All My Blogs

Male carpenter ant (drone) photographed in Clearwater, BC, 2026 Some insects, such as aphids, can reproduce parthenogenically, that is, to make clones of themselves.  Most insects, however, require a male and female to reproduce.  All Hymenoptera (ants, wasps, and bees) are this way.  You probably know that male wasps and ants are rare; most of the brood are female.  However, the queen can choose to produce a male (if only King Henry VIII had such a bride!). Here's the weird part.  An unfertilized queen mates with a male ant and stores the sperm in an organ called the spermatheca, which stores the genetic material and keeps it viable for a long time.  The length of time can be impressive, with some queens mating only once and keeping the gametes for up to 10 years.  The queen produces an egg and allows a stored sperm to join with it, eventually producing a worker, always a female.  However, if a queen lays an unfertilized egg, it becomes a drone....

My special-needs program at Garibladi, the ILP - ran from 1991 to 2012.  This was 2007. I remember the day I retired from teaching.  It was 2018, and the big question on my mind was, "Had I made a difference?"  It has been 8 years since then, and I think I finally have an answer. Each of us makes an impact on those around us.  It is our actions, or lack of them, that impact others in our lives.  Although the job itself has a bearing, the difference that is made comes from the relationships you form with others and the example that you set. I used to think in a grandiose way - what important things have I done, what legacies have I left, that will make a difference tomorrow on the planet?  My name will never be written in the history books.  Others will not tell stories of my victories, accomplishments, or legacies.  I am but a drop of water in a bucket, and when the bucket is empty, the memory of my existence will be gone just as the water. But th...

Franklin's ground squirrel at Wabamun Provincial Park, Alberta I thought I was familiar with most of the squirrels in Canada.  It turns out that I have never seen or heard about one called Franklin's ground squirrel.   It is not that common, appearing in a narrow swath across central Alberta, across Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and down into the prairie regions of the central states.  I saw this one near the extent of its western range in Wabamun Provincial Park.   Franklin's ground squirrels used to be fairly common in Alberta.  However, their numbers have been steadily declining due to habitat loss and population fracturing.  The prairie that it once thrived in has been converted to farms, towns, and roadways.  Most sightings now occur in protected areas, which is exactly where I saw this one.  As the areas where it lives constrict, there will be less and less genetic variation and the fewer numbers will likely produce inbreeding, a situ...

Canadian tiger swallowtail (and one pale swallowtail) butterflies near Dutch Lake, Clearwater, BC. I have seen this before, in fact, many times.  I wrote a similar blog on this subject here .  Butterflies on dirt, proboscis extended, probing the substrate for something.  But what? It turns out that many butterflies do this.  The soil they are on is usually damp.  The tiny tube, called a proboscis, has an internal diameter of less than 0.04 mm (about 40 microns).  To give you an idea how narrow this is, you couldn't insert a human hair into it; it's too narrow.   One advantage of the extremely narrow gauge of the proboscis is that fluids will naturally climb it through a process known as capillary action.  There is also a small muscular organ called the cibarial pump.  This is found in many sucking insects; it creates a low-pressure area at the end of the tube that facilitates fluid motion.  The combination of the two pulls liquids t...

Judolia instabilis , the unstable longhorn beetle, photographed in Clearwater, BC. The word "unstable" can be taken several ways.  If you have over-indulged with alcohol, you may be unstable in your walking or driving.  If your emotions get the better of you and you become a ranting machine, some may call you unstable.  I suppose the term could be used if a stable in a barn was converted into another purpose - as in, the chicken coop is an unstable, versus being unstable because of shoddy construction.  I don't think any of these terms apply to the fellow in the photo. The term unstable is used to describe the varied patterns found on this species of beetle.  It turns out that the colouration and mottling vary wildly.  The beetle may be completely black, be a pale cream colour with black spots, be black with pale cream spots, and the spots are different sizes, shapes, and locations. I did an image search for the beetle and took a screenshot of the result; y...

Danielle and Trish - two of the students in my special needs program at Garibaldi, 2006 Trisha Parsons, a student of mine while I was teaching at Garibaldi Secondary School in Maple Ridge, has passed away.  I got the news yesterday, and my heart sank.  It's still hard to believe, her face, so clear in my mind, and her lively spirit, are gone.  Not the memories, mind you, but the hope for her future now lies in pieces.   That hope is what drives teachers.  Each child we engage with represents a future, a life, that we have been given to shape as best we can.  Trisha was no exception to that, although she had CP (cerebral palsy), which limited her physically.  In spite of her immediate challenges, she made every effort to be the best she could.  She loved others, was loved, and had a great deal of potential we were all meant to unlock. I cannot speak to what her life looked like after high school.  I have not been in contact with her for o...