Michael Caterino

@mcaterino

Entomologist, documenting patterns of beetle diversity (especially histerids & staphylinoids); University prof sharing systematics with the next generation; popular science writer (Under One Canopy); would rather be in the field.

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Michael Caterino@mcaterino· 1d

Reinventing the wheel bug.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· 4d

Here you go. Caveat emptor!

Book cover showing (NOT) ironclad beetle, with the title "Ironclad beetles handbook: A comprehensive guide to the biology, care, conservation, and scientific significance of the diabolical ironclad beetle and its remarkable ecological roles" by Raphael Hunter.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· 7d

For busy friends, the tl;dr on Under One Canopy, chapter by chapter. Foreword – We have taken our unique and special planet for granted for too long. Our actions (and inactions) have sharply reduced the quality of life for all of its inhabitants. This is both shortsighted and morally wrong. (1/15)

Crop of front cover of book: Unider One Canopy: Environmental Ethics and the Tree of Life.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· 10d

It’s real! First physical copy I’ve seen. Looks pretty nice if I do say so myself!

Photo of book cover: ‘Under One Canopy: Environmental Ethics and the tree of Life’ featuring a maroon and golden dawn backdrop with silhouetted animals. Behind the book are out of focus grasses and shrubs.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· 10d

Found this cute little psocid (Dorypteryx domestica) in my lab yesterday. @spongymesophyll.bsky.social, who's writing a 'psocids of South Carolina' at the moment says it's only the second record in the state! Don't know if these can be museum pests. Hoping they're just wandering the halls.

Micrograph of a plump white insect with two darker transverse rings around the abdomen. The antennae are long and thin, and the wings are very reduced, narrow and apically pointed.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· 12d

Oh, I've got one for this thread! This was the first draft label for our entomology collection door. Gives 'Come be part of our collection' a creepier ring!

Brown door sign with white text reading "Clemson University Anthropod Collection".

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· 13d

Most people go to the community garden for the flowers and the vegetables. Some go for the bugs. Lots of baby bugs today!

Two elongate red and black leaf-footed bug nymphs on a ripening green tomato.

A very light brown nymphal bug walking along a trichome-covered squash stem.

A cluster of about a dozen black and yellow 1st instar bug nymphs (maybe leaf-footed).

Mother and child... An brown adult bug next to a bright white nymph, presumably the same species, on a leaf.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· 15d

This redbud is about 8 years old, and I've enjoyed seeing it mature. This year it's also being enjoyed by White Flannel Moth (Norape ovina) caterpillars (the black and yellow one), and some furry American Dagger Moths (Acronicta americana). Don't eat too much, guys, but otherwise I'm happy to share

Picture of a small redbud tree in front of a small blue shed.

A caterpillar on a partly eaten leaf. Caterpillar is mostly black with a broad yellow stripe down the side and paired yellow spots along the top, with sparse longer dark hairs. The yellow spots have short stinging spines.

A very furry white caterpillar on the underside of a partly eaten redbud leaf. It has 6 narrow black tufts, at the head and tail end.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· 16d

Hi Anya. I have a book coming out that explores how our understanding of ourselves as a branch in the tree of life entails ethical obligations to our evolutionary kin. There may be a chapter or two there that would fit in your course. I could share excerpts. libraries.clemson.edu/press/books/...

Screenshot of text: "Modern human society has become ever more isolated from its natural origins, obscuring our kinship with the rest of Earth’s biodiversity. Peeling away just a few of these layers reveals a world rich in connections, ecological and evolutionary, that tether us to this deeper history. Every cell in our bodies and every impulse we experience testify to our fundamental unity with all other life on Earth.
Human exceptionalism has narrowed our view of environmental issues like climate change and loss of biodiversity as threats primarily to our own livelihoods, denying any moral responsibility toward our evolutionary brethren. Yet, the recognition of our inherent biology should prompt deep reflection on the ethical status of other species. As our sense of kinship grows, our sense of obligation should expand accordingly.
Under One Canopy challenges readers to confront their biological selves. It argues that acknowledging our kinship with non-human lives demands a radical reimagining of our responsibilities as a society, one that holds a reverence for life as a bedrock value. Humanity must figure out how to prioritize the sustainability of the Earth’s living systems, for our own descendants and for those of our extended evolutionary family."

