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Poems and Thoughts by Frank Maurer

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Entomology

Goli opus 11

How joyous it was watching you photograph
A few of our fellow creatures (dragonflies!).
I identified so much that you were I,
As you patiently crouched and waited
For your subject to present itself
In a perfect manner (with music!).

Please consider using your photos
With your future daycare children.
They would be delighted
To know you took the photos
And to hear your explanations of nature.

(Consult me for any nature questions you seek!)

Your devoted and caring friend,
Frank.

Entomophagy I opus 38

Do you know that, strangely now,
Early Atlantic slaves were fed on the then, undesirable lobster?
Today, with ever-reduced grazing areas on the planet
And fisheries that are pressed with over exploitation,
Humans are now contemplating returning to
A once ancestral desired cuisine of termites and their kin
Which at present are, by many, considered as absolutely horrible.

Bizarre how food choice is determined by
Fashion or need or revulsion;
What's different between a shelled sea creature
And terrestrial beings with an exoskeleton?

Entomophagy II opus 39

Oh dear! Why would one wish to ingest bugs?
Besides more humans continually needing protein
And efforts to reduce CO2 and methane,
Insects are a very desirable food source
Which fulfill all of the above.

For instance, on one acre during one year
A cow will produce 192 pounds
And chickens will produce 265 pounds
And 1,500 pounds of soy can be produced
And 7,700 pounds of algae per acre,
While crickets produce 65,000 pounds
And grubs produce 1,000,000 pounds!

Concerning space, cows need 20 square meters,
Pigs, 5; chickens, 4.5,
While crickets as a group require only 1.5 meters squared
And the lowly grubs need a tiny 0.1 square meters!

Insects as a superfood? Let's see.
They have three times more protein than beef,
Two times more iron than spinach,
With all essential amino acids.
Insects have 10% more vitamin B12 than salmon,
And a perfect omega 6:3 ratio!

With such credentials,
How could a challenged human population
Not heed what nature offers and, indeed, demands,
To save us from great hunger and malnutrition
In an ever hostile planet, pressing all
To eventually migrate polar north and some south,
Where temperatures will be more tolerable?

Get over it folks and learn to love
That source which enticed and, when found, delighted our ancestors--
Giving us our present day large brain and canine reduced morphology.

The African Bee (1969-1973) opus 75

In Lesotho (Le su tu), Africa, I was a biology professor.
Of course I taught regular science classes,
But in a country such as Lesotho,
One was obliged to give more back to this poorer society.
I thus decided one of my projects was to develop beekeeping.
Africans are basically terrified of the native, very untame bee.
For good reason. The African bee was always plundered and exploited;
Unlike the European bee, which was selected over time for gentleness.
Once again evolution--selection and mutation--play a major role.

At any rate, I travelled to Ladybrand, South Africa
To learn the art of African beekeeping.
I learned how to completely dress with several layers;
I learned the flowering sources for this species;
I learned the whole art of collecting and extracting the comb honey.

My first encounter with a swarm was in a garage.
Box ready. Smoker lit and in I went.
All were collected and confined in the cardboard boxes.
Everything went like clockwork--I had learned the art!

One works with bees often at night when they are grouped and calm,
But no matter when, a smoker is always needed.
I remember bundling Pierre, my one year old son, into the VW bus,
And driving out into the night with boxes, smoker,
Plus a plastic rounded hair curler to confine the queen,
To collect a nearby swarm and transfer it into one of my hives.
No problem. The child slept and I collected and delivered!

One incident I will never forget--so naturally profound.
A lovely, soft, quiet African afternoon'
As I tore open the corrugated wall of a trading post,
Behind which was a gigantic hive,
A Mosotho mother, baby on her back,
Stepped away from the crowd,
Squatted, let her stream of urine flow,
Got back up and walked away.
Such a beautiful sight of a natural human function.

At times, I collected whole combs to deliver to a local Holiday Inn.
The idea came to me that they serve the combs, Sundays, on silver platters.
They were delighted with the thought and combs were then delivered.

So, that was the beginning of my introduction to yet another fellow creature.
Beekeeping can be heavy work,
But such a sweet, calming way to pass one's time and life experience.

