey your property regularly and dump excess water from holding sites. Prevent mosquito larvae from becoming flying, biting adults by treating remaining water sites and desirable water features, such as ornamental ponds, rain barrels or bird baths. We offers two highly effective larvicides that prevent mosquito larvae from becoming adults. These products can be used around people, pets, birds and aquatic life:

AMDRO Quick Kill®++ Mosquito Pellets are ideal for shallow standing water sites, such as planters, saucers and bird baths. These simple-to-use, easy-measure granules prevent adult mosquitoes for up to 30 days.

AMDRO Quick Kill®++ Mosquito Bombs suit larger bodies of water, such as rain barrels, ponds or large fountains. The simple-to-use discs prevent mosquito larvae from developing into adults for up to 60 days.

The AMDRO® line also offers two premium adulticide products designed to kill adult mosquitoes and help you avoid their bites. These products treat lawns and landscapes, as well as home foundations up to a maximum height of 3 feet:

AMDRO Quick Kill® Mosquito Fogger sprays up to 15 feet to kill adult mosquitoes by contact. It's perfect for treating outdoor entertainment areas, such as patios, balconies, and decks.

AMDRO Quick Kill® Mosquito Yard Spray starts killing mosquitoes within minutes to provide same-day control for lawns, gardens and other outdoor living spaces. The ready-to-spray container attaches to a regular garden hose and measures and mixes automatically as you spray.

Tip: Common mosquitoes typically bite from dusk to dawn, but exotic mosquitoes are daytime biters. During mosquito season, use personal mosquito repellents whenever you and your family enjoy outdoor activities. Read More: https://thesafepesticide.com/mosquitoes/?feed_id=449&_unique_id=611264e2c5717

[newstfionline]

The health consequences to expect from Hurricane Harvey’s floods

By Ben Guarino, Washington Post, August 29, 2017

The flooding from Hurricane Harvey, which has wreaked havoc in Texas, is both catastrophic and historic. The reported death toll rose to at least nine Monday, and officials were projecting that as many as 30,000 people will ultimately be evacuated from flooded homes in Houston and other cities and towns in the state.

Though the storm will pass and waters eventually recede, the danger from floodwaters will linger. “I distill it down to short term, long term and big picture,” said Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Houston’s Baylor College of Medicine.

Short term: floodwater injuries. The majority of people who die during floods drown: About 75 percent of the fatalities are drownings, per the World Health Organization. Two feet of rapid floodwater will sweep away an SUV. Just six inches of water, if it moves quickly enough, can knock over an adult, according to the National Weather Service.

“People don’t understand that rushing water is very dangerous,” Julia Becker, a social scientist who studies natural disasters, told Hakai Magazine in 2015. “They might know floods are kind of risky, but they don’t understand what the real consequences are.”

In 2015, Becker and her colleagues published a literature review of behavior during floods. They concluded that people repeatedly underestimated floods. “Flood tourists” traveled to submerged areas to sightsee. Others voluntarily entered the floodwaters to play. Between 1997 and 2008, 1 in every 4 flood deaths in Australia involved swimming, surfing, “acting on a wager” or some other form of recreation or risky behavior.

Even water that appears calm may be unsafe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns against wading in floodwater, due to the sharp metal bits or glass shards that may lurk below.

Floodwaters can also draw out unwelcome wild animals. Images of stinging fire ants clumped together as large floating rafts set social media abuzz on Monday. Snakes, too, are a concern. “Storm activity definitely increases the potential for snakebite as the snakes get flooded out and seek higher ground,” said Bryan G. Fry, a venomous snake expert at the University of Queensland in Australia. (But there are no sharks in Houston. One widely shared image, of a great white swimming in a flooded road, is a doctored picture.)

Short term: infectious disease. A flood contains more than rain. Sewage systems spill their guts. And the water can dredge up things more disturbing, if less infectious, than human waste. In New Orleans in 2005, the flooding from Hurricane Katrina exhumed corpses, sending coffins afloat through neighborhoods.

It is not easy to predict the nasty microbes that will strike. “We don’t have enough epidemiological studies,” Hotez said. But Hurricane Katrina, which hit land at the same time of the year as Harvey, could offer some lessons. Skin infections could follow exposure to MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus bacterium, as well as pathogens popularly described as “flesh-eating.” (What about more exotic germs, such as the one that causes cholera? “Certainly the conditions here could promote cholera,” Hotez said, “but you’d have to have somebody infected with cholera coming into the area.”)

Stress jeopardizes immune systems. Katrina unleashed gut diseases triggered by E. coli and a lack of safe food and potable water. Add crowded conditions--officials are preparing a “mega-shelter” in the Dallas Convention Center to house 5,000 people--and evacuees are at higher risk of getting sick, Hotez said. During Katrina, there were respiratory infections among people in shelters, including an apparent uptick in tuberculosis.

