Wise

 "Symmetry arises from proportion, which the Greeks call "analogia". Proportion is a due adjustment of the size of the different parts to each other and to the whole; on this proper adjustment symmetry depends. Hence no building can be said to be well designed which wants symmetry and proportion. In truth they are as necessary to the beauty of a building as to that of a well formed human figure."

 

Vitruvius, "On Architecture"

The world of architects and biologists do not often overlap, but there is a lot about design and evolution that is interesting to most thinking people and have occupied the thoughts of many people such as Darwin, Aristotle, and Medel.

Most amphibians, but especially the toad, illustrate to us the amazing ability of biology to apply proportion. These animals easily drown in deep or fast water, they have no teeth, few defenses, and spend very little time not in a torpor underground. But this year, the hot, moist bosque could not be a better environment for them with shallow flooding and insects aplenty. Right now, they are perfectly designed for their environment.

The basic body type for spiders has changed very little over the last 380 million years. While most people notice the eight legs of spiders, their defining characteristic for biologists is their "book lungs"

I don't know this spider species, but with more than 50,000 species that is not surprising. The shape of the legs and thorax is odd, but it is likely a cellar spider.

This spider relation goes by many names. It's not venomous, it is not a scorpion, or a true spider. The sun spider has the record for the largest jaws relative to body size of any land creature and they hunt most insects, and the occasional mouse, through the leaf litter.

The ant lion is a fearsome predator as a juvenile, while the adult only feasts on flower nectar and pollen. This difference in lifestyle from an adult and juvenile allows far more of these insects to share the same space without competition.

While flowers are food for insects, they are also food for thought. The symmetry of flowers is impressive. There are many theories as to why they form such perfect pentagons, but the consensus is that this is the most space efficient way to grow petals that can grow from a bud cupped, then open flat.

When most people see a beetle, they usually ask questions related to how destructive it is to the garden (even if they don't have a garden). With this ebony beetle, biologists are still arguing what the Latin name should be. This is a clear indication that the beetle is not important enough to be worth studying, at least for its destructive economical potential to our salad.

This Scoliid wasp is present in large numbers in the dust of the levee road in the Spring. They are completely harmless. Actually, only 15% of all wasp species in the US have stingers and are likely to use them. Those huge antennae are used to detect underground females what are hatching out from the ground.

 

 The dense foliage of the bosque currently hides huge numbers of fascinating insects. This beetle is a European elm flea weevil (Orchestes alni). It has only been found in the US since the 80's. It damages most elms, but is not considered destructive, causing unsightly blemishes instead.

Butterflies are usually considered brightly colored as a warning or mimicking a warning. This picture also shows how well some colors break up outlines on the right background. This is Weidemeyer's Admiral. The caterpillars feed on cottonwood leaves, the adults feed on tree sap, flower nectar....and carrion...

Cicadas come in many forms and they do not always produce the huge swarms every ten years. What they do produce, is honeydew. This substance is worth a whole book in it's own right and is one way trees can produce sugar currency to trade with insects without flowers. They can attract wasp predators to remove tree parasites, help recycle fallen leaves with sooty fungi, call ants to protect the tree, or thousands of other unstudied, interactive effects.

The bosque only survives because its systems are constantly being replenished. The cottonwoods that used to make up the bulk of the trees has many incredibly remarkable ways to create the next generation. It's seeds have a fluffy tuft that release huge billowy clouds during the windy, high temperatures before a monsoon. Each tree produces about 25 million seeds, which can then throw off their fluffy annulus and stick to any wet surface they touch. The seeds in this picture jettisoned their parachutes when they touched a wet puddle that has since died up.

Most animals migrate some distance during the breeding season. The asphalt and dirt roads in Corrales kill huge numbers of them. This young red racer was probably seeking others when it was run over by a car.

There are many young and immature birds around in the trees right now, the current year's fledglings, often abbreviated to YoY (young of year). These birds look like phoebes, but we got to watch the kingbird mother create the nest and hatch seven in one brood. She then began a second brood, that has not hatched yet. These two fledglings stuck around for a short while but have now moved on.

Just like all amphibians need to lay eggs in water, all turtles need to lay their eggs on land. Many eggs are dug up by raccoons or skunks. The turtle mothers are at high risk of being crushed by vehicles. This one has finished laying her eggs in a sandy nest. It took a long time, and now she has to rush back to the safety of the ditch in the morning sunlight. Turtles seem strangely designed, but they haven't changed much in over 100 million years and have some incredible adaptions.

Squirrels are very hard to get close to because they can learn so fast. This juvenile squirrel tried hiding behind a lawn ornament instead of taking off running probably because its climbing skills are not fully honed yet. While it has a lot to learn, it has started off in life with great instincts.

The design of nature and its creatures are often easily to appreciate on a superficial level. Still appreciation will only increase the deeper a person looks. While biology sometimes benefits for people looking closer, people will always learn a bit more about themselves in the process. The symmetry of knowing versus learning is innate in every one of us and needs to be nurtured.