Screenshot of Table of Contents:
"Foreword v
Formative Experiences 1
The Status of Biodiversity 7
There’s More to Life than Us 17
Life’s Family
Tree 41
Biomorphism 57
Ecological Entanglements 99
Conservation and the Will-to-
Live 113
Our Unique Abilities and Responsibilities 125
The Rights of Nature 141
The Ethical and the Practical 157
Spiritual Life 187
Putting Ethics to Work 201
Epilogue 231
Acknowledgments 237
References & Further Reading 241"

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· 17d

The dog day (cicadas) are upon us!

Large (4cm) dark cicada sitting on the back of my hand, facing slightly toward the camera.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· 22d

Did you wiggle your tail at me!? Don't do it again. Hey, I warned you! SKINKFIGHT!

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· 23d

Under One Canopy, an exploration of the ethics of biological kinship, is at long last slated for publication. I am told it will hit the virtual shelves August 18th! I will be sharing more details when it's official.

Front and back covers of a book. Illustration is a spreading deciduous tree at dawn, silhouetted dark red against a forest backdrop of orange and golden trees. A bobcat lurks beneath its branches, and other critters flit and forage. Front cover text: "Under One Canopy: Environmental Ethics and the Tree of Life." Back cover text: "“The tragedy of the modern age is that too few people have consciously experienced the wonder of the natural world. Life on Earth forms an intricate, interconnected web. All species, ourselves included, rely on each other for material survival. But we share a deep, abiding ancestry that unites us in an extended moral family, as well. Under One Canopy examines this web, stitching together our evolutionary and ethical connections to other species to reveal a world of kinship
and wonder.”

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· 26d

The LBBs (little brown beetles) were thick last night at the soccer fields! Mostly latridiids, I think.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· Jul 12

Mama eastern box turtle made a couple of deposits in our yard this morning! Might put some screening around these areas and see what emerges in a couple months. Anyone have any recommendations for promoting a hatch? This is right out in the open in a very exposed area.

Eastern box turtle, dark brown with yellow streaked shell, having scraped away some soil around a small burrow, laying eggs.

An small, 2 inch hole in the soil, scraped clear around the opening, with a little grass around the edges.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· Jul 10

A plump polyphemus moth just chillin’ in the middle of campus this morning.

A very large, light brown and eye-spotted moth sitting on my hand.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· Jul 4

An iconic southeastern scarab, Trigonopeltastes delta, not bothered by the heat.

A beetle, with orange elytra and black head and prothorax, the latter with an inverted white triangle, sitting on a large white inflorescence of queen-anne’s lace.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· Jun 21

Took a very nice hike today, but my only bug pix are a dead (take that!) horse fly and some blues on goose poop.

Three whitish butterflies (‘blues’) sampled some goose poop on sand.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· Jun 15

One man's frass... Apparently Silkworm 'droppings' tea is a real thing! Anyone out there tried it?

Photo of an open tin of "Silkworm droppings tea", with a hundred or so frass pellets spilling out onto a wooden tabletop. A standing can behind shows the caterpillar. A transparent cup to the right shows the decocted brew.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· Jun 14

Another view.

Side view of a black, gray, and brown spider sitting on a slate.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· Jun 14

Yard work bonus - trap door spider! Genus Ummidia, I think.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· Jun 9

I mean, how can you not!

Dipara trilineata - a wingless (female) and ant-ish parasitic wasp in the family Diparidae (formerly Pteromalidae). Body is yellowish with darker spots on the thorax, and the abdomen slightly darker. Eyes are quite small; antennae are elbowed with a long basal segment and increasingly wide segments beyond. The thorax is quite small (due to its winglessness).

