rebeccmeister (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rebeccmeister) wrote2024-07-24 08:30 am
rebeccmeister) wrote2024-07-24 08:30 am
C'mon, self, stay focused! [work, ants]
Yesterday I wound up going in to campus with JH, so I could pick up some extra leafcutter fungus from a larger colony there, and also a dissecting microscope. While there, I spent a couple minutes catching up with a grad school friend who was part of a "Write That Paper" study group with me back in the day (RO). So it was fun to complain to him about being in the midst of trying to finish up a bunch of papers, talking about how whatever current manuscript I'm agonizing over gets referred to as the Manuscript of Doom.
Regarding the leafcutter fungus: by yesterday afternoon/evening, approximately a quarter of the nests had lost their fungus gardens. I need to pore over the data I've been collecting to come up with some refined hypotheses about why that happened, but that number seems high, compared to other years. That said, I can only wish I managed to film the queens' reactions after I gave them a tiny morsel of replacement fungus. They get very noticeably excited when they discover their good fortune. They are then very careful to fastidiously clean off their antennae and mandibles before they pick up the new fungus gift and then relocate it to wherever they have decided to cluster the eggs they've been laying.
My goal was to give them enough fungus to restart their garden, but not so much that they could get away with avoiding the need to forage.
Maybe I'll have more time/success filming the queens later today. I've generally been doing a major check at some point in the afternoon, but otherwise leaving them undisturbed.
The dissecting microscope was both helpful and a distraction. The one that I'm borrowing has a pretty good camera mount, so I found and downloaded the software and tried taking a few pictures and short videos. The trouble is, I should have also borrowed a fiber-optic light to go with the scope - I hadn't realized that the only built-in light on the scope was a sub-stage light.
And in future years, I should try to remember to bring along the field microscope that I found in my lab.
Anyway, I rigged up something temporary with a flashlight, which at least allowed me to get images like this one:
It's tricky to get good photos or video of moving animals with this kind of rig. I think at some point when I have slightly more bandwidth, I should read and learn more about different types of macro lens options. From what I understand, a wide-angle lens might wind up being really useful.
Anyway. Ant-tending yesterday took about two hours, meaning that I didn't have as much time to work on manuscript-writing. But I need to keep making forward progress, so that's today's goal.
I often wind up engaging in internet procrastination loops, though. So for today, I'm keeping a window-swap tab open in the hopes that it gives me a chance to rest my eyes and brain, and then get back to writing again.
Things probably won't actually go that way in practice, but it's a nice idea, at least.
Regarding the leafcutter fungus: by yesterday afternoon/evening, approximately a quarter of the nests had lost their fungus gardens. I need to pore over the data I've been collecting to come up with some refined hypotheses about why that happened, but that number seems high, compared to other years. That said, I can only wish I managed to film the queens' reactions after I gave them a tiny morsel of replacement fungus. They get very noticeably excited when they discover their good fortune. They are then very careful to fastidiously clean off their antennae and mandibles before they pick up the new fungus gift and then relocate it to wherever they have decided to cluster the eggs they've been laying.
My goal was to give them enough fungus to restart their garden, but not so much that they could get away with avoiding the need to forage.
Maybe I'll have more time/success filming the queens later today. I've generally been doing a major check at some point in the afternoon, but otherwise leaving them undisturbed.
The dissecting microscope was both helpful and a distraction. The one that I'm borrowing has a pretty good camera mount, so I found and downloaded the software and tried taking a few pictures and short videos. The trouble is, I should have also borrowed a fiber-optic light to go with the scope - I hadn't realized that the only built-in light on the scope was a sub-stage light.
And in future years, I should try to remember to bring along the field microscope that I found in my lab.
Anyway, I rigged up something temporary with a flashlight, which at least allowed me to get images like this one:
It's tricky to get good photos or video of moving animals with this kind of rig. I think at some point when I have slightly more bandwidth, I should read and learn more about different types of macro lens options. From what I understand, a wide-angle lens might wind up being really useful.
Anyway. Ant-tending yesterday took about two hours, meaning that I didn't have as much time to work on manuscript-writing. But I need to keep making forward progress, so that's today's goal.
I often wind up engaging in internet procrastination loops, though. So for today, I'm keeping a window-swap tab open in the hopes that it gives me a chance to rest my eyes and brain, and then get back to writing again.
Things probably won't actually go that way in practice, but it's a nice idea, at least.
no subject
Seems likely. There's an inescapable trade-off between viewing angle and magnification, though.
no subject
For some reason, this suddenly reminded me of GRRM's novellini "The Sandkings", though I imagine your sandqueens will turn out much better than the eponmymous creatures in the story.