Thomas William Backhouse Clearly Saw Gegenschein Sept. 28, 1875

Summary: Victorian astronomer and meteorologist Thomas William Backhouse clearly saw the gegenschein Sept. 28, 1875, as a light phenomenon opposite the sun.

“Gegenschein above the VLT” captures diagonal band of gegenshein (top center to bottom right) over European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Paranal Observatory in northern Chile’s Atacama Desert; imaged October 2007 by astronomer and astrophotographer Yuri Beletsky using digital camera with 10-millimeter wide-angle lens: ESO/Y. Beletsky, CC BY 4.0 International, via ESO (European Southern Observatory) @ https://cdn.eso.org/images/large/eso0812d.jpg

Victorian astronomer and meteorologist Thomas William Backhouse clearly saw the gegenschein Sept. 28, 1875, as a “curious phenomenon” with visibility “opposite the Sun.”

Gegenschein, pronounced gay-gen-shine, is the German word for “counter glow.” The optical phenomenon’s visibility occurs at 180 degrees opposite the sun and requires dark skies. Jerry T. Bonnell and Robert J. Nemiroff, American astrophysicists and co-creators of NASA’s APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day) website, describe the gegenschein as “sunlight back-scattered off small interplanetary dust particles. These dust particles are millimeter sized splinters from asteroids and orbit in the ecliptic plane of the planets.”

Thomas William Backhouse (Aug. 14, 1842-March 13, 1920) reported his observations of the optical phenomenon in the Nov. 12, 1875, issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. He made his observations in the observatory at his home, West Hendon House, in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, North East England.

Backhouse explained that before Sept. 28, 1875, he had never noticed the light phenomenon “with such distinctness.” Backhouse’s “curious phenomenon respecting the Zodiacal Light” is now known as the gegenschein.

The gegenschein appeared Sept. 28, 1875, as “a remarkably definite oval patch of light” in the equatorial constellation of Pisces the Fishes. The patch’s diameter was about 20 degrees by 14 degrees. Four stars in Pisces (Epsilon Piscium, Omega Piscium, 21 Piscium, 29 Piscium) and two in the neighboring, equatorial constellation of Cetus the Whale (13 Ceti, 20 Ceti) established the gegenschein’s perimeter.

According to the high-precision Hipparcos Catalogue, published in 1997, Epsilon Piscium (HIP 4906) has equatorial coordinates of right ascension 23 hours 49 minutes 27.474 seconds and declination plus 01 degrees 04 minutes 34.06 seconds. Omega Piscium (HIP 118268) is found at right ascension 23 hours 59 minutes 18.687 seconds and declination plus 06 degrees 51 minutes 47.96 seconds. Equatorial coordinates for 21 Piscium (HIP 117491) are right ascension 23 hours 49 minutes 27.474 seconds and declination plus 01 degrees 04 minutes 34.06 seconds. Equatorial coordinates for 29 Piscium (HIP 145) are right ascension 00 hours 01 minutes 49.447 seconds and declination minus 03 degrees 01 minute 39.02 seconds.

The Hipparcos-determined location of 13 Ceti (HIP 2762) is right ascension 00 hours 35 minutes 14.640 seconds and declination minus 03 degrees 35 minutes 33.90 seconds. Equatorial coordinates for 20 Ceti (HIP 4147) are right ascension 00 hours 53 minutes 00.495 seconds and declination minus 01 degrees 08 minutes 39.33 seconds.

The gegenschein faded away so suddenly to the west that Backhouse at first, at 10:15 p.m., lost sight of it. Sometime afterward, he caught a faint glimpse of the gegenschein in the Pisces’ southwestern neighbor, Aquarius the Water Bearer, near Delta Aquarii.

Delta Aquarii (HIP 113136) is located at right ascension 22 hours 54 degrees 39.012 seconds and declination minus 15 degrees 49 minutes 14.85 seconds.

Backhouse perceived a more gradual, though at first rapid, fading of the gegenschein to the east of its Cetus- and Pisces-centered bright patch. Visibility was possible near the Pleiades, the open star cluster in Taurus the Bull constellation. Beyond the Pleiades, the Milky Way obscured the gegenschein.

Later, Backhouse found traces south and north of the bright patch. He tracked a faint patch southward to Iota Ceti.

Iota Ceti (HIP 1562) is located at right ascension 00 hours 19 minutes 25.674 seconds and declination minus 08 degrees 49 minutes 26.11 seconds.

Northward traces spilled into Pisces’ northwestern neighbor, Pegasus the Winged Horse constellation, and reached Gamma Pegasi in the southeastern corner of the Great Square of Pegasus asterism (recognizable pattern of stars).

Gamma Pegasi (HIP 1067) is found at right ascension 00 hours 13 minutes 14.151 seconds and declination plus 15 degrees 11 minutes 00.94 seconds.

At 10:45 p.m., Backhouse noted a lack of uniformity in the bright patch’s light. He perceived rapid concentration primarily along the ecliptic. Backhouse located the brightest part at, or one degree north of, 44 Piscium. He commented: “This point I find was exactly, to a degree, opposite the Sun.”

The Hipparcos scientific satellite places 44 Piscium (HIP 2006) at right ascension 00 hours 25 minutes 24.208 seconds and declination plus 01 degree 56 minutes 22.89 seconds.

Over the next 10 days, the point of maximum brightness made gradual eastward movements. During that time, the bright patch’s appearance became increasingly indefinite.

Backhouse puzzled over the cause of this phenomenon of zodiacal light opposite the sun. He suggested that “it is still possible that the zodiacal light is composed of particles which reflect light more readily straight towards the Sun than at other angles.”

