Hitler’s Mustache was found dead on the desk of the Biology Chair. He looks like a hairy moth.
DNA revealed that Hitler’s Mustache was a Drain Fly in the Family Psychodidae. After discovering this, comparison of images points to him being a Clogmia albipunctata or Moth Fly/Moth Midge. The larvae are usually found in bathroom drains, hence the name Drain Fly. While they look like moths, they are true flies in the Order Diptera.
Gruncle is a small metallic green fly with long yellow legs and large green eyes. Black markings are near the tips of the transparent wings.
Gruncle is a Long-legged Fly in the Order of “true flies” (Diptera) and ambiguously identified in the Family of Dolichopodidae. Nothing further can be identified from the DNA sequence of COI. The coloration and wing markings make it seem like a Green Long-Legged Fly (Austrosciapus connexus) but this does not pan out since that fly is native to Australia. Using reference images at BugGuide, it would appeear that Gruncle is of the Condylostylus sipho group, which are located in the Northeast.
The tortillita de gambas at La Vara in Cobble Hill was labeled as “Andalucian shrimp”. Whether it was a type of shrimp or a preparation in the Andalucian style was unclear. What was it that was in my omelette?
This also proved to be valuable as an outgroup since we knew it was a crustacean and did not constitute a “bug” in the traditional sense.
Turns out, this dish from a Michellin starred restaurant features something called a Common Ditch Shrimp (Palaemon varians)! It finds it’s home in brackish waters. I hope this one didn’t come from the nearby Gowanus Canal!
This creature fell on the head of one of our instructors while she was sitting at her desk in NYCCT. What kinds of beetles are crawling around the light fixtures in the college?
This creature turned out to be an invasive species. The oriental beetle (Anomala orientalis) is sometimes confused with a Japanese beetle and is equally as destructive to plants as the larvae feed on them voraciously. It is also known as Exomala orientalis.
The students excitedly came in after catching this fly. “It has a massive stinger on it!” one said. I explained that it didn’t look like a stinger and that it was probably an ovipositor, making it a female insect.
Billy Bob Bart ended up being a Robber fly called Efferia aestuans (EOL). Robber flies (or assassin flies) are notorious for predating other insects. They ambush from below to take them out in the air while flying. These are good to have around since they take out the nuisance species.
The legend who started it all. Croissant was found by the students during lunch in the park. At that point, we decided to do a DNA barcoding project. Under the microscope, it clearly looked like some proto-insect. So we decided it was a larva and would only know of what species if we barcoded it.
Croissant was identified as a Green Lacewing of the species Chrysoperla rufilabris (EOL). So he had to be a larval form. These larva are great for pest control because they eat other nuisance insects in the garden. Unknowingly, the group captured an adult later on called Zeñon.
Walking along Newtown Creek in Long Island City, islands of weeds and flowers can be found. This yellow flower was found in a patch of dirt by a parking lot.
This flower found on the lawn at Columbus Park, Brooklyn.
Barcoding of rbcL reveals that this may be Cichorium intybus
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