Our Honey Bee opus 123

Much of our agricultural system is partially built on a house of cards.
California, for instance, has over 1600 species of native bees,
All species of which are full-time pollinators.
But upon what species do we mostly rely for controlled pollination?
It is the European--yes European--Honey Bee,
Introduced long ago from the European invasion of North America.

For many years (40+), I conducted walking tours on Quail Ridge Reserve,
Now part of the Natural Reserve System of the University of California, Davis.
Whenever I came upon a native Buckeye tree,
I would ask, "Why, with all those large, phallic blossoms,
Are the blossoms' 'products' lethal to our Honey Bee?"
Few could ever correctly answer, but the answer is in its name!
European.
By introducing a non-native species to a new region of the world,
There is always the risk of potential catastrophe.
Some living thing--plant or animal-- will find a 'weakness',
And in the world of evolution, will take advantage for its own survival.
The European Honey Bee has not evolved in North America
To be able to pollinate a California Buckeye with its toxins.
Just as it has now rapidly been barraged with parasites.

It is always dangerous to introduce much of anything
To another region without risk:
Especially a creature introduced, which also lives in a huge community!
Is this phenomenon a warning that a gigantic human population
Is relying absolutely too much on cultures of another gigantic population?
As we watch the 'emergence' of virus, spreading through our hospitals and the world,
We must teach our young to truly understand the principles of evolution,
And that the phenomenon, is ever-guided through natural selection.

The Bumblebee; a California Fish? opus 127

Under certain circumstances, a California court
Has ruled bees can legally be considered fish 'under specific circumstances'.
So, does the bumblebee, for instance, a terrestrial invertebrate,
Fall within the definition of fish (Endangered Species Act 2062)?
The Act itself protects "native species or subspecies
Of bird, mammal, fish, amphibian, reptile, or plant."
Invertebrates are conspicuously absent from that list of protected species!
But there is a lucky loophole for insects, mollusks, and other spineless creatures,
Falling under the umbrella term "invertebrate":
The actual act defines a "fish" as a "wild fish, mollusk,
Crustacean, INVERTEBRATE, amphibian or part, spawn, or ovum therefrom.
So, this expansion of the definition of fish to include invertebrates,
Allows them for greater protection from the Fish and Game Commission,
And just in time for several species of endangered bumblebee!

No wonder the 'law' can do almost anything!
It is just those germane, ferreted-out words and phrases.

II. Human-caused Evolutionary Changes - Aggressive African Bees/Gentle European Bees opus 139

The African honeybee has been selected for aggressiveness
Because of intense predation, including by humans,
Who, in spite of many stings, desire the sweet honey
And would merely plunder a hive, thus selecting for ever-more aggressive bees.
This bee was never domesticated by humans.
Wild hives and managed hives are the same bee, populations shifting back and forth.
Also it is thought that the African honeybee race is so aggressive
Because it evolved in an arid environment, sources of nectar and pollen being scarce.
Natural selection thus favored aggressive colonies which protected their food source
And their hives from predators and robber bees from other colonies.

Bee keeping is the art of caring for and managing colonies.
This is what occurred with the European honeybee--over centuries--
Continually selecting for gentler and gentler queens.
The whole colony was then basically selected for gentleness.
Thus there are more than 20 honeybee races in Europe, America, and Asia,
But only two are found in South Africa.
Beekeeping with the African honeybee does occur with some people,
Especially European transplants.
But, as I can attest, heavy clothing and patience are necessities,
And the result from this very productive producer is rewarding.

Australian Singer, Genesis Owusu opus 177

Genesis Owusu has won every musical award in Australia
And is now planning to start performing in the US.
His family emigrated from Ghana, Africa, when he was a child.
He had to learn as a black immigrant just how to fit in.
His second album, following his successful debut, is 'Struggle', featuring 'Roaching'.
In this new musical presentation he sings about the cockroach--
Its ability to survive against 'great odds',
And in passing, poses the question does god value such a creature.
He then compares the stubborn and powerful cockroach to the human struggle--
'Like the cockroach we shall overcome all adversity' {my paraphrasing}.