Thomas William Backhouse’s report on the gegenschein was his first publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, according to his obituary in the Feb. 11, 1921, issue of the Monthly Notices. His three-page report, entitled "On the Aspect of the Zodiacal Light," appeared in the journal’s Nov. 12, 1875, issue. Numbering among Backhouse’s contributions to astronomy is his Nov. 6, 1869, discovery of the Southern Taurid meteor shower.

The takeaway for Thomas William Backhouse’s clearly seeing the gegenschein Sept. 28, 1875, is that the optical phenomenon of back-scattered light from small interplanetary dust particles caught the Victorian astronomer’s attention as a bright patch centered on the neighboring equatorial constellations of Pisces the Fishes and Cetus the Whale.

West Hendon House, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, North East England; home and observatory where Victorian astronomer and meteorologist Thomas William Backhouse studied natural phenomena; T.W. Backhouse’s "Meteorological Observations, Chiefly at Sunderland," Publications of the West Hendon House Observatory, Sunderland, No. IV (1915), frontispiece, Figures I-III: Public Domain, Google-digitized, via HathiTrust

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

“Gegenschein above the VLT” captures diagonal band of gegenshein (top center to bottom right) over European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Paranal Observatory in northern Chile’s Atacama Desert; imaged October 2007 by astronomer and astrophotographer Yuri Beletsky using digital camera with 10-millimeter wide-angle lens: ESO/Y. Beletsky, CC BY 4.0 International, via ESO (European Southern Observatory) @ https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0812d/

West Hendon House, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, North East England; home and observatory where Victorian astronomer and meteorologist Thomas William Backhouse studied natural phenomena; T.W. Backhouse’s "Meteorological Observations, Chiefly at Sunderland," Publications of the West Hendon House Observatory, Sunderland, No. IV (1915), frontispiece, Figures I-III: Public Domain, Google-digitized, via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112071075334?urlappend=%3Bseq=6;
via Google Books Read for Free @ https://www.google.com/books/edition/Publications_of_West_Hendon_House_Observ/RvbmAAAAMAAJ

For further information:

A. C. D. C. “Obituary . . . Fellows: . . . Thomas William Backhouse.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. LXXXI, issue 4 (Feb. 11, 1921): 254-255.
Available via Harvard ADSABS (NASA Astrophysics Data System) @ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1919PA.....27..109B

Backhouse, T.W. (Thomas William). “Meteorological Observations, Chiefly at Sunderland.” Publications of the West Hendon House Observatory, Sunderland, No. IV. Sunderland, England: Hills & Co., 1915.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112071075334?urlappend=%3Bseq=7

Backhouse, T.W. (Thomas William). “On the Aspect of the Zodiacal Light Opposite the Sun.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 36, issue 1 (Nov. 12, 1875): 46-48.
Available via Oxford University Press Academic @ https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/36/1/46/1120327

King, Bob. Night Sky With the Naked Eye. Salem MA: Page Street Publishing Co., 2016.

King, Bob. “Take the Gegenschein Challenge.” Sky & Telescope > Observing. Oct. 14, 2015.
Available @ https://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/take-the-gegenschein-challenge101420151410/

Ley, Willy. “The Puzzle Called Gegenschein.” Galaxy Magazine, vol. 19, no. 4 (April 1961): 74-79.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/Galaxy_v19n04_1961-04#page/n37/mode/1up

Marriner, Derdriu. “2018 Southern Taurids Peak Sunday Night, Oct. 28, to Pre-Dawn, Oct. 29.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/10/2018-southern-taurids-peak-sunday-night.html

Nemiroff, Robert (MTU); and Jerry Bonnell (UMCP). “The Gegenschein Over Chile.” NASA APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day). Jan. 14, 2014.
Available @ https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140114.html

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF); Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC). “HIP 145.” Hubble Legacy Archive.
Available @ https://hla.stsci.edu/hlaview.html#Inventory|filterText%3D%24filterTypes%3D|query_string=HIP%20145

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF); Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC). “HIP 1067.” Hubble Legacy Archive.
Available @ https://hla.stsci.edu/hlaview.html#Inventory|filterText%3D%24filterTypes%3D|query_string=HIP%201067

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF); Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC). “HIP 1562.” Hubble Legacy Archive.
Available @ https://hla.stsci.edu/hlaview.html#Inventory|filterText%3D%24filterTypes%3D|query_string=HIP%201562

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF); Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC). “HIP 2762.” Hubble Legacy Archive.
Available @ https://hla.stsci.edu/hlaview.html#Inventory|filterText%3D%24filterTypes%3D|query_string=HIP%202762

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF); Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC). “HIP 4147.” Hubble Legacy Archive.
Available @ https://hla.stsci.edu/hlaview.html#Inventory|filterText%3D%24filterTypes%3D|query_string=HIP%204147

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF); Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC). “HIP 4906.” Hubble Legacy Archive.
Available @ https://hla.stsci.edu/hlaview.html#Inventory|filterText%3D%24filterTypes%3D|query_string=HIP%204906

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF); Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC). “HIP 113136.” Hubble Legacy Archive.
Available @ https://hla.stsci.edu/hlaview.html#Inventory|filterText%3D%24filterTypes%3D|query_string=HIP%20113136

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF); Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC). “HIP 117491.” Hubble Legacy Archive.
Available @ https://hla.stsci.edu/hlaview.html#Inventory|filterText%3D%24filterTypes%3D|query_string=HIP%20117491

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF); Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC). “HIP 118268.” Hubble Legacy Archive.
Available @ https://hla.stsci.edu/hlaview.html#Inventory|filterText%3D%24filterTypes%3D|query_string=HIP%20110602

2019-2020 Met Opera’s Second Week Has Gershwin, Massenet, Puccini, Verdi

Summary: The 2019-2020 Met Opera’s second week has Gershwin, Massenet, Puccini and Verdi operas of Porgy and Bess, Manon, Turandot and Macbeth, respectively.

