Say hello to my new little friend

gross. glad he's on a skewer

 

Wow.
I hope you don't treat all of your "friends" like that !!!

 

A tick??

 

Ahh.

They can reek havoc if they start laying eggs in staples (flour, rice), had it happen.

Best skewered.

 

A new moth species named donaldtrumpi perhaps? I cannot readily find it on sciencedaily.

A new earthworm species was recently given that epithet (that's what they're called). Kicker is that some enviro company paid $50,000 for naming rights. Dang. Friend of mine names new ant species from time to time. I know he is not pocketing anything approaching that.

 

I raise Eisenia fetida, better known as red wigglers in my backyard composting heap. I initially purchased them from a commercial source, but now have enough to start my own vermiculture business. The amazing thing is that despite being originating from regions of Europe warmer than my area, they do survive frigid northern climate in sub-zero temp even though they are unable to burrow deep into the earth like Lumbricus terrestris (aka nightcrawlers).

 

Measure compost core temperature when hard winter comes - you may be surprised.

L. terrestris was extirpated from N Amer during (one of the) ice ages. Now returned and considered invasive. Has many interesting aspects including popping up at night for copulation.

 

excellent, we need more cops

 

Earthworms are all hermaphrodites. Which might figure into species naming

 

I have tried composting during the winter months but failed. In our region, the temperature is low enough that compost heap of 1 cubic yard is frozen solid if not insulated. Any decomposition activity is suspended during those months, but when it warms up in spring, they burst with new life. My suspicion is that they overwinter in a cocoon, not in adult form.

 

OK there goes microbial metabolism hypothesis.

I could see cocoons and your freezer making a science-fair project if there are any little nippers around.

 

Well, it has been studied already.
Cold hardiness and geographic distribution of earthworms (Oligochaeta, Lumbricidae, Moniligastridae) | SpringerLink
(PDF) Cold Tolerance among Composting Earthworm Species to Evaluate Invasion Potential

 

First mentions of ZooKeys and Entomological Review here in pancake land I reckon.

 

"The new species is named in honor of Donald J. Trump, to be installed as the 45th President of the United States on January 20, 2017. The reason for this choice of name is to bring wider public attention to the need to continue protecting fragile habitats in the US that still contain many undescribed species. The specific epithet is selected because of the resemblance of the scales on the frons (head) of the moth to Mr. Trump’s hairstyle."

 

Zookeys article was reviewed by Terry Erwin. That journal's chief editor and legendary among new-species-namers. I'd buy that man a pancake.

 

Seriously, dudes, Terry Erwin's father was a race-car driver who encouraged son to build hot rods. Son instead decided to study beetle taxonomy.

His 'killer app' was to spread bedsheets on ground under a tropical tree and spray insecticide up yonder. Do taxonomy on the deadfall. First short article on those results has been cited >1000 times.

A fiction author proposing such a story for a book would be laughed out of the room. And yet (true) science holds many such stories.

Oh, youse guys, you just don't know...