That's Not an Ant?!

It is always best to avoid making assumptions about insects in the field. I was reminded of that on three seperate occasions this month, all of them involving mimicry of ants by small longhorned beetles in the family Cerambycidae. Early spring is apparently the season for these wood-boring insects, at least here in Kansas. Their resemblance to ants is uncanny, and highly convincing.

Cyrtophorus verrucosus

While exploring our yards and looking for insects on April 2, I noticed what I thought was a carpenter ant climbing on the exterior of our detached garage. I was about to dismiss it, but decided to document it anyway, as it would be new for the year. Imagine my surprise and delight to discover it was instead an adult Cyrtophorus verrucosus. This species has no common name, which is unfortunate given its uniqueness.

The beetle averages only 9 millimeters in body length. Larvae bore in a variety of host trees, including maple, hickory, oak, elm, birch, chestnut, dogwood, Eastern Redbud, American Beech, and even pine. The adult beetles are active from March to July, but are most abundant in early spring. Cyrtophorus verrucosus ranges over most of the eastern U.S., and Canada as far west as Alberta. This was a new species for our property.

I was invited to present the keynote address for a joint meeting of the Kansas Academy of Science, and Central States Entomological Society, in Wichita, Kansas on April 5, and Heidi and I stayed over to go exploring on Sunday, April 6. I reached out to a Facebook and iNaturalist friend, Ryan Philbrick, and we met at the Kansas Wildlife Exhibit in Central Riverside Park. From there we went to Keeper of the Plains, and walked the nice concrete trail along the Arkansas River. At one point, Ryan turned over a small, broken tree limb on the ground. He noticed millipedes and a small "ant" crawling over the bark.

Euderces pini

I trained my camera on the ant and discovered it was another species of longhorned beetle, Euderces pini. At only 7-8 millimeters, and slender, it is even more ant-like than other species. The larval host trees include Flowering Dogwood, Pecan, Winged Elm, and American Beech, but there are several other hardwoods on the menu.

The adult beetles are frequently found on flowers, feeding on pollen and nectar. Even dandelions will suffice until native trees start blooming. Euderces pini occurs in the southern half of the eastern United States, and appears as an adult from March to June.

Currant-tip Borer

Back home, yesterday, April 13, I happened to notice a small ant-like insect on the central air-conditioning unit in the back yard. It was even smaller than the other beetles, but at least it had a common name: the Currant-tip Borer, Psenocerus supernotatus.

Despite its name, this 4-millimeter beetle has been reared from plants other than currant: Green Hawthorn, Tulip Tree (aka Tulip Poplar, Yellow Poplar), and Black Willow. This beetle is widespread in North America, east of the Rocky Mountains, and the adults are found from April to June.

None of these three beetles are considered pests, maybe because they do not affect crops or orchard trees. Their earthtone colors make them rather cryptic, but they are quite active, running rapidly, and flying well.

An actual ant

It is interesting to note the convergence in body shape and coloration between the different genera. They each have white streaks or bars designed to suggest body segmenation where there is none. Ants show marked constrictions between the head, thorax, and abdomen. In these beetles, the thorax may be mistaken for the enlarged head of an ant, and the elytra (wing covers), "divided" into thorax and abdomen by those white markings. The true head of the beetle is relatively small, and in the case of the Currant-tip Borer, directed downward and nearly hidden by the thorax.

There are even more ant-mimicking longhorned beetle species. Give that "ant" a second glance, especially if you see it in isolation, with no other ants nearby. It may turn out to be a beetle instead.

Sources: Lingafelter, Steven W. 2007. Illustrated Key to the Longhorned Woodboring Beetles of the Eastern United States North Potomac, Maryland: Coleopterists Society, Special Publication No. 3. 206 pp.
Yanega, Douglas. 1996. Field Guide to Northeastern Longhorned Beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Champaign, Illinois: Illinois Natural History Survey, Manual 6. 174 pp.

Stealing Minds and Destroying Morale: LibGen, Meta, and AI

Last week I learned that all four of the books for which I am sole author, or co-author, were illegally pirated by Library Genesis (LibGen). The LibGen database was in turn scraped illegally by Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, for the purpose of training the company’s AI (Artificial Intelligence) program in use of the English language. How many literary works were compromised? What recourse do authors have? Why is this a problem? Go make the popcorn and brace yourself.

I am not alone in having my works taken illegally, without notification, without my consent, and certainly without compensation. An estimated 7.5 million books, articles, and scientific papers are on the LibGen website. Nearly all of my writer and science friends, and even their parents, are victims of this intellectual property theft. If you have ever had anything published, you need to search LibGen.

Thankfully, The Atlantic magazine provides a search tool, for free, in the top left corner of the page in this hyperlink. Use it. Search for the names of people you know, and notify them if their works appear.

If you are not already a member of the Authors Guild, I strongly recommend becoming one. This particular case is high profile, but only the tip of the iceberg. There are many other piracy platforms that provide free access to literature without compensating the author or the publisher. Authors Guild has a strong legal team that fights for the rights of authors against copyright violations, against book bans, against publishing scams aimed at newbie authors, and many other issues including slow payment and non-payment by publishers.