The Metropolitan Opera launches the 16th revival of Italian director Franco Zeffirelli's production of Puccini's Turandot in the 2019-2020 season's second week: ‎Antonio Mitri‎ to Franco Zeffirelli Public Group, via Facebook Oct. 10, 2018

The 2019-2020 Met Opera’s second week has Gershwin, Massenet, Puccini and Verdi operas in continuing performances of Porgy and Bess, Manon and Macbeth and with the season’s premiere of Puccini’s Turandot.

The 2019-2020 Met Opera season’s second week begins with the season’s third performance of Porgy and Bess by American composer and pianist George Gershwin (Sept. 26, 1898-July 11, 1937). The Monday, Sept. 30, performance starts at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The week’s second performance of Porgy and Bess, which numbers as the season’s fourth performance of Gershwin’s folk opera, is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 5, at 1 p.m.

The 2019-2020 Met Opera season’s second week continues performances of revived productions of Macbeth and Manon. The season’s second week includes two performances of each opera. Macbeth by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901) is performed Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 7:30 p.m. and Friday, Oct. 4, at 8 p.m. Manon by French Romantic Era composer Jules Massenet (May 12, 1842-Aug. 13, 1912) is offered Wednesday, Oct. 2, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 5, at 8 p.m.

The 2019-2020 Met Opera season’s second week includes the season premiere of Turandot by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924). The season’s opening night performance of Turandot is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 3, at 7:30 p.m.

Beyond its season premiere, Turandot receives 12 additional performances during the 2019-2020 Met Opera season. Including the season premiere, eight performances are scheduled for the autumn. Five performances will be given in spring 2019.

All autumn performances take place in October. After the season premiere on Oct. 3, the month’s performances are slated for Sunday, Oct. 6, at 3 p.m.; Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 12, at 1 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 19, at 12:30 p.m.; Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 26, at 8:30 p.m.; Thursday, Oct. 31, at 7:30 p.m.

All five spring performances occur in April. The month’s performances of Turandot are scheduled for Thursday, April 9, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time; Monday, April 13, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, April 17, at 8 p.m.; Tuesday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, April 25, at 1 p.m.

The 2019-2020 Met Opera season’s performances of Turandot revive staging directed by Franco Zeffirelli. The Italian film, opera and television director’s staging debuted March 12, 1987, as a new Met Opera production in the opera house’s 132nd performance of Puccini’s oriental-themed opera.

Since its debut as a new production during the 1986-1987 Met Opera season, Franco Zeffirelli’s staging has experienced 15 revivals at the opera house. The Metropolitan Opera’s most recent revival of Zeffirelli’s staging took place during the 2017-2018 Met Opera season. The 2019-2020 Met Opera season’s performances of Turandot number as the 16th revival of Zeffirelli’s staging at the opera house.

David Patrick Stearns, classical music critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, describes Zeffirelli’s production as having “all but gained tourist-attraction status” (Feb. 20, 2019).

Franco Zeffirelli is credited as the production’s director and set designer. The Zeffirelli production team comprises Anna Anni and Dada Saligeri, costume designers; Gil Wechsler, lighting designer; Chiang Ching, choreographer.

The 2019-2020 Met Opera season’s staging of Puccini’s Turandot numbers as the first of three operas conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin in his second season as the Metropolitan Opera’s music director. Maestro Nézet-Séguin conducts the 2019-2020 season’s autumn performances of Turandot.

The second 2019-2020 season opera conducted by Nézet-Séguin is Wozzeck by Second Viennese School composer Alban Berg (Feb. 9, 1885-Dec. 24, 1935). He is scheduled for the podium for all seven performances during the 2019-2020 Met Opera season.

The third 2019-2020 season conducted by Met Opera’s music director is by French Romantic Era composer Jules Massenet (May 12, 1842-Aug. 13, 1912). Nézet-Séguin’s conductorship is scheduled for five of the season’s six performances of Massenet’s Goethe-influenced opera.

Maestro Nézet-Séguin also will conduct the Metropolitan Opera’s New Year’s Eve Gala Starring Netrebko. The gala begins at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Tuesday, Dec. 31. The program celebrates Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini and spotlights Russian operatic soprano Anna Netrebko through one-act vignettes from La Bohème (Act I), Tosca (Act I) and Turandot (Act II).

The takeaways for the 2019-2020 Met Opera season’s second week are that the season premiere of Turandot Thursday, Oct. 3, numbers as the opera house’s 16th revival of Italian director Franco Zeffirelli’s production and that the season’s second week continues performances of the newly produced Porgy and Bess and of revived productions of Massenet’s Manon and Verdi’s Macbeth.

