Homogenization of Mediterranean flora

The name ascribed to the sclerophyllous shrublands typical of the Mediterranean biome varies tremendously: "kwongan" and "mallee" in Australia, "chaparral" in California, "matorral" in Chile, "fynbos" in South Africa, and varies more so throughout the Mediterranean basin: "mato" in Portugal, "maquis" or "garrigue" in France, "macchia" in Italy, "phrygana" in Greece, and the list goes on!  Just like the local names; the forests, woodlands, and scrub associated with Mediterranean climate zones are incredibly diverse and endemic-rich.  Since this vegetation-type is broadly adapted to summer drought and winter rains, it's also easily transferable anthropogenically across vast geographic distances and floristic regions.  For example; at the Santa Barbara Mission (pictured above) you can observe: [front of lavanderia] the Aloe tree (Aloe barberae) native to South African fynbos, [front of Mission] the Peruvian peppertree (Schinus molle) native to South American matorral, [hills in back] the coastal sage scrub vegetation native to Californian coastal chaparral, and [frame right] the Gum tree (Eucalyptus spp.) native to Australian mallee.  Here's an interesting paper on the "Homogeocene" epoch by Putz 1998.

Hoverfly Batesian mimicry

At first glance, the insect visiting this Chrysanthemum flower looks just like a honeybee - but on closer inspection you can see the insect has a lot of the characteristics you'd expect to see on a fly: a single pair of wings, short antenna, and sucking mouth parts.  This insect is in fact a hoverfly! Also known as a flower fly or a syrphid fly, this European species of hoverfly (Eristalis arbustorum) is incapable of stinging, but is definitely converging on the morphology (shape, color, etc.) of a honeybee.  This form of mimicry is also known as Batesian mimicry - when a non-toxic palatable species looks like a toxic non-palatable species.  What is even more amazing is that the hoverfly, honeybee, and Chrysanthemum are all exotic (or non-native) species here in the central valley of California!  Here's a cool paper by Pfenning et al. 2001.

Chicken of the woods

Believe it or not, this sulfur shelf (Laetiporus sulphureus) is an edible bracket fungus that is touted for tasting like chicken! While it's native to both North America & Europe, this beautiful specimen was growing on a Carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua) that is actually native to the Mediterranean & a common element in Santa Monica residential areas.  The sulfur shelf is a saprophyte (detritivore) and causes internal rot on the trees it infects.  What's fascinating is that it's also possible for the sulfur shelf to absorb some of the toxic properties of its host tree; which sometimes can lead to gastrointestinal problems for folks that eat the fungus growing on trees like eucalyptus & some conifers.  Here's a great paper by Turkoglu et al. 2007.

Acridid grasshopper color polymorphisms

This is the nymph of an Acridid grasshopper, a paurometabolous insect that derives its family name from the Greek term akris, meaning locust or swarming grasshopper (which are also members of the Acrididae!). The color variation in Acridid grasshoppers is just spectacular, as is the role of coloration in this group: thermal regulation, crypsis, aposematism, sexual dimorphisms, and even as a means to promote (negative) frequency-dependent selection - wherein rare phenotypes are missed by predators that prefer common prey phenotypes.  Here's a great review paper by Bond 2007.

The foot of a common house gecko

     While it can be found throughout Mesoamerica, the common house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) is a actually a native of southeast Asia.  The story is that the population started from escaped pets.  Here in El Salvador, the house geckos do exceptionally well in urban areas & suburban parks (where homes & 24hr street lights are abundant) and they seldom venture deep into the few remaining large natural areas.  How a gecko's feet work is simply spectacular: β-keratin spatula-shaped bristles arranged in plate-like footpads (white above) allow attractive intermolecular van-der-Waals forces (i.e. non-covalent bonds!) to form between the footpad & a given surface.  Here's a great paper by Herrera et al. 2005.

Turkey vulture

     Here in El Salvador, Turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) are generally referred to as "ave de rapiña"; which loosely translates to "raptor ".  What is really neat is that Old World vultures belong to the taxonomic order Falconiformes (where raptors/ birds of prey are also grouped).  However, New World vultures are not part of the Falconiformes & are evolutionarily unrelated to raptors.  It appears then that the term "ave de rapiña" is a remnant from Old World Spanish (Spain!) and a misnomer for a New World bird!  Here's a great paper by Gibb et al. 2007.

White-lined Sphinx moth

     My wife took this amazing picture of a White-lined sphinx moth (Hyles lineata) visiting the beautiful inflorescences of the Pride of Madeira (Echium candicans, syn. E. fastuosum), which have beautiful blue flowers with red stamens and are found all over Palisades Park in Santa Monica, CA.  The White-lined sphinx moth follows a bee-line foraging strategy; so the individuals we observed visiting these flowers stayed for about 15min and then left the park!  Here's a cool paper by Casey 1976.