Short term: heat. Hayden, in a forthcoming paper about Houston’s capacity to withstand extreme heat, noted that power outages often follow hurricanes. About 3 million people in eight states were left without power after Hurricane Ike in 2008, and the power grid took 16 days to restore. A lack of power means a lack of air conditioning or other ways to keep cool, further stressing people and putting those with health issues at greater risk given the calendar. Houston’s average high in September is the low 90s for much of the month.

Short and long term: mosquitoes. Based on the experience following Hurricane Katrina, there will be several competing effects on the population of mosquitoes and the prevalence of arboviruses, such as Zika, dengue and West Nile, that they transmit.

Mosquitoes need stagnant water to lay eggs. Winds and floods will wash away containers that would have been breeding pools, said Mary Hayden, who studies vector-borne disease at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. In the immediate future, both Hayden and Hotez anticipate that local mosquito populations will decline.

But once the floodwaters recede, mosquitoes will recover. In 2006, a year after Katrina, Tulane University public-health experts reported that cases of West Nile infection increased more than twofold in communities that had been in that hurricane’s path. The study authors suggested that increased exposure was the culprit. Fleeing partially submerged buildings, people spent days outside waiting for rescue.

Without air conditioning or dry spaces, Texans may find themselves outdoors, too. “There’s going to be a need for insect repellent down there,” Hayden said.

Long term: mental health. Hurricanes can damage mental health in long-term ways, Nature reported in 2015. A year after Hurricane Katrina, residents reported an increase in suicidal thoughts, increasing from 2 percent to 6 percent among the 815 people studied. Post-traumatic stress disorder and depression also worsened.

Long term: mold. Mold is another hurricane holdover. Hayden, who assessed damage in Galveston after Hurricane Ike, said evacuees may not realize they could spend two or three weeks away from home. In a waterlogged, overheated home, mold can run rampant in that time.

The Washington Post reported that two months after Hurricane Katrina, CDC investigators found mold in the walls of half of 112 water-damaged homes. The worst symptoms from routine mold exposure--some amount of mold is in the air we breathe every day--are typically allergic reactions and are hardly ever fatal. Post-Katrina mold, however, was implicated in the deaths of four Southern University at New Orleans professors--all of whom worked in the same storm-damaged building. All died within a few months of one another.

The economic impact of mold and water damage also can be severe. “That’s a whole consequence that people really don’t consider,” Hayden said. “It’s devastating on all levels.”

Big picture: preparedness planning. What comes into focus from disasters such as Harvey is a lack of disaster preparedness compared with pandemics such as the flu, according to Hotez. “We don’t realize that the Gulf Coast is America’s vulnerable underbelly of infectious disease,” he said, referring to a paper he wrote in 2014. The hot and humid region combines high levels of poverty with major transportation hubs, with problems exacerbated by the effects of climate change.

“All of those forces,” he explained Monday, “combine to make the Gulf Coast especially susceptible to infectious and tropical disease.”

[missoulapestcontrol]

Mosquitoes (Culicidae)

In Western Montana, specifically around our lake and riverside communities, mosquitoes are thriving. Many travel to Seeley Lake and Flathead Lake for the fishing opportunities but find themselves learning just as much about local mosquito populations as they are native fish species. Those planning on a rafting excursion or relaxing float down the Blackfoot, Bitterroot or Clark Fork River prepare for the day by packing sunscreen but later realize they should’ve also packed bug spray!

Mosquitoes are the most deadly biting creatures on earth. Their bite sucks out blood while applying a chemical that prevents the blood from clotting. This process often leaves a virus, parasite, or in the best case situation an uncomfortable and itchy bite. Mosquitoes need very little water to breed and are experts at finding undisturbed water pockets. Everyday items such as dog bowls, swing sets, and trash cans provide enough water for mosquitoes to lay their eggs. They can transmit West Nile Virus, Encephalitis, and many other diseases.

If you encounter mosquitoes, you should apply a good non-DEET mosquito repellent. DEET products work well at full strength, however as they weaken, they can actually attract mosquitoes. You find yourself applying more of the product which means you are absorbing more of the chemicals into your system. Most non-DEET products (cedar oil, catnip, citronella, and lemongrass) are just as effective. If they need to be reapplied, they do not contain potentially harmful chemicals, nor do they attract other insects.

Mosquitoes can become overwhelming if nearby stagnant water is ignored. They can also be concerning when you consider the diseases they transmit and the general irritation they cause. Interested in being worry free during the Spring and Summer seasons? Check out these helpful tips to minimize mosquito populations near you:

•   Remove all standing or stagnant water if at all possible.

•   Remove old tires, barrels, cans, wading pools that aren’t being used, bird baths and other items that may hold water.

•   Apply a light coating of food-grade diatomaceous earth on any water that can’t be removed.

•   Eucalyptus oils, garlic extracts and extracts of orange and lemon peels will kill mosquito larvae in the water.

If you have adult mosquitoes in your grass or bushes, you can spray them with Anura Organic Insect Control by mixing 4 oz per gallon of water.