Met Opera Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin opens the 2019-2020 Met Opera season's roster of Sunday matinees with his conductorship of Puccini's Turandot: Yannick Nezet-Seguin @yannicknezetseguinofficial, via Facebook Feb. 20, 2019

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

The Metropolitan Opera launches the 16th revival of Italian director Franco Zeffirelli's production of Puccini's Turandot in the 2019-2020 season's second week: Antonio Mitri to Franco Zeffirelli Public Group, via Facebook Oct. 10, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10217661704483571/g.18327912096

Met Opera Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin opens the 2019-2020 Met Opera season's roster of Sunday matinees with his conductorship of Puccini's Turandot: Yannick Nezet-Seguin @yannicknezetseguinofficial, via Facebook Feb. 20, 2019, @ https://www.facebook.com/yannicknezetseguinofficial/photos/a.1919015725025469/2177587325834973/

For further information:

Marriner, Derdriu. “2019-2020 Met Opera Season Opens Monday, Sept. 23, With Porgy and Bess.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Sept. 16, 2019.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/09/2019-2020-met-opera-season-opens-monday.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Gretel Urban Designed Costumes for U.S. Turandot Premiere at Met Opera." Earth and Space News. Monday, July 30, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/gretel-urban-designed-costumes-for-us.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Turandot Is March 24, 2018, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast.” Earth and Space News. Monday, March 19, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/03/turandot-is-march-24-2018-met-opera.html

“New Production: Turandot.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 287710 New Production Turandot {132} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/12/1987.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=287710

Stearns, David Patrick. “Metropolitan Opera’s 2019-20 Season Puts Yannick at the Podium for a Wild Multimedia Ride.” The Inquirer > Arts. Feb. 20, 2019.
Available @ https://www.philly.com/arts/metropolitan-opera-season-announcement-yannick-schedule-gelb-20190220.html

Southeastern Street Tree Arthropod Pests Are Online Survey Subjects

Summary: Southeastern street tree arthropod pests are subjects of an online survey analyzed by its author for the September 2019 Arboriculture & Urban Forestry.

Damage by southern pine beetles (Dendroctonus frontalis) qualify the bark beetle as the top southeastern street tree arthropod pest species for stressed pines (Pinus spp.): Richard Spriggs, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images

Southeastern street tree arthropod pests are analyzed in the article A Survey of Key Arthropod Pests on Common Southeastern Streets by Steven D. Frank for the September 2019 Arboriculture & Urban Forestry.

The author, at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, broaches integrated pest management of urban trees based, unlike agricultural crops, in complex pest- and plant-diversified landscapes. One forester, two technical specialists and 12 university professors consider key arthropod pests that cause frequent or persistent severe damage and disproportionate control efforts and expenses. That new exotic arthropod pest species distributions and tree species preferences defer to climate-changed, globally warmed average winter temperatures demands updating 30-year-old rankings of arthropod pests.

Scott Jamieson, James Kielbaso and Zeming Wu established aphids, bagworms and borers, and then scales and webworms, as the South's top three arthropod pests in 1991.

The Kennedy and Kielbaso, the Nielsen and the Wu pest management and status assessments in 1983, 1985 and 1991 furnished no pest-poor or pest-prone tree species.

The 2017 study's goal gives current key pests in Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia in comparison to past regional assessments. It harbors Acer (maple), Fraxinus (ash), Lagerstroemia (crapemyrtle), Liquidambar (sweetgum), Liriodendron (tulip-tree), Pinus (pine), Platanus (planes), Prunus (plum), Pyrus (pear), Quercus (oak), Ulmus (elm) and Zelkova. It includes as pest species bark beetles and trunk and twig borers; bark- and leaf-sucking insects; defoliators and leafminers; leaf and stem gall-forming arthropods; and mites.

One Alabaman, one Oklahoman, one South Carolinian, one Virginian, two Floridians, two Kentuckians, three Tennesseans and four North Carolinians judged southeastern street tree arthropod pest species.

The first of two survey tables kindled damage and frequency rankings of 3, 2, 1 or 0 for "very common/damaging," "moderate," "rare/not very damaging" or "non-issue."

Bark-sucking insects such as armored scales, through vascular tissue-feeding on cambium, parenchyma and phloem fluids, left maple and zelkova tree species dead-branched, low-energy, poor-storing, slow-growing, sparse-canopied. Zelkova; ash and pine; pear; and sweetgum, plum and elm trees respectively muster bark-sucking insects and borers, borers, borers and defoliators, and defoliators as top-ranked pests. Almond, apricot, cherry, nectarine, peach and plum genus members netted lepidopteran order defoliators through eastern tent caterpillars (Malacosoma americanum) nestling preferentially on black cherry (Prunus serotina).

Leaf/stem gallers and, occurring through through Massachusetts, southern pine beetles (Dendroctonus frontalis) respectively occupy oak and stressed pines as top-ranked southeastern street tree arthropod pest species.

Spider mites, prevalent when insecticide and nitrogen applications respectively pull natural enemies down and leaf quality up, presented highest problematic presences on maple and oak species.

Dozens of species, not pest-prone or poor landscape and street planting choices, perhaps qualified oak and maple trees for respectively highest and second-highest total pest ratings. Greater use of native species, to reach conservation-friendly consumer and municipal goals, perhaps rallies realizing integrated pest management tactics for the commonest, most pest-prone native trees. The 2017 study serves to stress lepidopteran butterfly and moth order caterpillar stages as sources of rapid tree death and stimulants for expensive, extreme management practices.

Tallying southeastern street tree arthropod pest species takes city foresters and urban arborists to educational tasks fine-tuned to the likeliest pests that practitioners and teachers tackle.