Parasitoid wasp, some chalcidoid. Head is mostly yellow with red eyes and a dark vertex. Antennae are slightly elongate. Thorax is mostly dark with yellow below. Legs mostly yellow. Abdomen dark above, yellow below. Wings are present, with a strong vein along the leading edge, but only setose otherwise.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· Jun 6

Ménage à quatre? Four ichneumonid wasps ovipositing in the same spot. There must be some good beetle larvae in that log!

Four female ichneumonid wasps ovipositing in the same spot in a log. The wasps are black with orange legs. Their long ovipositor sheaths are extending beyond their bodies.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· Jun 4

A tasty new snack, courtesy of the Lepidopterists.... (see alt text for details).

A small red box with the text "Delectables [on original box] - Dr. Ferro's Polyphemus peppercorns. Premium Quality. Use them on salads, add to your favorite dishes, or eat them right out of the box. Product of Texas. Contents: Frass of Antheraea polyphemus".

A peek inside the opened box reveals a box completely full of frass (caterpillar shit) pellets, and a few leaf fragments.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· May 30

Saturday morning vert prep.. Small road-killed copperhead. My son was bitten by one of these when he was 7, so this is his keepsake.

Small (15 inch) snake in a bowl. Light brown with darker brown triangles on the side, marking it as a copperhead.

Skin has been removed from the snake, the skin and the body are separated on a piece of newspaper.

Just the skin, flattened against newspaper, tail to the right.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· May 28

Here it is:

Screen shot from Wheeler & Wheeler 1976: "We cannot forsee any practical value for the study of ant larvae. They do no damage in their own right, as do the larvae of Coleoptera and Lepidoptera. Furthermore, being social insects, ant larvae are never found alone but always with their workers; hence identification is no such problem as it is with larvae that live alone, e.g., Coleoptera, Lepidolptera, Symphyta and mosquitoes. Very limited utility for myrmecologists is afforded in the following cases:"

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· May 27

I guess this is what happens when an entomologist gets interested in terrestrial snails. I will deflect both credit and blame here to our collection manager Mike Ferro. We may now have to change our name to Clemson University Invertebrate Collection (from 'Arthropod')!

Entomological drawer of mounted snail shells, separated into unit trays with header cards giving their names. The shells range from 2-10mm in diameter, and are mounted like entomological specimens, glued onto paper points.

Close-up of 10 unit trays of mounted snail shells in drawer.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· May 5

This is a pretty large (~15mm) species of the staphylinid genus Pinophilus. They have impressive mandibles, and even more impressive expanded front tarsi!

Frontal view of a staphylinid rove beetle. The head and prothorax are black and punctate. The front legs are visible beneath, and are a constrasting tan. The front feet are very broadly expanded with setose pads beneath.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· May 5

Was also surprised to find three different species of the 'miniature trap jaw' ants (Strumigenys), in a single sample even. This is a very diverse genus, so maybe I shouldn't have been too surprised.

Compilation of three faces of Strumigenys ants. The left and right one have prolonged heads and mandibles. The leftmost has several clubbed setae along the sides of the 'snout', whereas the rightmost has a more uniform beard of setae. The one in the center has a much shorter head, with only fine setae.

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· May 5

Spent a couple days collecting leaf litter bugs along the coast last week. Generally dry and meh. But there were a few nice finds. First, here's a 'thief weevil' (Pterocolus ovatus), a kleptoparasite that kills the larvae and steals the nests of other leaf-rolling weevils. Ref in alt txt...

Anterior view of a blue, punctate weevil, broad and metallic, with prominent three-segmented antennal club. More on its biology here: https://journals.flvc.org/edis/article/view/139310/144325

Michael Caterino@mcaterino· May 1

My #flyday Friday contribution. A wonderfully 'small-headed' fly (Acroceridae) from coastal South Carolina.