•   Catnip is a good repellent according to a report from Iowa State University.

•   Other good repellents include lemongrass, basil, birch, mint, rosemary, spearmint and yarrow.

•   Geraniums or basil plants near your doors will repel mosquitoes.

If you have any questions, please contact HoldFast Enviro Pest Solutions @ (406) 203-2615 or contact us on our website: http://www.holdfastpestsolutions.com/

[cycreekpest]

Common Pest During Hurricane & Alluring Conditions for Bugs During Hurricane

Hurricane or storm carries with it plenty of issues for the individuals who live in the US. Carrying with them perilous breezes, downpour, and flooding, tropical storms can show up absent much by way of caution and leave critical measures of harm afterward. Not only that, yet storms can leave your property infested with different kinds of pests during the hurricane. 

Alluring Conditions for Bugs after Tropical storms 

When a storm has passed, much work should be done. Evaluating which harm ought to be fixed quickly and which can hold up ought to incorporate issues identified with wellbeing just as to bug control. Here are a few circumstances bugs may discover engaging after a tropical storm: 

Standing Water and Dampness 

One of the most appealing conditions for most pests is the presence of standing water and high dampness. Mosquitoes, centipedes, slugs, snails, and different critters flourish with the climate soon after it has come down. Flooding afterward of storms can frequently migrate certain bugs, for example, rodents or ants, directly into the region of your home or place of business regardless of whether you've never had an issue with them. 

Damage of Structures 

Solid winds can hurl garbage about, making considerable damage to structures. Openings in entryways and windows, rooftop damage, holes in siding, and water-logged structures go about as guides drawing in critters. Following an extreme storm, for example, a hurricane, nuisances will be looking for a warm, dry spot to settle, and even small gaps can permit rodents and other irritating animals to sneak into your home. 

Garbage: 

Garbage and rubbish, wet from the downpour, might be tossed about during a tropical storm. Although it may not appear as though it ought to be at the top of your need list, tidying up arbitrary garbage and trash on your property is basic to shielding pests from looking for a protected harbor close to your home. 

Pests Love Food Sources: 

Hurricanes can uncover food sources that nuisances may discover appealing, including food that has been left opened or unintentionally permitted to spoil. These types of food sources will directly invite pests like disease-ridden flies, worms, and cockroaches to your property. 

Which Bugs are Regular After a Tropical storm? 

Understanding which bugs flourish after a Hurricane will assist you with keeping watch for them. Here are probably the most common bugs discovered after a storm: 

Mice and rodents: Due to brilliant swimming aptitudes, permitting them to effortlessly move during a hurricane that produces flooding. 

Fire ants: These pests can shape a living raft that keeps them above and afloat water during the wet climate. They can float for as long as about fourteen days until land shows up again when they'll search for another home in yards and structures. 

Mosquitoes: These tiny pests are continually scanning for standing water, which is regularly in amply supply after a colossal storm. Since females can lay up to 100 eggs one after another and they develop into grown-ups inside two weeks, their populaces keep on developing after a hurricane. 

Cockroaches: These love wet, dull conditions, breed rapidly, and will eat nearly anything. The disarray following a hurricane goes about as an ideal situation for these roaches.

As a leading Houston Pest Control agency in Texas states, we suggest you hire experts near you if any kind of pest infested and invaded excessively during the hurricane.

[bookpiofficial]

Sticky BR-OVT: A Trap to Collect Culicids Eggs and Adult Mosquitoes | Chapter 8 | Current Trends in Disease and Health Vol. 3

Introduction: Culex quinquefasciatus is a mosquito of importance to public health, as it represents a potential risk for the transmission of pathogens to humans, such as some arthropod-borne viruses and nematodes that cause filariasis. In Brazil, three municipalities in Pernambuco (state of Northeast of Brazil) that are endemic for lymphatic filariasis conducted control actions targeting this vector. With the aim of contributing novel C. quinquefasciatus collection strategies, a sticky trap capable of collecting eggs and imprisoning mosquitoes was investigated.

Methods: We adapted the oviposition BR-OVT trap to collect culicids eggs and adult C. quinquefasciatus and evaluated the performance of the sticky BR-OVT trap in two neighborhoods of Olinda-PE-Brazil (Caixa d’Água and Passarinho) between August 2011 and June 2012. Sixty traps were installed in the indoor areas of residences in the two districts.

Results: During the 11-month study, more than 100 Culex egg rafts, 1,430 C. quinquefasciatus. Additionally, 363 Aedes mosquitoes were caught by sticky BR-OVT traps. In these collections, female specimens were predominated in the traps: 59% of C. quinquefasciatus and 96% of Aedes spp. Conclusions: The results demonstrated that the sticky BR-OVT trap is a useful tool for the collection of adult culicids of medical importance and offers an innovative way to collect C. quinquefasciatus eggs and adults in a single trap.

