Asian Dead-leaf Mantis

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We were in DC, visiting my brother’s family. On Wednesday afternoon I snuck away to the Natural History Museum and made a beeline (sorry) for the Orkin Insect Zoo.

They have an amazing collection of live insects and other arthropods, as well as some beautiful preserved specimens. One of the highlights, for me, was seeing the colonies of honeypot ants (Myrmecocystus mimicus), who send out workers to forage for nectar. The foragers then barf what they collected into the mouths of other workers, called “repletes.” The globularly-shaped repletes have to hang there, engorged with honey, acting as honey dispensers for any colony member that happens to be hungry later on.

Not a great shot--but honeypot ants in action.

I also happened to get there just in time for the tarantula feeding. The front row was mostly fascinated little kids and me, with their parents chatting in the back row. Being three times bigger than most of the spectators, I got myself a good spot in front with one or two well-placed elbows.

Even though she has eight pairs of eyes, the tarantula doesn’t see all that well. She senses the live cricket by motion and air current. She grabs it in her pincers, called palps, and regurgitates stomach acid onto it. Once it’s nicely liquefied, she slurps up her cricket smoothie.

Another highlight of our trip was a big basketball game at George Washington University, organized by Senator Mark Warner (my brother is his Chief of Staff). My husband and son played with the senator, as well as a bunch of other DC luminaries and former NBA players. I didn’t want to be too obvious, but I managed to snap a few pictures.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

Former NBA player Tom McMillan chatting with a secret service guy

My son, on the right, getting D'd up by Senator Warner.