A second cousin once removed just found me on the net. She's about my age, and a direct descendant of my father's aunt. I remember Dad's aunt as the first eightysomething I ever met who had astounding energy, and she lived to be 94. It's been an amazing communication so far; I hope to keep up the e-link.

Rick found a small parasitoid wasp in the house today. For the life of me, I can't figure out what it's doing on the wing in Michigan in February. Apparently it's made a very, very bad mistake. Oh, well, at least we have a new pet for as long as it survives. It's now eating the honey that I smeared on the inside of its jar. If nothing else, I do know how to feed captive wasps.

For those of you wondering what Formica exsectoides looks like, there's a beautiful photo of one here. At least I think it's a very attractive ant. Check out the rest of the site, too, for more insect-errific photography by Alex Wild. (Thanks, Alex, for permission to link to your photos!)