 Author(s) Details

Morgana do Nascimento Xavier Instituto Aggeu Magalhães, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, s/n - Cidade Universitária, Recife - PE, 50670-420, Brasil.

 Eloína Maria de Mendonça Santos Departamento de Entomologia, Instituto Aggeu Magalhães, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, s/n - Cidade Universitária, Recife - PE, 50670-420,Brasil.

 Ana Paula Alves da Silva Unidade Acadêmica de Serra Talhada, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Av. Gregório Ferraz Nogueira, s/n, Serra Talhada - PE, Brasil.

 View Book - http://bp.bookpi.org/index.php/bpi/catalog/book/148

[floraexplorer]

A Guide to Misahualli, Ecuador’s Gateway to the Amazon

Welcome to the tiny Amazon town of Misahualli, Ecuador.

Nestled in the Oriente region in eastern Ecuador, the tiny town of Misahaulli (pronounced miss-a-WHY-eee) sits between two major rivers, the Rio Napo and the Rio Misahualli, amidst a lush green landscape. Although it’s a sleepy place nowadays, Misahualli was once a bustling port for travellers and tourists arriving by boat from Coca – a transit route which eventually dried up after the construction of a new road.

But why was this tiny town so popular? It’s because Misahualli is also right on the edge of the Amazon jungle – otherwise known as the biggest rainforest on the planet.

For backpackers travelling through South America, spending some time exploring the Amazon is usually high on the list. This stunning rainforest stretches across nine countries and while there are dozens of points of entry, the most obvious destinations are Manaus in Brazil, Rurrenabaque in Bolivia and Iquitos in Peru (the world’s largest city which is totally unreachable by road!)

But for budget travellers who are keen to see a quieter, less frenzied and ultimately less touristic side to the Amazon, I’d suggest paying a visit to Misahualli, Ecuador.

The day before arriving in Misahualli, we’d taken a four hour bus ride from Baños (cost: $6) through stunning mountain landscapes to Tena, the province’s capital city. We’d planned to spend a few nights at the Hostal Pakay in Tena while we did our Amazon jungle research, but that evening we were approached by a local guide named Juan who explained his tours to us – and we were immediately sold, agreeing to meet him in Misahualli the following afternoon.

I knew the Amazon was going to be a different style of travel. But it didn’t properly dawn on me until we discovered a huge tarantula scuttling around our dorm room at Hostal Pakay – and had to call for the owner who chased it between the mosquito-netted beds in his underwear, wielding a machete.

Exploring the Amazon is not your everyday travelling experience. It’s literally a jungle out there.

So what exactly is there to do in Misahualli?

In this part of the world you can spot wild animals, trek through humid jungle, gaze up at thousand-year-old trees, splash around in river water, and (best of all in my opinion) spend time with the locals who call the Ecuadorian Amazon their home.

Humans and animals alike.

In this article, I’ve written about thirteen of the best things to do in Misahualli, Ecuador. My best suggestion would be to bear all these activities in mind when you’re planning an Amazon tour, and make sure you ask tour operators if these activities are included in their tour packages.

1. Meet the Misahualli monkeys (from a distance)

Misahualli is an hour’s bus ride from Tena (cost: $1). Once we arrived in the town square, we had a few hours to waste before meeting Juan and heading into the jungle so decided to explore the town – and first up was meeting the local monkeys.

Aside from its proximity to the Amazon, Misahualli is probably most famous for the troop of Capuchin monkeys who casually terrorise the town’s main plaza. These guys swing from overhanging branches, chill on rooftops, clamber across the surfaces of parked cars and buses – and their constantly curious nature means plenty of thievery.

If you ask a local Misahualli resident about the monkeys, they’ll smile ruefully and shake their heads. Every day the town square echoes with shrieks from tourists as sunglasses and phones and water bottles are swiftly snatched by little clawed hands, only to disappear into the trees.

It’s hilarious to watch, but a little less amusing when it happens to you. While I was taking photos they grabbed a bag of crisps from the side pocket of my bag and started munching away before I could even blink. Securely stow away all your possessions, and never trust a monkey.

NB: It’s not advised to tease the monkeys, and don’t try to feed them either. They may look adorable but monkeys can turn aggressive easily, and will bite or scratch if you get too close or annoy them.

2. Visit the butterfly house in Misahualli

Just on the edge of Misahualli village and next door to the local school is the mariposario, or butterfly house. The owner, a local man named Pepe, built an enclosure in his back garden because he loves butterflies and wanted to ensure that the hundreds of species native to this part of Ecuador continue to thrive.

For a $2 entrance fee, Pepe showed us around his butterfly house, explaining how he collects butterfly eggs from his visits into the jungle, then cares for the caterpillars and pupae before finally releasing them into the enclosure.

There are little habitats showing the different stages of a butterfly’s life, and a range of different pupae/chrysalises – including some stunning gold-like chrysalises, which apparently help to ward off predators: reflecting sunlight gives the impression of a water droplet instead of a chrysalis).