Fine flecks or stipples evince oak spider mite (Oligonychus bicolor) visits to white oak (Quercus albus L.) leaves: James Solomon, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Damage by southern pine beetles (Dendroctonus frontalis) qualify the bark beetle as the top southeastern street tree arthropod pest species for stressed pines (Pinus spp.): Richard Spriggs, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images @ https://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=0007065

Fine flecks or stipples evince oak spider mite (Oligonychus bicolor) visits to white oak (Quercus albus L.) leaves: James Solomon, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images @ https://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=3066056

For further information:

Frank, Steven D. September 2019. "A Survey of Key Arthropod Pests on Common Southeastern Street Trees." Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 45(5): 155-166.

Gilman, Ed. 2011. An Illustrated Guide to Pruning. Third Edition. Boston MA: Cengage.

Hayes, Ed. 2001. Evaluating Tree Defects. Revised, Special Edition. Rochester MN: Safe Trees.

Kielbaso, J. J.; and M. K. Kennedy. 1983. "Urban Forestry and Entomology: A Current Appraisal." Pages 423-440. In: G. W. Frankie and C. S. Koehler (eds.), Urban Entomology: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. New York NY: Praeger Publishers.

Marriner, Derdriu. 25 August 2019. "Cost Approach Approximates Plant Repair, Replacement or Restoration." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/08/cost-approach-approximates-plant-repair.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 28 July 2019. "Indirect Watering Devices Are There for Newly Transplanted Urban Trees." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/07/indirect-watering-devices-are-there-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 30 June 2019. "Plant Appraisal Data Collection Allies Off-Site and On-Site Research." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/06/plant-appraisal-data-collection-allies.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 26 May 2019. "Wire Basket Removal or Wire Basket Retention: Girdling or Stable Roots." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/05/wire-basket-removal-or-wire-basket.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 28 April 2019. "Woody Plant Appraisal Data Collection for Shrubs, Trees and Vines." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/04/woody-plant-appraisal-data-collection.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 30 March 2019. "Balancing Roadside Tree Benefits and Risk of Streetscape Tree Crashes." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/03/balancing-roadside-tree-benefits-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 February 2019. “Plant Appraisal Estimate, Scope, Data, Analysis, Reconciliation, Report.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/02/plant-appraisal-estimate-scope-data.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 27 January 2019. “Urban Tree Vulnerability in Residential Toronto, Ontario, Canada.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/01/urban-tree-vulnerability-in-residential.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 30 December 2018. "Plant Appraisal: Cost and Value Estimates and Economic Principles." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/12/plant-appraisal-cost-and-value.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 23 December 2018. "Six-Year Forest Health Ambassador Program of Oakville, Ontario, Canada." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/12/six-year-forest-health-ambassador.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 21 October 2018. "Nursery Production Systems: Tough Urban Landscape Trees on Rough Sites." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/10/nursery-production-systems-tough-urban.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 September 2018. "Induced-Resistance Agents, Silicon Fertilizers, Synthetic Fungicides." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/09/induced-resistance-agents-silicon.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 26 August 2018. "Nursery Production Systems for Successful Urban Tree Plantings." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/nursery-production-systems-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 29 July 2018. "Tree Roots Branch in Fabric Containers But Circle and Girdle Plastic." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/tree-roots-branch-in-fabric-containers.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 30 June 2018. "Wood Decay Fungi Management of Terminal Urban Pathogens." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/wood-decay-fungi-management-of-terminal.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 27 May 2018. "Downtown Commercial Streetscape Tree Populations in Toronto, Canada." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/05/downtown-commercial-streetscape-tree.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 28 April 2018. “Mushroom-Forming and Non-Mushroom-Forming Fungal Life Cycle Traits.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/04/mushroom-forming-and-non-mushroom.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 March 2018. “Emerald Ash Borer Rapid Response Community Preparedness Project.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/03/emerald-ash-borer-rapid-response.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 February 2018. “Tree Retention by Arborists for Wildlife Habitat Friendly Tree Care.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/02/tree-retention-by-arborists-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 January 2018. “Integrated Vegetation Management Study in North and South Yukon, Canada.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/01/integrated-vegetation-management-study.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 9 December 2017. “Tree Inventories: Preemptive and Proactive or Piecemeal and Reactive.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/12/tree-inventories-preemptive-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 25 November 2017. “Chlorantraniliprole Reduced-Risk Insecticides Get Leaf-Eaters Not Bees.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/11/chlorantraniliprole-reduced-risk.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 28 October 2017. “Palm Plant Health Care: Abiotic, Biotic Stress Culture and Management.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/10/palm-plant-health-care-abiotic-biotic.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 September 2017. “Predawn Leaf Water Potentials Indicate Crown Dieback and Water Status.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/09/predawn-leaf-water-potentials-indicate.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 August 2017. “Palm Tree Identification and Pruning of Native and Naturalizable Palms.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/08/palm-tree-identification-and-pruning-of.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 22 July 2017. “Commonly Planted, Potentially Phytoremediating Street Tree Species.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/07/commonly-planted-potentially.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 June 2017. “Root Loss From Root Pruning and Root Shaving of Stem-Girdling Roots.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/06/root-loss-from-root-pruning-and-root.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 27 May 2017. “Age and Canopy Area Cost Less and Tell More in Urban Tree Inventories.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/05/age-and-canopy-area-cost-less-and-tell.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 22 April 2017. “Urban Root Management: Big Infrastructure, Small Space, Stressed Roots.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/04/urban-root-management-big.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 March 2017. “Flexural Elasticity Modulus: Trees and Watersprouts Bend or Break.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/03/flexural-elasticity-modulus-trees-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 February 2017. “Plant Health Care Diagnostics When Plants and Places Wrong One Another.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/02/plant-health-care-diagnostics-when.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 January 2017. “Tree Fertilization for Fine Root Growth and Whole Root System Effects.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/tree-fertilization-for-fine-root-growth.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 December 2016. “Abiotic and Biotic Stress in Low Maintenance Tree Health Care Programs.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/12/abiotic-and-biotic-stress-in-low.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 November 2016. “Organic Amendments to Compacted Degraded Urban Highway Roadsides.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/organic-amendments-to-compacted.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 October 2016. “Tree Protection Zones by Arborists for All Construction Project Phases.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/10/tree-protection-zones-by-arborists-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 September 2016. “Stormwater Runoff Landscaping With Urban Canopy Cover and Groundcover.