As a biologist, I extrapolated and generally wondered about the 'survival of things'.
Cockroaches have an incredible ability to reproduce and adapt to available space and food.
Humans are incredibly able to survive by their reproductive 'ability'
(Partly through continuous female receptivity) and with always newly developed technology--
Clothing, agriculture, the domestication of the horse, the wheel, control of fire--
Cooking and producing 'soft food' has even caused the evolution of reduced molars,
Loss of a second stomach (the appendix), loss of the sagittal ridge
(Bone on the skull to accommodate attached extra masticating muscle),
Reduction of canine teeth--all with the help and backup of an opposable thumb!

Remembering that a 'good' parasite does not kill its host,
Again, one extrapolates in one's mind, on the human population as the 'dependant parasite',
And the planet as the 'host'; Will humans adapt to less usurpation of the 'host',
By once again, fostering technology and behavioral adaptation,
Thus preventing us from 'killing our host'?

Amputations of Man and Beast opus 384

Perhaps as long as 30,000 years ago Homo sapiens
Were performing amputations--Homo neanderthalis
Probably had them beat by several thousand years!
But let's talk of amputations millions of years ago!
Carpenter ants, it has now been discovered,
Have continuously amputated injured legs
Of fellow warriors, when necessary.
They are also presumably able to produce
Antibiotic secretions for serious wounds
As well as for amputations when needed--
Lower leg wounds are left alone
Because if altered, death usually occurs,
While upper leg wounds are successfully
Amputated and treated.
Ants produce many antimicrobial compounds
And have evolved to possess many medical treatments.
This, of course, includes therapeutic amputation!

I believe this is monumental information
Which draws our thoughts towards various life forms,
Ever closer together, and gives us pause
As to just how we might evaluate 'other life'!

Butterfly Massacre opus 400

I reside in the Central Valley of California.
I have lived on my smallish (37 acre) farm since 1978--46 years!
At my age one contemplates one's death more than when a teenager.
Being a biologist, I also think about the death of other creatures.
Chatting with my wonderful farm helper,
I asked him why all the butterflies were moving en masse,
Being pulverized (as he also drove) by the speeding autos?
He wasn't sure, but finally, together, we came up with 'migration'.
Yes, many species of lepidoptera migrate besides Monarchs.
The predominant shifting species at present is the lovely Sulphur--
Moving to new local feeding grounds to ensure more future caterpillars!
The beautiful yellow (Sulphur), black-tipped flyers
Move across the more open roads for easier flight
And are sadly meeting their own holocaust.
We think of the roadkill of larger creatures: deer, rabbits, raccoons,
But insects such as butterflies and Honey Bees
Are slaughtered every year--
The butterflies as they migrate
And the foraging Honey Bees,
Innocently traversing from their human-made hives.
1925 was the beginning of road ecology science
And we humans, because of our vehicles,
Have invested millions in the prevention of creature annihilation--
Tunnels, wildlife bridges, speed limits, warning signs--
But the Class Insecta individuals remain ever in peril.

Our Preferences of Beauty opus 412

I was asked why some people consider butterflies beautiful
And not other insects or, indeed, many other forms of life.
Understanding beauty is the result of familiarity and appreciation:
This is a result of a good teacher--parent or other--who describes
The wonder of the evolutionary process forming an organism
And the complexity of the incredible detail of such subject.
Consider the huge group of Coleoptera (beetles),
Manifesting an amazing array of color and shape.
To the uninitiated, these 'bugs' could be considered ugly and dangerous.
There are others--snakes, bats, mosquitoes, crustaceans, bees, skunks--
And so many more, which make up a large list.
It all comes down to a complete understanding and admiration of function
And the necessary depth to which one might possibly be submersed
Into the complete and 'true' feeling of what beauty really means!

Zebra Stripes opus 460

Zebras have stripes not for 'normal' camouflage,
But to be more invisible to biting flies!
How do we know? It has been researched.
To jump to an 'obvious conclusion' only
Is not fulfilling the needed human empirical conclusions,
We must all need to study and follow--
In all things.