(This fascinating video shows how a common crow caterpillar transforms into a golden chrysalis. Not for the squeamish!) 

Pepe also collects all manner of different insect species from Misahualli plaza to prevent them from being eaten by the monkeys. They get stunned by the bright electric lights, allowing him to grab them and transport them home!

As we wandered through the enclosure, it was clear that Pepe was passionate about butterflies. He’s set up little feeding stations and planted all manner of flowers for the butterflies to drink nectar from, and everywhere I looked there were fluttering wings and flashes of shimmering colour.

3. Sail down the Rio Napo in a canoe

Once we’d met up with Juan and picked up some supplies for our stay in the jungle, he drove us in his jeep to the river’s edge. There we boarded a motorised canoe and set off into the Amazon.

Sailing down the river in a canoe is a wonderfully gentle way to experience life on the water. Despite being motorised, the boat is quiet enough to let you notice the sounds of the jungle around you: clicking insects, birds calling, the occasional splash of the waves against the canoe’s hull.

But be forewarned – while river-borne, your shoes may be stored in amongst a basket of green bananas, freshly harvested yuca and some giant orange cacao pods.

4. Go tubing and swimming in the Napo river

Tena is world-famous for its whitewater rafting opportunities – The World Rafting Championships were even held here in 2005 – and there’s lots of opportunities to go kayaking too.

Unfortunately we didn’t manage to sample either of these adventurous water sports, but we did spend a somewhat rainy afternoon tubing on the river, which was more enjoyable than the glum faces below would have you believe!

Alternatively, swimming in the river is just as enjoyable: the temperatures in the Amazon are humid and sticky, so it’s a relief to wash off in the cool water.

It’s particularly lovely at sunset – just watch out for the piranhas (which we didn’t see) and the water snakes (which we did. Cue plenty of screaming..!)

5. Explore the Amazon jungle on foot

Most people visit Misahualli or the neighbouring city of Tena because of their close proximity to the Amazon rainforest, and there are plenty of companies offering guided Amazon tours in both places. In fact, tour costs are kept relatively low here because of all the competition, making it a good choice if you’re on a budget.

On our wanders through the jungle with Juan as our guide, we began to understand what makes the Amazon so special. Pushing our way through dense jungle vegetation, dodging the creeping vines and taking care not to trip over exposed roots twisting along the ground, I felt like I was in a completely different world.

And then, out of nowhere, we would crest a hill and suddenly see the Napo river through an opening in the trees.

We were quickly sucked back into the jungle again, soaking up the green, until Juan stopped us.

“There, look!” He pointed up into the canopy, and we realised that the tangled roots we stood beside actually belonged to a giant tree purported to be a thousand years old.

6. Learn about medicinal jungle plants

The Amazon is filled with medicinal plants which many Ecuadorians swear by – and Juan was no exception. Throughout our walk he picked herbs, flowers and jungle leaves, explaining their significance to us before depositing them in his backpack.

When we passed a tree covered in hatch marks from a machete, Juan explained that this was the cruz caspi, a tree whose bark is stewed up and the resulting liquid drunk by local people to help them conceive.

Later, Juan heard one of our friends coughing and immediately stopped so he could give her some medicine. Deftly folding up a large leaf, Juan mixed together a thin paste of San Juanito tree bark and water, then poured the concoction up the nose of its cautious recipient. She coughed and spluttered but he said it would clear her cold right up!

Read more: my surreal experience of taking part in an ayahuasca ceremony

7. Experiment with natural jungle face paint

You’ll often see images of indigenous tribes in the Amazon with bright red and orange designs on their face – but where does their face paint actually come from?

Juan showed us a handful of spiny red seeds. “This is our natural paint,” he told us, squeezing open the seed’s casing between his fingers to reveal a cluster of red powdery pods inside. These are seeds from the native achiote tree, also known as annatto, and they’re used for a multitude of purposes: hair dye, lipstick, even food colouring (it doesn’t add any flavour, but it gives a reddish hue).

Using a wooden stick to mix the seed pod’s contents, Juan began to draw delicate designs on my outstretched hand – and soon we were smudging our fingers into numerous achiote seeds and painting our faces.

8. Visit the AmaZOOnico Animal Rescue Center

Upriver is the AmaZOOnico Animal Rescue Center, an animal sanctuary run predominantly by volunteers. They follow a program of rescue, rehabilitation and release, with a goal to help every animal that comes through their doors to go back into the wild, and staff on duty during our visit assured us that all the animals had been rescued from previous owners who’d mistreated them.

Unfortunately, I’ve been to enough zoos on my travels and seen enough animals looking unhappy in their cages to find it unpleasant visiting a place like this. I didn’t know beforehand that we’d be visiting the Rescue Center, or I would have refused to go.

I’ve since researched the center online and sources maintain that the ethos is to rehabilitate all animals, but it’s still sad to see them behind bars – so if you don’t feel comfortable seeing animals in cages then I’d avoid visiting.