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/09/stormwater-runoff-landscaping-with.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 August 2016. “Changing Places: Tree Nutrient Movement Down, Tree Water Movement Up.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/08/changing-places-tree-nutrient-movement.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 July 2016. “Treated or Untreated Oriental Bittersweet Vine Management Cut-Stumping.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/07/treated-or-untreated-oriental.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 June 2016. “Tree Injection Site Procedures: Manufacturer's Instructions and Labels.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/06/tree-injection-site-procedures.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 22 May 2016. “Electrical Utility Area Temperate Urban Street Trees: Pruned Regrowth.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/05/electrical-utility-area-temperate-urban.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 April 2016. “Tree Injection Methods: Treatment Option in Integrated Pest Management.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/04/tree-injection-methods-treatment-option.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 6 March 2016. “Bare-Rooted Ornamental Urban Transplants: Amendments Against Mortality.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/03/bare-rooted-ornamental-urban.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 28 February 2016. “Bark Protective Survival Mechanisms Foil Deprivation, Injury, Invasion.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/02/bark-protective-survival-mechanisms.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 23 January 2016. "LITA Model: Linear Index of Tree Appraisal of Large Urban Swedish Trees." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/01/lita-model-linear-index-of-tree.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 December 2015. “Tree Lightning Protection Systems: Site, Soil, Species True Designs.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/12/tree-lightning-protection-systems-site.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 24 October 2015. “Tree Lightning Protection Systems Tailored to Sites, Soils, Species.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/10/tree-lightning-protection-systems.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 August 2015. “Tree Friendly Urban Soil Management: Amend, Fertilize, Mulch, Till!” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/08/tree-friendly-urban-soil-management.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 June 2015. “Tree Friendly Urban Soil Management: Assemble, Assess, Assist, Astound.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/06/tree-friendly-urban-soil-management.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 April 2015. “Tree Wound Responses: Healthy Wound Closures by Callus and Woundwood.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/tree-wound-responses-healthy-wound.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 February 2015. “Urban Forest Maintenance and Non-Maintenance Costs and Benefits.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/02/urban-forest-maintenance-and-non.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 December 2014. “Tree Dwelling Symbionts: Dodder, Lichen, Mistletoe, Moss and Woe-Vine.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/12/tree-dwelling-symbionts-dodder-lichen.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 October 2014. “Tree Cable Installation Systems Lessen Target Impact From Tree Failure.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/10/tree-cable-installation-systems-lessen.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 August 2014. “Flood Tolerant Trees in Worst-Case Floodplain and Urbanized Scenarios.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/08/flood-tolerant-trees-in-worst-case.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 June 2014. “Integrated Vegetation Management of Plants in Utility Rights-of-Way.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/06/integrated-vegetation-management-of.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 April 2014. “Tree Twig Identification: Buds, Bundle Scars, Leaf Drops, Leaf Scars.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/04/tree-twig-identification-buds-bundle.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 February 2014. “Tree Twig Anatomy: Ecosystem Stress, Growth Rates, Winter Identification.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/02/tree-twig-anatomy-ecosystem-stress.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 December 2013. “Community and Tree Safety Awareness During Line- and Road-Clearances.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/12/community-and-tree-safety-awareness.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 October 2013. “Chain-Saw Gear and Tree Work Related Personal Protective Equipment.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/10/chain-saw-gear-and-tree-work-related.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 October 2013. “Storm Damaged Tree Clearances: Matched Teamwork of People to Equipment.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/10/storm-damaged-tree-clearances-matched.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 August 2013. “Storm Induced Tree Damage Assessments: Pre-Storm Planned Preparedness.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/08/storm-induced-tree-damage-assessments.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 June 2013. “Storm Induced Tree Failures From Heavy Tree Weights and Weather Loads.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/06/storm-induced-tree-failures-from-heavy.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 April 2013. “Urban Tree Root Management Concerns: Defects, Digs, Dirt, Disturbance.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/04/urban-tree-root-management-concerns.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 February 2013. “Tree Friendly Beneficial Soil Microbes: Inoculations and Occurrences.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/02/tree-friendly-beneficial-soil-microbes.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 December 2012. “Healthy Urban Tree Root Crown Balances: Soil Properties, Soil Volumes.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/healthy-urban-tree-root-crown-balances.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 October 2012. “Tree Adaptive Growth: Tree Risk Assessment of Tree Failure, Tree Strength.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/10/tree-adaptive-growth-tree-risk.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 August 2012. “Tree Risk Assessment Mitigation Reports: Tree Removal, Tree Retention?” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/08/tree-risk-assessment-mitigation-reports.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 June 2012. “Internally Stressed, Response Growing, Wind Loaded Tree Strength.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/06/internally-stressed-response-growing.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 April 2012. “Three Tree Risk Assessment Levels: Limited Visual, Basic and Advanced.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/04/three-tree-risk-assessment-levels.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 February 2012. “Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment: Risk Ratings for Targets and Trees.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/02/qualitative-tree-risk-assessment-risk.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 February 2012. “Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment: Falling Trees Impacting Targets.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/02/qualitative-tree-risk-assessment.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 December 2011. “Tree Risk Assessment: Tree Failures From Defects and From Wind Loads.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/12/tree-risk-assessment-tree-failures-from.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 October 2011. “Five Tree Felling Plan Steps for Successful Removals and Worker Safety.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/10/five-tree-felling-plan-steps-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 August 2011. “Natives and Non-Natives as Successfully Urbanized Plant Species.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/08/natives-and-non-natives-as-successfully.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 June 2011. “Tree Ring Patterns for Ecosystem Ages, Dates, Health and Stress.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/06/tree-ring-patterns-for-ecosystem-ages.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 9 April 2011. “Benignly Ugly Tree Disorders: Oak Galls, Powdery Mildew, Sooty Mold, Tar Spot.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/04/benignly-ugly-tree-disorders-oak-galls.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 February 2011. “Tree Load Can Turn Tree Health Into Tree Failure or Tree Fatigue.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/02/tree-load-can-turn-tree-health-into.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 22 December 2010. “Tree Electrical Safety Knowledge, Precautions, Risks and Standards.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2010/12/tree-electrical-safety-knowledge.html

