"What were you thinking Dad?!"

But they won't pick you up at the airport.

Student travel grant applications are due by May 16, 2026!

But why is he shorn?

Should have been clearer. I got them new when they came out (yes, I'm that old).

Walking through the woods at 3 am loudly playing owl calls on a tape recorder. Ask me how I know.

I don't own that one but I have the others in that series!

So many possibilities. House keeping, DIY, cooking, entertainment.

I just saw some faculty job ads posted. Those interviews are gonna be something else.

Had the nerve to wake him up.

Still accepting applicants for a postdoc! Here's the evoldir link if you're interested:
evol.mcmaster.ca/brian/evoldi...

Please reach out! Share with a friend!

Anyone else own a long cat?

Hoping they make it to adults

Trump Trifecta! MAGA Hat Trick! Misappropriation, affair, drugs/alcohol. All his cabinet members seem to aspire to do all three but most fail (although give them time).

As a parent I can say that this is child abuse.

I didn't realize how poor the image resolution was on these images before I posted. Here's a better version!

Hopefully these images show the diversity and (gasp!) beauty of mosquitoes. They of course have a bad reputation as transmitter of pathogens that can kill us but based on our work that's < 10% of the 3,700 species worldwide (Yee et al. 2022). So many undiscovered and amazing discoveries await! 🦟✋🧵

I bring up these books as recall I mentioned it was too bad that Gillett didn't work in South America as he missed out in having Dr. Brown paint a member of the genus Sabethes? Well, turns out he DID have her do one for these more general books, and it's a stunner (setae paddles on ALL the legs!) 👀

Oddly, he published almost the same exact book in 1971 under the title, "The Mosquitos" (by The Chaucer Press, London). Again, attributing all the drawings to Dr. Smith.

Gillett published another book in 1972 (same year as Common African Mosquitoes) called "The Mosquito" (by Doubleday), which is a general overview of knowledge of the group not restricted to just Africa. He acknowledges Dr. Smith again for doing all the text figures (mostly line drawings).

Since writing this in 2024 I had a few small updates. Although I've had no luck finding JG Smith (although I reached out to an artist with that name only to find it was the wrong person) it's likely the originals may be in the British Society but I've not had a chance to find out.

f anyone knows what happened to Dr. Smith or has more info I've love to hear from you. For now, Gillett's "Common African Mosquitos" is going to have a central place in my collection. ---Too bad there were no Sabethes in Africa for Dr. Smith to get her brush on!

Addendum. I'd really like to know more about Judith G. Smith. I couldn't find much on the internet so I'm not sure what her career was like. Gillett lists her as a senior research assistant at Brunel. I did find one other reference to her work, Grasshoppers by VK Brown from 1990.

That's 7 of the 48 paintings and I've not exhausted all the good stuff. I'm still blown away by the colors and variation of these animals, as well as Dr. Smith's artistry (and Dr. Gillett's decision to go with the harder and more expensive painting approach). I'm glad he did (science+art win-win)!

Last one, Aedes (Neomelaniconion) circumluteolus. The colors here (mostly yellow and brown) give this species a real 1970s vibe. I decided to use this one last as its had more viruses isolated (9) than any other species so of course it bites man. Also coming in hard with those leg spines.

Not sure what to make of the next one, Aedeomyia furfura but it's odd. Those tufts on the legs of upstanding scales on the femora is (again) odd. They remind me of Aedes in the subgenus Mucidus. Also, what's up with those antenna? Not medically important but the phenotype leads to so many questions.

Now for something completely different. Mansonia africana (medium). It's like a kaleidoscope (yellow, gray-green, brown, black, white). It seems somewhat domestic as it's found resting in houses a lot, and has been found to carry 8 viruses along with transmitting falarial worms.

Staying in the "Large" category, Coquillettidia fuscopennata. I don't think we're really accustomed to seeing🟨mosquitoes, but it seems to be a common color for this genus in Africa (the other species all show a lot of 🟨). It bites man and is medically important for CHIKV, RVF. Those leg spines! 👀

For contrast, here is Anopheles implexus (I think Dr. Smith used the whole canvas here). This species is stunning, with it's yellow and brown scales set against the white bands, themselves set against dark legs. It's a forest species, with adults resting on tree trunks. It bites cattle & man.