Read more: Ethical mistakes I’ve made while travelling

9. Pick yourselves some pineapples

As you might expect, Ecuador’s Amazon is a fertile and lucrative place. But the most surprising thing I saw growing here was pineapple. Mainly because I had absolutely no idea that this fruit grows on a bush.

Over 116,000 tons of pineapple are grown in Ecuador each year, with plenty coming from the Amazon. We paid a visit to Juan’s neighbour, an elderly farmer called Don Jaime who runs a pineapple plantation and was even kind enough to give us a few pineapples for breakfast the next day.

10. Help to harvest the yuca plant

Yuca (or cassava) is an extremely common food in South America and is a staple of many Ecuadorian dishes: chopped up and added to soups, served as an alternative to potato, or ground up into flour and baked into things like pan de yuca, a deliciously dense little cheesy bun which I ate in abundance while living in Cuenca, Ecuador.

Juan took us to visit his family home, where we met his mother harvesting a crop of yuca. Although the guided tours bring in the bulk of their income, Juan’s family still farms plenty of different produce including yuca, mango, banana, cacao and plantain. They harvest at different points throughout the year and sell straight to the consumer at local markets.

Read more: Modern life in the Ecuador Amazon jungle

11. Learn how to cook chocolate with fresh cacao

Ecuador is one of the world’s top ten producers of cacao, and many Amazon tours will offer a visit to a cacao farm.

Under a canopy at their wooden stilted house, Juan’s mother showed us how to make chocolate from roasted cacao beans. The first step was to grind them into a fine powder using a hand grinder, then she set them in a metal pan on top of the fire and added water.

We took turns stirring the mixture as it gradually took on a thick and silky consistency – and once she deemed it to be ready, we dipped chunks of fresh banana into the hot chocolate.

I half expected it to be bitter and strong, but it was delicious!

12. Have a sleepover in the jungle

Many Amazon jungle tours are offered just in the daylight hours, but it’s also possible to spend the night in an eco-lodge. Juan’s place was close to the riverbank in a little clearing surrounded by tall trees.

After you’ve spent the day exploring the jungle, your activities become wonderfully restricted.

We shunned the idea of internet access in favour of playing cards, lazing in hammocks, staring up at the stars and gossiping in our little dorm room while the insects chirped outside.

13. Go on a night walk in the Amazon jungle

Of course, being in the middle of the jungle late at night is an opportunity you shouldn’t pass up. Once it was properly dark outside, Juan gathered us together, told us to don our head torches, and we set out into the night.

The nocturnal side of the Amazon is fascinating. Animals which hide away from predators during the day are suddenly out and about: copulating grasshoppers, steadily crawling caterpillars, giant moths, very nimble spiders, and teeny tiny frogs.

Because it’s so hard to see, our ears became much more attuned to the sounds of the rainforest. All around us there was a cacophony of nocturnal noise: the constant buzzing of cicadas, the clicks and croaks of tree frogs, the chirping of geckos, and a whole host of other sounds, most likely mating calls, courtship rituals and attempts to mark out territory.

Juan led us through the deep darkness towards the places he knew various creatures were hiding. He spotted a morpho butterfly and carefully picked it up to show us – just one of the beautiful and unexpected sights amongst the pitch black of this other, haunting world.

What do you need for a visit to Misahualli?

To prepare for a trip to the Amazon rainforest, you should think about packing loose, thin clothing for the humidity – but to protect against mosquitos and spiky or itchy vegetation you’ll also need long sleeved tops and long trousers.

The Amazon’s weather is prone to frequent tropical rains, warranting the use of waterproofs – but that humidity means you’ll sweat. A LOT. Bring a complete spare set of dry clothes to change into after a day of exploring.

If you’re already travelling with hiking boots then bring them, but don’t worry if not as most tour operators will lend you a pair of rainboots. Just make sure they fit properly by walking a few hundred metres in them first!

Here’s a good Amazon packing checklist to follow:

head torch or electric torch

sunhat

mosquito repellent

clothes which cover your legs and arms

spare dry clothes

swimwear

waterproof raingear, usually a jacket or poncho and trousers (although you may not wear the latter due to the heat!)

flipflops/sandals for the evenings

waterproof liner/drybag for your bag (in a pinch just use a rubbish bag)

How to get to Misahualli, Ecuador:

– Tena to Misahualli: catch a bus from the Junmandy bus station in Tena – it takes an hour and costs $1.

– Quito to Misahualli: take a five hour bus to Tena (costs $6) and then take the one hour bus from Tena.

– Baños to Misahualli: take a four hour bus to Tena (cost $6) and take the one hour bus from Tena.

Have you ever explored the Amazon jungle? Pin this article if you’d like to visit Misahualli! 

The post A Guide to Misahualli, Ecuador’s Gateway to the Amazon appeared first on Flora The Explorer.

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[ezatluba]

The Mysteries of Animal Movement

A scientist’s unfettered curiosity leads him to investigate the physics at work in some very odd corners of the natural world.