Ants as a Vector opus 482

A Pennsylvania eight-year-old boy thought he saw ants transporting
seeds to their nest.
This phenomenon is called myrmecochory and the seeds are with
Structures called elaiosomes which entice ants with nutrient-rich fats.
In the nest the ants remove the elaiosomes and leave the seed to later
germinate.
This helps seed dispersal as well as feeding the ants!
Instead of seeds, the boy, Hugo, had discovered the ants were
collecting oak galls.
(This basically rewrites 100 years of insect and plant interactive history!)
Galls are abnormal plant growths (often on oaks) induced by some wasp species.
The gall feeds and protects the larva growing from the wasp egg laid inside.
Oak galls have a structure named 'kapello' from the Greek for 'cap'.
These 'kapellos' (actually, 'kapelli') are also rich in fatty acids to
attract ants.
Similarly, the ants eat the 'kapelli', leaving the gall and larva inside intact,
Which once again gives similar shelter for the encapsulated intact larva.
Both phenomena either attract or exploit ant behavior.
The fatty acids in both structures mimic dead insects,
And ants, being scavengers, are attracted to what seems to be usual food.
This mimicry 'makes certain' these evolutionary strategies
Blur the lines between plant and animal adaptations.
Experimentation showed only similar ant behavior with the two structures.
If oak trees are lost, disruption would occur between ants, wasps, and galls.
This is another example of a vital ecological network
And that ecosystems are certainly interconnected.
We must preserve biodiversity, much of it by controlling the climate crisis.

A Catastrophe Causes Ants to Change Their Diet opus 487

When we imagine ants seeking food, we probably think first of sugar or crumbs.
But because of a catastrophe on the earth which occurred 66 million years ago,
Not only did dinosaurs disappear, but ants also were affected.
Large creatures on the earth's surface were incinerated away,
While smaller, fossorial creatures were often spared.
Of course I am talking about the crash of the meteor into our earth.
It greatly changed things on terrestrial earth, but also in the seas.
The survival of small fossorial mammals gave rise to creatures like us!
There are many stories to be told, but I shall focus on ants right now.
Most food sources for ants, including plants were burned to a crisp--
This major food for ants was, indeed, plants--so what to do?
Interestingly, masses of dead plant material became a major food for fungi
Hungry ants jumped right in and evolved to collect and eat fungus.
Thus today we behold our harvester ants common in many places.
So, a catastrophe and death knell for a major group of animals,
Created, through adaptation, a new food source for another.
The evolution of tenacious life on our planet
Continually strives to maintain the flow of protoplasm
At all costs and beyond the capacity of 'normal' thought.

Mason Bee vs the European Honeybee opus 559

I have raised many bees in Sweden and Africa and am well aware of their ways.
Honeybees have been used as pollinators in the US since the 1600's.
Today, the bee loss is tremendous--up to 60 to 100%.
Because they are non-native, they are succumbing to pesticides,
Habitat loss, and mite infestations.
Our native pollinators are affected, but holding on so far.
There are 4000 species of US bee pollinators--1600 in California alone.
The Honeybee is a terrible pollinator because
Most of the pollen is deposited in the hive.
Thus they do not pollinate efficiently.
An alternative native bee is successfully being tried--the Mason Bee.
This bee, also called the Blue Orchard Bee, simply belly flops onto a flower,
Then, covered in pollen, it continues, generously pollinating.
The Honeybee lives in large hives, allowing easy transportation for farmers.
Mason Bees live in cavities or tubes--they make no honey,
There is no queen bee nor workers--all females are queens.
Because they build chambers in the tubes--thus the name Mason Bee.
This bee rarely stings and all they need is water and a mud supply!
Of course a constructed tube hive of some sort must also be provided.

Puking Carbon opus 585

When I was younger,
I travelled wantonly everywhere--
And at a whim, but with good intentions;
Spreading carbon waste everywhere.

Now that I am (very) older,
I am relieved that I am
More tied to my bed and the toilet,
So that my mostly non-vital travelling
Will not add to the horrible carbon pollution
That may eventually take us all down--
Oh, that is, except for the plant world!
(Or the cockroaches,
Which have survived enumerable changes,
Cohabiting perhaps
With the horseshoe crabs and trilobites!)

