Wayne's Word Index Noteworthy Plants Trivia Lemnaceae Biology 101 Botany Scenic Wildflowers Trains Spiders & Insects Search  INDICES:   Trivia Notes   Alien Species   Humorous   Remember When   All Facebook Notes   Wayne's Trivia Notes #47   © W.P. Armstrong    All Facebook Notes & Images    Published Occasionally On Facebook Go To Latest Trivia Note On This Page Wayne's Trivia Note #990 As I have stated many times, my 15,000+ images would be a valuable resource on a college server. I have plants, lichens, fungi, insects, spiders & many more biological topics, many of which were peer-reviewed by professors in the United States & other countries. In fact, my images have appeared in many academic publications. Note: My entire hand-coded website, including 15,000+ images, occupies only 2.6 Gigs. www.waynesword.net    Wayne's Word    Wayne's Trivia Note #991 My Wayne's Word hippo logo dates back to a hippo refrigerator magnet from a student in a summer biology class over 3 decades ago. It evolved into an extensive collection of almost 1000 hippos, including the latest: A Hippo Wedding. In fact, prior to its online debut at Oregon State University, Wayne's Word was a comedy newsletter with a staff of hippos. It was only sent to special friends & colleagues who understood my humor.    Original Wayne's Word Hippo Staff    Wayne's Trivia Note #992 Each new year's day I calculate how many days have passed since day 1 of 3rd millennium (1 Jan 2001). I could have also used minutes or seconds. Why I do this, I have no idea. The calculation is relatively simple; however, you need the number of years since day 1 plus the number of leap years when Feb had 29 days. 2028, 2032, 2036, 2040, & 2044 are leap years. They are also presidential election years in the U.S. when we have a chance to vote out horrendous administrations. Wayne's Trivia Note #993 Mystery Spider? It seems unlikely that cobweb spider (lower left) made the small orb web (red circle). According to AI, several genera of tiny spiders can share a larger spiders web. Called "kleptoparasites", they steal small insects that larger spiders miss. AI also states that tiny orb weaver spiderling may build it first web in messy web of larger, older cobweb spider. I need to verify this with an arachnologist.    See Minute Kleptoparasitic Spider Resembling Dew Drop    Wayne's Trivia Note #994 In my Plant ID classes at Palomar College I gave students unknown weeds to key out in lab using Jepson Manual, a great way to learn botanical terminology. Flower heads in above image are almost as small as ordinary pin heads & the flowers are microscopic. AI photo ID identified it in seconds; however, you must upload good image. Is my dichotomous plant key method obsolete like slide rules! Should smart phones be banned in plant id classes? Or, just use tested plants that AI doesn't know! Wayne's Trivia Note #995 To trick AI, I submitted image of a few unopened cleistogamous henbit flowers & AI still identified it in seconds. This plant also produces regular 2-lipped flowers typical of mint family (see insert upper left). The cleistogamous flowers never open & are self pollinated. This clever survival tactic insures seed production early & late in the season when insects are not available. Wayne's Trivia Note #996 Latest tiny ant on recent walk. I can still spot these minute ants at my age. They often require entomologist colleagues specializing in ants to verify my IDs. My obsession with ants & natural history topics in my 996 Facebook Notes is an escape mechanism. It is how I cope with these unprecedented times in our government without taking mood-altering drugs.    See Remains of Major Workers in Pheidole Nest North of The Salton Sea       Palomar College Pheidole Nest: Major Head, Origin of Major & Charles Darwin    Wayne's Trivia Note #997 Follow-up to previous Pheidole facebook note. Here is image of remarkable major worker with enormous head the size of entire body of minor worker. It's hard to believe they are the same species. In fact, Charles Darwin discussed this phenomenon in his "Origin of Species" & even questioned natural selection. I found it crawling on my knees along dirt road north of Salton Sea. Several people stopped their cars & asked if I was OK! Wayne's Trivia Note #998 Pheidole major & minor worker from Willcox, Arizona on my way to New Mexico. Wayne's Trivia Note #999 View from Twin Oaks Valley: Orange Snow Moon setting in west. In five minutes it disappeared behind neighbor's house. Low in the horizon, longer wavelength red & orange light plus dust particles in atmosphere produce color. Wayne's Trivia Note #1000 Facebook Trivia Note #1000. Wayne's Word in Twin Oaks Valley attracts a lot of animals. All text material & images on these pages copyright © W.P. Armstrong