By James Gorman

Nov. 5, 2018

David Hu was changing his infant son’s diaper when he got the idea for a study that eventually won him the Ig Nobel prize. No, not the Nobel Prize — the Ig Nobel prize, which bills itself as a reward for “achievements that make people laugh, then think.”

As male infants will do, his son urinated all over the front of Dr. Hu’s shirt, for a full 21 seconds. Yes, he counted off the time, because for him curiosity trumps irritation.

That was a long time for a small baby, he thought. How long did it take an adult to empty his bladder? He timed himself. Twenty-three seconds. “Wow, I thought, my son urinates like a real man already.”

He recounts all of this without a trace of embarrassment, in person and in “How to Walk on Water and Climb up Walls: Animal Movements and the Robotics of the Future,” just published, in which he describes both the silliness and profundity of his brand of research.

No one who knows Dr. Hu, 39, would be surprised by this story. His family, friends, the animals around him — all inspire research questions.

His wife, Jia Fan, is a marketing researcher and senior data scientist at U.P.S. When they met, she had a dog, and he became intrigued by how it shook itself dry. So he set out to understand that process.

Now, he and his son and daughter sometimes bring home some sort of dead animal from a walk or a run. The roadkill goes into the freezer, where he used to keep frozen rats for his several snakes. (The legless lizard ate dog food). “My first reaction is not, oh, it’s gross. It’s ‘Do we have space in our freezer,’” Dr. Fan said.

He also saves earwax and teeth from his children, and lice and lice eggs from the inevitable schoolchild hair infestations. “We have separate vials for lice and lice eggs,” he pointed out.

“I would describe him as an iconoclast,” Dr. Fan said, laughing. “He doesn’t follow the social norms.”

Dr. Hu with his 2015 Ig Nobel Prize, for showing that nearly all mammals empty their bladders in 21 seconds.

He does, however, follow in the footsteps of his father, a chemist who also loved collecting dead things. Once, on a family camping trip, his father brought home a road-killed deer that he sneaked into the garage under cover of night.

The butchering, a first time event for everyone in the family, he wrote once in a father’s day essay for his dad, “was an intense learning and sensory experience. There were a lot of organs in an animal, I learned.”

His own curiosity has led him to investigations of eyelashes and fire ants, water striders and horse tails, frog tongues and snakes.

Dr. Hu is a mathematician in the Georgia Tech engineering department who studies animals. His seemingly oddball work has drawn both the ire of grandstanding senators and the full-throated support of at least one person in charge of awarding grants from that bastion of frivolity, the United States Army.

Long before his role in the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing, Senator Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, put three of Dr. Hu’s research projects on a list of the 20 most wasteful federally funded scientific studies. The television show, “Fox and Friends,” featured Sen. Flake’s critique.

Naturally, Dr. Hu made the attack on his work the basis for a TEDx talk at Emory University, in which he took a bow for being “the country’s most wasteful scientist” and went on to argue that Sen. Flake completely misunderstood the nature of basic science.

Dr. Hu was tickled to think that one scientist could be responsible for such supposed squandering of the public’s money. Neither he nor his supporters were deterred.

Among those supporters is Samuel C. Stanton, a program manager at the Army Research Office in Durham, N.C., which funded Dr. Hu’s research on whether fire ants were a fluid or a solid. (More on that and the urination findings later.)

Dr. Stanton does not share Dr. Hu’s flippant irreverence. He speaks earnestly of the areas of science to which he directs Army money, including “nonequilibrium information physics, embodied learning and control, and nonlinear waves and lattices.”

So he is completely serious when he describes Dr. Hu as a scientist of “profound courage and integrity” who “goes where his curiosity leads him.”

Dr. Hu has “an uncanny ability to identify and follow through on scientific questions that are hidden in plain sight,” Dr. Stanton said.

When it comes to physics, the Army and Dr. Hu have a deep affinity. They both operate at human scale in the world outside the lab, where conditions are often wet, muddy or otherwise difficult.

In understanding how physics operates in such conditions, Dr. Stanton explained, “the vagaries of the real world really come to play in an interesting way.”

Besides, Dr. Stanton said, the Army is not, as some people might imagine, always “looking for a widget or something to go on a tank.” It is interested in fundamental insights and original thinkers. And the strictures of the hunt for grants and tenure in science can sometimes act against creativity.

Sometimes, Dr. Stanton said, part of his job is convincing academic scientists “to lower their inhibitions.”

Needless to say, with Dr. Hu that’s not really been an issue.

Dr. Hu has shown that the ideal eyelash length for mammals, like this sheep, is one-third the width of an eyeball.CreditGuillermo Amador

An aspiring doctor is led astray

“Applied mathematicians have always been kind of playful,” Dr. Hu said recently while talking about his academic background — although they are perhaps not quite as playful as he can be. A few years ago he did gymnastic flips onto the stage of a Chinese game show that sometimes showcases scientists.