Nielsen, D. G.; E. R. Hart; M. E. Dix; M. J. Linit; J. E. Appleby; M. Ascerno; D. L. Mahr; D. A. Potter; and J. A. Jones. August 1985. "Common Street Trees and Their Pest Problems in the North Central United States." Journal of Arboriculture 11(8): 225-232.
Available @ http://joa.isa-arbor.com/articles.asp?JournalID=1&VolumeID=11&IssueID=8

Wu, Zeming; Scott Jamieson; and James Kielbaso. June 1991. "Urban Forest Pest Management." Journal of Arboriculture 17(6): 150-158.
Available @ http://joa.isa-arbor.com/articles.asp?JournalID=1&VolumeID=17&IssueID=6

Pygmy Killer Whales Are Off Hawaii's Sugar Beach in Kihei, Maui

Summary: Pygmy killer whales are off Sugar Beach, Kihei, Maui, as health-compromised marine mammals appraising mass-stranding areas or as resident Hawaiian stock.

Abnormal lungs and lymph nodes and empty stomachs suggest that August's stranded pygmy whales were fighting infections, according to results of autopsies conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): MauiNow.com @mauinow, via Facebook Sep. 21, 2019

Pygmy killer whales are, since Sept. 13, 2019, off Sugar Beach, Kihei, Maui, Hawaii, where one dead calf, four subsequently euthanized and six subsequently refloated pygmy killer whales appeared Aug. 29, 2019.

The five pygmy killer whales, misidentified as melon-headed whales despite dark-caped, light-sided pigmentation and paired white-tooth rakes, bore empty stomachs, enlarged lymph nodes and lung abnormalities. Even from 164.04-plus-foot (50-plus-meter) distances from ship bow-wakes, September's six pygmy killer whales, like six end-August mass-stranded survivors, confront climate change; drive-hunts; environmental pollution; and gillnets. Summer-born 2.62-foot (0.8-meter-) long calves develop in familial blowhole-growling, bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) like clicking and whistling, flipper-beating, jaw-snapping, logging, milling, packed-together pygmy killer whale pods.

Pygmy killer whales echolocate at 45 to 157 kilohertz and 197 to 223-decibel intensity levels and embrace 40-kilohertz frequencies in 20 to 120-kilohertz sound frequency ranges.

The scientific identification by John Gray (Feb. 12, 1800-March 7, 1875) in 1874 featured the acute beak and the separated, small frontal and three mid-jaw teeth.

The acute-beaked, narrow-fronted skull gave a 13.5-inch (34.29-centimeter) condyle-beak front length and an 8-inch (20.32) width for the skull front over the pygmy killer whale eyebrows. It has 4.33-inch (10.99-centimeter) and 2.75-inch (6.98-centimeter) beak widths respectively in the ante-orbital notch's front and at two-thirds length and a 5-inch (12.7-centimeter-) long tooth line. It is only since 1954 that live specimens, not just the two skulls that inspired the initial scientific identification, impels pygmy killer whale information and investigations.

Pygmy killer whales juggle asymmetrical skulls; beakless, blunt, rounded heads; black-gray, stout, white-bellied bodies; backward-pointing, high, near-centered, subtriangular-shaped dorsal fins; and flippered, round-tipped, tapering pectoral fins.

Pygmy killer whales, known scientifically as Feresa attenuata (from French feresa, "dolphin" and Latin attenuata, "attenuated [beak]"), keep white chins and lips and white-patched lower-jaw tips.

Underslung jaws, with the smaller right logging one tooth less than the left, lodge 16 to 24 upper and 20 to 26 lower conical, large teeth. Sexually mature female and male pygmy whales maintain grooved skin for excrementary, reproductive and umbilical parts and manifest respective 7.25-plus-foot (2.21-plus-meter) and 7.09-plus-foot (2.16-plus-meter) head-body lengths. Physically mature pygmy killer whales net, during 21-year life cycles, 82.68 to 102.36-inch (210 to 260-centimeter) head-body lengths and 242.51 to 374.79-pound (110 to 170-kilogram) weights.

Pygmy killer whales, as born swimmers, organize into 10 to 50 to even 300-member pods that occur at 370.74 to 9,389.76-foot (113 to 2,862-meter) subsurface depths.

The northern Gulf of Mexico; offshore Hawai'i, O'ahu and Penguin Bank; and the tropical Pacific Ocean present estimated 408, 817 and 38,900-member pygmy killer whale populations.