Mimicry opus 610

As a child, I was always fascinated with mimicry in nature.
Flies that evolved to depict bees and butterflies to mimic each other.
There are scores of examples--just get a good book!
As a New England boy, I was fixed on the Monarch/Viceroy phenomenon.
The Monarch caterpillar feeds and survives on milkweed with all its toxins.
The adult emerges crystalis-wise as a toxic adult, flashing warnings of red.
Young birds, et al, soon learn of this terrible taste,
And are severely dissuaded from preying on this deceptively delicious morsel.
Somehow, along comes a similarly red tidbit, but delicious--the Viceroy.
Over time the Viceroy butterfly evolved ever-closer to better mimic the Monarch.
The Viceroy is tasty--the Monarch is not.
Selection and adaptation finally favored both these species.
As my thinking progressed, and just for fun, I looked at human 'mimicry'.
This was not genetic, but rather behavioral mimicry.
Consider the Romans invading the Celtic world with a plethora of red-haired women.
The warriors brought the tales of these exotic-looking females
Back to their dark-haired women.
Soon, red hair dyes were concocted to be equal to that of the attractive Celts,
Thus confirming my thoughts concerning the notion of behavioural mimicry.
Who knows, in addition, what genetic mutations might have resulted from such?
Just a Thought!

(Because of increased scientific knowledge a portion
of this poem is incorrect. See 'Mimicry Refined' opus 619).

A Radioactive Wasp Nest? opus 619

A radioactive wasp nest was discovered
In a South Carolina site which formerly made parts for nuclear bombs.
There are routine radiation checks and the nest was found
Near where tanks of liquid nuclear waste is stored.
The radiation level was 10 times allowed by federal regulations.
The nest was sprayed with insecticide and disposed of.
No leak appeared from the waste tanks.
The nest seemed to be radioactive from residual radioactivity.
There is yet no conclusion from where the actual radioactivity came.
Of course, there is the possibility of another such contaminated nest,
If there is a positive leak somewhere.
Some wasps use dirt and others use other materials to construct their nests.
It therefore may be crucial to know the type of wasp nest. (Yes, absolutely!)
There may be no public danger, as wasps fly near their nests.
It is assumed that the wasps' radioactive level would have been lower than the nest.
This is a wrinkle in the radioactive 'danger story'.

Mimicry Refined opus 620

(See previous thought 'Mimicry' opus 608)

Well, there are advantages and disadvantages to living so long.
For me, the subject of mimicry appears to be one.
A wonderful naturalist friend caught this in my last Mimicry prose-poem,
Namely, that I grew up learning the Monarch butterfly was toxic
And that the Viceroy mimic was 'spared', while still being a tasty morsel.
This type of mimicry is called Batesian mimicry.
In the 1990's, it was discovered that the Viceroy was also toxic.
I had not caught up with this new knowledge,
Thus erroneously so wrote in the previous 'Mimicry'.
This other classification is called Muellerian co-mimicry,
Where, in this case, both species are mimics and both are toxic.
This results in an even stronger defence for the two species.
To make things more complicated,
The Viceroy is mimicked by the Queen and Soldier butterflies,
Both of which are also toxic! In this region, Monarchs are rare.
Will wonders never cease?

Sulphur Butterfly Migration opus 641

Well, it's that time. Small yellow butterflies massacred on the roads.
Here, west of Davis, they seem to be migrating southwest.
It is not only the Monarch that migrates (north and south)--
Other species including the aforementioned Yellow Sulphurs do the same,
Although their migration pattern is much more local.
Dispersal of species assures new feeding grounds,
New opportunities to mate, and more favorable 
Overwintering of adults, larvae, or eggs.

Just think of the massive human migrations--
New territory, new hunting, new interaction with potential mates.
All life is quite similar in its quest for survival.
New territory depicts new opportunities.
Will we really inhabit the moon or mars?
To some, seems foolish, but there are always those dreamers.

Another View of Death opus 642

A man was walking in a field with his daughter.
The two came upon the carcass of a mouse.
The father, seeing this as an opportunity to discuss death,
Begins to talk with his daughter.
The young child notices the masses of ants covering the mouse body.
The father realizes that the subject must now include decomposition,
And gently urges the girl to come away.
Walking a 'ways from the body, the girl turns back to the mouse.
She continues to watch the ants moving over and in the corps,
And turns to her father, "Look how these ants love this mouse!"
The yet untutored mind of a child, 
Often yields an unexpected, creative conclusion.

(This account reminds me of the two previous observations I made
about Rowan (g-son) and the opossum body found in our field.)