It’s been awhile since our last ID Challenge. I’ll give 2 pts each for correctly naming the order, family, genus, and species and whatever supporting information you can provide. Bonus points if you can surmise host plant, location, etc. Standard ID Challenge rules apply. No trick questions this time – it’s just about the bug!
Copyright © Ted C. MacRae 2011
ID challenge
Brazil Bugs #12 – Desafio de identificação #5
Here we go again – 2 pts each for any correct taxon name up to and including order and any supporting information you can provide. Standard ID Challenge rules apply. Hint: don’t take anything for granted – this one is going to separate the men/women from the boys/girls!
Edit 2/11/11, 8:32 a.m.: I should probably make points available for class as well (with the caveat that those with comments already in queue will get credit if due – no need to recomment unless you want to add something). Also, we’ve had enough of these by now to know that common names and “taxon by implication” generally yield fewer points than correctly presented scientific names. 🙂
Copyright © Ted C. MacRae 2011
Answer to ID Challenge #4 – Aetalion reticulatum
Aetalion reticulatum female guarding her egg mass - São Paulo state, Brazil.
ID Challenge #4 seems to have been a little more difficult than I anticipated – only a few people mustered the courage to even hazard a guess, of whom TGIQ emerged with maximum points to take the win. Looking sort of like a cross between a leafhopper (family Cicadellidae) and a treehopper (family Membracidae), Aetalion reticulatum is one of a few species and the only genus comprising the family Aetalionidae. While lacking the pronotal processes that characterize species in the much more diverse and better known Membracidae, aetalionids are nevertheless considered treehoppers as well, along with another little-known family Melizoderidae. As a whole, the Aetalionidae + Melizoderidae + Membracidae form a sister group to the Cicadellidae (Deitz and Dietrich 1993), which combine to form the most diverse and successful lineage of sap-sucking phytophagous insects.
Like many treehoppers, A. reticulatum exhibits ant-mutualistic and presocial behaviors; however, it remains unclear whether these behaviors were acquired separately by each treehopper lineage or if they represent retention of a more primitive condition (sorry, Alex – it’s just easier to say it that way than deal with terms such as ‘retained plesiomorphy’ and ‘phylogenetic conservatism’). Aetalion reticulatum occurs broadly in the New World tropics, where females can often be found perched on top of their egg masses. Some (but not all) guarding females make periodic sweeps of the hing legs down the sides of the egg mass, apparently to dislodge egg parasitoids and discourage further attack (Preston-Mafham & Preston-Mafham 1993). Ant-mutualistic relationships and the tendency to form colonies provide additional protection from predators.
Now is a good opportunity to summarize the ‘1st BitB Challenge Series’ overall standings – Ben Coulter maintains his overall lead by gaining points in every challenge. TGIQ climbs into 2nd place with this week’s win, and tceisele leap frogs over several contestants to tie Janet Creamer for the 3rd podium spot (and gets the nod for more frequent participation). It’s no real surprise that the most frequent players took the top spots. At this point, I’m going to call a close to the 1st series and declare Ben Coulter the overall series winner – contact me for your loot! To the rest, thanks for playing, and now that you know how this game works maybe you’ll think about making a move for the 2nd series win!
| Place | Commenter | IDC #1 | SSC #3 | IDC #2 | IDC #3 | IDC #4 | Total |
| 1 | Ben Coulter | 9 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 40 |
| 2 | TGIQ | 8 | – | 5 | – | 10 | 23 |
| 3 | tceisele | – | – | 3 | 8 | 3 | 14 |
| 4 | Janet Creamer | – | 14 | – | – | – | 14 |
| 5 | James Trager | 6 | – | 5 | – | – | 11 |
| 6 | Dave | – | – | 11 | – | – | 11 |
| 7 | Christopher Taylor | 7 | – | 3 | – | – | 10 |
| 8 | Dave Hubble | 6 | – | – | 2 | – | 8 |
| JasonC | – | 5 | – | 3 | – | 8 | |
| 10 | Charley Eiseman | 7 | – | – | – | – | 7 |
| Delbert La Rue | 7 | – | – | – | – | 7 | |
| jason | 7 | – | – | – | – | 7 | |
| Techuser | 7 | – | – | – | – | 7 | |
| 14 | Richard Waldrep | 6 | – | – | – | – | 6 |
| 15 | Alex/Watcher | – | – | 2 | – | – | 2 |
| dragonflywoman | – | – | – | 2 | – | 2 | |
| nellie | – | – | – | – | 2 | 2 | |
| 16 | Brady Richards | – | 1 | – | – | – | 1 |
| Francis | – | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | |
| macroinstantes | – | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | |
| Margarethe | – | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | |
| Mark Deering | – | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | |
| Andrew | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 |
REFERENCES:
Deitz, L. L. and C. H. Dietrich. 1993. Superfamily Membracoidea (Homoptera: Auchenorrhyncha). I. Introduction and revised classification with new family-group taxa. Systematic Entomology 18(4):287–296.
Preston-Mafham, R. and K. Preston-Mafham. 1993. The Encyclopedia of Land Invertebrate Behaviour. The MIT Press, 320 pp.
Copyright © Ted C. MacRae 2011
Brazil Bugs #8 – Desafio de identificação #4
It’s time for a new ID Challenge, this one from my recent trip to Brazil. I don’t expect this to be a terribly difficult challenge, so whoever wins is going to do so by gaining bonus points for providing detail about what is shown here in addition to correct taxonomic assignments.
See ID Challenge #2 for a detailed explanation of the rules
Copyright © Ted C. MacRae
ID Challenge #3
A straight-up identification challenge – see ID Challenge #2 for a detailed explanation of the rules:
Photograph taken June 27, 2010 in northwestern Missouri. Good luck!
Copyright © Ted C. MacRae 2011
ID Challenge #2
Here is another straight-up ID Challenge. Standard rules apply:
- Points awarded for correctly naming the order, family, genus, and species (2 pts each).
- Bonus points may be given (at my discretion) for providing additional relevant information (e.g., diagnostic characters, biological/ecological uniquities, clever jokes, etc.).¹
- Comments will be moderated during the 1- to 2-day open challenge period to allow all a chance to participate (you don’t have to be first to win!).
- Submitted answers will be posted at the end of the challenge period along with the number of points earned.
¹ Don’t ignore the opportunity for bonus points – they often determine the winner in these challenges!
Good luck!
Copyright © Ted C. MacRae 2011
ID Challenge #1
Okay, this isn’t really the first ID challenge I’ve had on this site, but the first in a series that is formally named such. I’ll be offering these up occasionally to fill the void left by the suspension of Alex’s Monday Night Mystery series (okay, not really a void – we still have a wealth of serial quizzes to choose from, including Crypsis Challenges by Troy, Monday Mimic by Mike, Name the Bug by Chris, Genius of the Press by the other Chris, Electron Challenge by macromite, and my own Super Crop Challenge!). This series will feature classic identification challenges, with points awarded for correctly naming the order, family, genus, and species. Points are not mutually exclusive – you don’t have to be first, you just have to be correct. That being the case, I’ll turn on comment moderation during the answer phase so that all have equal opportunity to participate. I also give bonus points for providing additional diagnostic information, comments on taxonomic status, or even wrong answers if they somehow make me chuckle. I’ll give this a day or so – starting… right… now.
Update 12/24/10: answer posted here.
Copyright © Ted C. MacRae 2010
Beetles In The Bush 