You may hear from various sources that LibGen is actually the “good guy,” and it is only Meta that is at fault in this case. Publishing is a complicated industry, its landscape changing almost daily. One argument I saw praising LibGen involves the fact it “archives” ebooks, which became even more important after February 26, 2025. On that date, Amazon made it impossible to download ebooks from Kindle to your computer, or any device over which you have control of the files. The fact that you can fetch them from LibGen does not let that pirating company off the hook, it simply punishes Amazon and the authors of those ebooks.

Most publishers of scientific journals truly are evil, though. First, the author pays exorbitant page fees to have their work published. Then, the publisher puts those papers behind a paywall that essentially shuts off access to the general public. I confess that without the “services” provided by the kin of LibGen, I would have extraordinary difficulty conducting research for my own books. I simply do not have the time to contact the author of a given paper, provided they are still alive, with a public email address, and ask them if they can provide me with a PDF of the paper I am seeking. God forbid that capitalism could keep its dirty fingers out of the pie of collective knowledge we should all be able to access, and that authors should not have to pay to publish.

Back to the current issue for a moment. What can authors do? Class action lawsuits against Meta are in the works, and I will likely let Authors Guild and the law firms do the heavy lifting on the behalf of us authors. AG also has a ”What Authors Need to Know” page listing additional courses of action, including a template for a letter you can send to Z-man, the CEO of Meta, to express your outrage, and/or concern. If your life can function without Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, you may want to consider alternative social media like Bluesky.

Why is all of this a problem? Authors and writers are already compensated precious little for what we produce. Many of us never see royalties, and “advances” ahead of publishing are becoming more of a rarity all the time. This devaluation of our skill set, imagination, and creativity is something we already suffer, without the added attacks of piracy and plagiarism, and the indignity of being replaced by AI tools.

I came across a YouTube video above, by Del Stone, Jr., that captures perfectly my own sentiments. The view that intellectual property is not worthy of respect, but instead something to be “harvested” and used against creative people in the future is demoralizing AF, as the kids these days would say. What these corporations are doing is robbing people like me of the desire to continue creating content, and stimulating critical thinking by our readers.

You wonder why I rail against capitalism over on my Sense of Misplaced blog? Now you have some idea. I can no longer promise new posts here, or there. What is the point? Why should I continue to provide free fodder for AI machines? I’m open to persuasion, but for now I may stick to putting out a book every so often, and doing the odd article for the few editors I treasure. Thank you, and good luck.

Happy 2025?

I am not sure that I have ever had less enthusiasm for an incoming new year than I have for this one. It seems rather silly, though, that I don’t have more excitement and positive anticipation. I already have virtual and in-person presentations on the horizon (book me now!), plus a Coldplay concert to look forward to. I even have a new passport, so can leave the country if I want.

What is the future of Bug Eric blog? I am seriously entertaining the idea of moving it to either Substack or Patreon. I will need to take my writing more seriously, if so, posting with definite regularity to meet the expectations of paying subscribers. Would I even have subscribers?

While I would prefer not to charge my readership, I must increase my income. This is especially true now that Social Security and Medicare are under attack from the incoming presidential administration. I may not have the “entitled” income and health benefits that I was expecting at my advancing age. I also need to value my work in the economic sense.

As for other projects, I have ideas for at least three more major works. One of those is a fictional piece that seems to want to be a play or screenplay. I keep “seeing” it as being performed, anyway. I would like to collaborate with others, as the current storyboard looks like an exploding star. It is not even linear. Ha! If done right, it could win all the things, including hearts and minds, I think.

None of my future book ideas have anything to do with insects except, perhaps, tangentially. This represents a huge risk since I am the “bug guy” by reputation. I cannot, however, ignore the greater problems surrounding how human beings impact the natural world, and each other. That isn’t a calling as much as a demand for my perspectives and experiences to be shared.

From the aspect of my mental and social health, I am becoming progressively more isolated. There is hardly anyone in my small town that I have even remote interest in spending time with. There are too many people older than I am, politically conservative, religious, unhappy, unhealthy, or all of the above. When I do venture out of the house, it is for an exercise walk, to run an errand or two, or hike by myself in a nearby wooded park. That is it. I thrive on the company of younger people, and that seems impossible here.

Even social media has lost most of its appeal. I left Twitter/X in the end-of-the-year mass exodus, and opted for Bluesky, the popular new alternative. I have enjoyed it so far. Facebook is in decline, with its near total emphasis on commercialization, and a newly-announced commitment to more AI (Artificial Intelligence) content, including artificial users. Actual, human Meta users are aging, and there is simply not the energy there used to be. I may have to learn Tik Tok if I want to stay relevant, and if that China-based platform is not outlawed.

There is no way I can continue suffering a lack of in-person contact, though. I am not suicidal, but as one Bluesky account put it, some days “I can’t life anymore.” The bigger cities of Kansas City and Overland Park are so close, yet so far away, and not really affordable.

Please let me know if you would pay to read more regular posts on Patreon or Substack, and under what circumstances/incentives. If you have suffered social isolation, how have you overcome it?

Thank you, as always, for your loyalty in following me, donating to this Blogger blog, and otherwise lending your support….Now, if I can just turn myself into a cat, I could lounge all day long, and have thousands more followers on Bluesky. Goals!

About the Calendar Photo: This calendar was purchased from melbry//arts. Melissa Bryant does brilliant and important work. Please support her efforts. Thank you.

Wishful Blinking

Wishful Blinking

Alas, not a firefly,
But the lights of a car passing by.

Eric R. Eaton