tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199848742267562587.post3905306519426147433..comments2024-02-06T10:31:24.491-07:00Comments on Watching the World Wake Up: Bug Rescue Part 2: Dragonflies are Way CoolWatcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02248341788957416471noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199848742267562587.post-61682150991905464232010-11-08T16:19:56.131-07:002010-11-08T16:19:56.131-07:00Flying Dragonflies fascinate me. Something about t...Flying Dragonflies fascinate me. Something about there flight makes me often stop and watch. They are amazing creatures, and more amazing to me after reading this post.<br /><br />BTW, the bulls-eye mark in the Green Darner Features photo sure looks like a Watcher eye to me. Coincidence? I think not.KanyonKrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954169751206336705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199848742267562587.post-27462048883183150382010-11-04T23:50:29.729-06:002010-11-04T23:50:29.729-06:00Whoa, who knew dragonflies were so cool. No wonde...Whoa, who knew dragonflies were so cool. No wonder that dragonfly decor motif was so popular a few years back. <br /><br />I would go outside and just enjoy the day for a 5 minute break like the smokers do, but the smokers have laid claim to all the good benches around my office. Isn't that always the case?Lucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10896006691904225007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199848742267562587.post-12213962029104122762010-11-04T21:39:09.598-06:002010-11-04T21:39:09.598-06:00Phil- I'm pretty sure Patty or Selma (not sure...Phil- I'm pretty sure Patty or Selma (not sure which one) used to work at our office until about a year or so ago. (Lurking coworker readers know exactly who I'm talking about.)<br /><br />SBJ- Yes, mayflies do take it to the extreme. Maybe having 2 penises helps them get the most out of their fleeting adulthood.<br /><br />Christopher- Thanks for the update and pointer to the Bybee paper, as well as as the damselfly wing explanation. I'll check them (damselflies) out more closely next opportunity (which I fear may be next spring now).Watcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02248341788957416471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199848742267562587.post-28330862714379016492010-11-04T20:54:35.971-06:002010-11-04T20:54:35.971-06:00But damselflies (Infraorder Zygoptera) appear to b...<i>But damselflies (Infraorder Zygoptera) appear to be paraphyletic, in that one big genus (Lestes) turns out to be more closely-related to dragonflies than to any other damselflies.</i><br /><br /><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-0031.2007.00191.x" rel="nofollow">Bybee <i>et al.</i> (2008)</a> re-examined this using a <i>much</i> larger data set than the Saux <i>et al.</i> study and recovered a monophyletic Zygoptera. The idea of a paraphyletic Zygoptera seems to have been the result of inadequate sampling.<br /><br /><i>it means that “Damselfly-ness”, specifically the hinged-wing mechanism, has to have evolved at least twice among the odonates</i><br /><br />Damselfly wings aren't hinged. Damselflies can't actually fold their wings 'back' any more than a dragonfly can; like a dragonfly, their wings only move up and down (though they do move over a much greater arc than dragonfly wings). Instead, damselflies have developed a majorly angled back, so that the part with the wings has become almost vertical instead of horizontal, so 'up and down' for the wings has nearly become 'forwards and backwards'. Compare this to most other insects that are able to rotate the whole wing rearwards flat over the back.<br /><br />Offhand, <i>Epiophlebia</i>, the only living odonate that is not either a dragonfly or a damselfly, moves its wings in a damselfly-like arc despite being otherwise more like a dragonfly. So the ability to move the wings damselfly-wise is the ancestral condition for odonates; the specialised condition is the dragonfly arrangment of having them permanently outwards.Christopher Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11075565866351612441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199848742267562587.post-13271590579689771442010-11-04T13:53:28.713-06:002010-11-04T13:53:28.713-06:00Dragonflies hitting puberty in their relative 60&#...Dragonflies hitting puberty in their relative 60's seems extreme, but mayflies take it a step further. Mayflies spend most of their life in nymph stage, emerging from the water just long enough to mate and, for the females, lay eggs. Then they die. They emerge with no mouths, as they do not feed during the adult stage--it lasts a matter of hours. Hope the flying sex is really, really good, because they're not getting much of it.Ski Bike Junkiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12295969126174565599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9199848742267562587.post-50976248600903021012010-11-04T13:30:25.860-06:002010-11-04T13:30:25.860-06:00Remember kids: "Smoking hotties" become ...Remember kids: "Smoking hotties" become prematurely wrinkled hotties with voices a la <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patty_and_Selma_Bouvier" rel="nofollow">Patty and Selma Bouvier</a>. You've been warned.<br /><br />MLM companies: So I can blame Utah for this? Just last week, a former classmate asked me to talk to a "friend" of his about the friend's business idea. I said sure. Turns out it was an hour-long pitch for a MLM "wellness" company... although in fairness it was out of Idaho, not Utah.Phil O.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14499273759083108847noreply@blogger.com