He grew up in Bethesda, Md., and while he was still in high school, he did his first published work on the strength of metals that had been made porous. He was a semifinalist for the Westinghouse Science Prize (the forerunner of the Regeneron Science Search) and won several other awards.

That work helped him get into M.I.T., which he entered as a pre-med student planning to get an M.D./Ph.D.

He was soon led astray.

Dr. Hu’s undergraduate adviser at M.I.T. was Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan, a mathematician who works to describe real life processes in rigorous mathematical terms.

Dr. Mahadevan, known to students and colleagues as Maha, investigated wrinkling, for example. Naturally he won an Ig Nobel for that work.

“Maha lit the fire,” Dr. Hu said. Before he encountered his adviser’s research, he said, “It didn’t really make sense that you could make a living just playing with things.”

But he came to see the possibilities.

He stayed at M.I.T. for graduate work, in the lab of his adviser, John Bush, a geophysicist. Dr. Bush remembers him as very enthusiastic.

Asked by email about some of Dr. Hu’s wilder forays into the physics of everyday life, he said, “A sense of playfulness is certainly a good thing in science, especially for reaching a broader audience.” But, he said, “targeting silly problems is not a good strategy, and I know that David has taken considerable flack for it.”

Dr. Hu may be the first third-generation (in terms of scientific pedigree) Ig Nobel winner, because Dr. Mahadevan studied under the late Joseph Keller, a mathematician at Stanford University. Dr. Keller won two Ig Nobels. One was for studying why ponytails swing from side-to-side, rather than up and down, when the ponytail owner is jogging. The other was an examination of why teapots dribble.

After M.I.T., Dr. Hu did research at the Courant Institute at New York University, another hotbed of real-world mathematics. He moved to Georgia Tech, after Jeannette Yen, a biologist there, told the university they ought to take a look at him.

From ants to self-assembling robots

Dr. Hu’s research may seem like pure fun, but much of it is built on the idea that how animals move and function can provide inspiration for engineers designing human-made objects or systems.

The title of Dr. Hu’s book refers to the “robots of the future,” and he emphasizes the way animal motion offers insights that can be applied to engineering — Bio-inspired design.

When Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands flood, for instance, fire ants form rafts so tightly interlaced that water doesn’t penetrate their mass. When he picked up such a mass in the lab, Dr. Hu writes, it felt like a pile of salad greens.

“The raft was springy, and if I squeezed it down to a fraction of its height, it recoiled back to its original shape. If I pulled it apart, it stretched like cheese on a pizza.”

He found out that the ants were constantly moving even though the shape of the mass stayed more or less the same. They were breaking and making connections all the time, and they became, in essence, a “self-healing” material.

The idea is appealing for many engineering applications, including concrete that mends itself and robots that self-assemble into large, complex structures. Depending on the force applied to them, a mass of a hundred thousand ants or so can form a ball or a tower, or flow like a liquid.

He and students in his lab also showed that the reason mosquitoes don’t get bombed out of the air by water droplets in a rainstorm is that they are so light that the air disturbed by a falling drop of water blows the mosquitoes aside. The finding could have applications for tiny drones.

They also showed that the ideal length for a row of mammalian eyelashes is one-third the width of an eyeball. That gives just the right windbreak to keep blowing air from drying out the surface of the eye. Artificial membranes could use some kind of artificial eyelashes.

And what about urination? It didn’t make sense to Dr. Hu that a grown man and an infant would have roughly the same urination time.

After he sent out undergraduates, under the guidance of Patricia Yang, a graduate student, to time urination in all the animals at the Atlanta Zoo, the situation became even more puzzling. Most mammals took between 10 and 30 seconds, with an average of 21 seconds. (Small animals do things differently.)

The key was the urethra, essentially a pipe out of the bladder, that enhanced the effect of gravity. Even a small amount of fluid in a narrow pipe can develop high pressure, with astonishing effects.

Water poured through a narrow pipe into a large wooden barrel can split the barrel. Dr. Hu said the experiment, known as Pascal’s barrel, can be replicated nowadays with Tupperware.

“Applied mathematicians have always been kind of playful.”

What is interesting about the urethra biologically is that its proportions, length to diameter, stay roughly the same no matter the size of the animal (as long as it weighs more than about six and a half pounds).

The 21-second average urination time must be evolutionarily important. Perhaps any longer would attract predators? But then predators are subject to the same rule. In any case, the principle of how to effectively drain a container of fluid could be useful, Dr. Hu wrote in the original studies, to designers of “water towers, water backpacks and storage containers.”

As usual, in his book Dr. Hu does not neglect the human side of his work, or treat it too seriously. He refers to the urethra as a pee-pee pipe. And he corrects his son when he brags that only he, not his sister, has a pee-pee pipe.

Not so, Dr. Hu insists. The urethra is present in males and females.

Once older, his children may never forgive him for this book. But middle school science teachers and nerds everywhere will thank him.