Pygmy killer whales queue up in closed Caribbean and Mediterranean and open Atlantic, Indian and Pacific waters between 45 degrees North and 35 degrees South latitudes. They range their pods away from other species apart cephalopod, dolphinfish, mollusk, small cetacean, squid and tuna prey; and particularly from predatory humans and larger sharks. They even stay away from related false killer (Pseudorca crassidens), killer (Orcinus orca), melon-headed (Peponocephala electra) and pilot long-finned (Globicephala melaena) and short-finned (G. macrorhynchus) whales.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tended August's five casualties and six survivors and now tracks September's six healthy island-trekking or traumatized deathplace-seeking pygmy killer whales.

pygmy killer whales (Feresa attenuata); Mariana Islands, off Guam; photo credit: Adam Ü, collected under NMFS permit 15240, July 2013: NOAA / NMFS/ Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Blog July 8, 2013, via NOAA Photo Library

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Abnormal lungs and lymph nodes and empty stomachs suggest that August's stranded pygmy whales were fighting infections, according to results of autopsies conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): MauiNow.com @mauinow, via Facebook Sep. 21, 2019, @ https://www.facebook.com/mauinow/posts/1015887172733486

pygmy killer whales (Feresa attenuata); Mariana Islands, off Guam; photo credit: Adam Ü, collected under NMFS permit 15240, July 2013: NOAA / NMFS/ Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Blog July 8, 2013, via NOAA Photo Library @ https://photolib.noaa.gov/Collections/NOAAs-Ark/Other/emodule/721/eitem/31079

For further information:

Allport, Gary A.; Christopher Curtis; Tiago Pampulim Simões; and Maria J. Rodrigues. 8 June 2017. "The First Authenticated Record of Pygmy Killer Whale (Feresa attenuata Gray 1874) in Mozambique; Has It Been Previously Overlooked?" Marine Biodiversity Records 10(17). doi:10.1186/s41200-017-0119-9.
Available @ https://mbr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s41200-017-0119-9

Baird, Robin W. 2018. "Pygmy Killer Whale: Feresa attenuata." Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals (Third Edition). Pages 788-790. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-804327-1.00210-7.
Available @ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128043271002107

Braulik, G. 2018. "Feresa attenuata." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T8551A50354433. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK-2018-2.RLTS.T8551A50354433.en.
Available @ https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/8551/50354433

Gray, Dr. J. E. (John Edward). 1874. "Description of the Skull of a New Species of Dolphin (Feresa attenuata)." The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Including Zoology, Botany, and Geology (Being A Continuation of the 'Annals' Combined with Loudon and Charlesworth's 'Magazine of Natural History.'). Conducted by Charles C. Babington, John Edward Gray, William S. Dallas, and William Francis. Vol. XIV - Fourth Series 4(14): 238-239. London, England: Taylor and Francis.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15611806

"Hawaiian Dolphin and Whale Species." Cascadia Research Collective > Projects > Hawaiian Cetacean Studies.
Available @ http://www.cascadiaresearch.org/projects/hawaii/hawaiian-odonotocete-species

Hill, Marie; Allan Ligon; Adam Ü; and Mark Deakos. 8 July 2013. "Marianas Cetacean Surveys 2013: Guam Summary (June 22-July 1)." NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Blog.
Available @ https://pifscblog.wordpress.com/2013/07/08/marianas-cetacean-surveys-2013-guam-summary-june-22-july-1/

Leatherwood, Stephen; and Randall R. Reeves. 1983. The Sierra Club Handbook of Whales and Dolphins. San Francisco CA: Sierra Club Books.

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 August 2019. "Five Melon-Headed Whales Are Dead and Six Alive After Hawaii Stranding." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/08/five-melon-headed-whales-are-dead-and.html

MauiNow.com @mauinow. 30 August 2019. "Maui Topography Possible Contributing Factor in Mass Whale Stranding Gentle Slope of South Maui Shoreline Discussed Details: http://mauinow.com/?p=310722 NOAA officials say the location may have caused disorientation, but that the animals "obviously have something debilitating going wrong with them" to cause them to go towards shore. #MauiNowNews #whale #stranding #melonheadedwhale." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/mauinow/posts/10158802967629867

MauiNow.com @mauinow. 21 September 2019. "NOAA officials say the autopsy findings suggest the whales were fighting infections Details: http://mauinow.com/?p=312411 #MauiNowNews." Facebook.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/mauinow/posts/1015887172733486

Mizuo, Ashley. 20 September 2019. "NOAA Monitoring Whales Near Maui Beach Where Others Stranded in August." Hawai'i Public Radio.
Available @ https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/post/noaa-monitoring-whales-near-maui-beach-where-others-stranded-august#stream/0

"Pygmy Killer Whale." NOAA Fisheries > Species Directory.
Available @ https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/pygmy-killer-whale

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Available @ https://us.whales.org/whales-dolphins/species-guide/pygmy-killer-whale/

"Pygmy killer whale Feresa attenuata (Gray, 1874)." Page 190. In: D.M. Ranneft; H. Eaker; and R. W. Davis. 2001. "A Guide to the Pronunciation and Meaning of Cetacean Taxonomic Names." Aquatic Mammals 27(2): 183-195.
Available @ https://www.aquaticmammalsjournal.org/share/AquaticMammalsIssueArchives/2001/AquaticMammals_27-02/27-02_Ranneft.PDF

"Pygmy Killer Whales, Feresa attenuata." The MarineBio Conservation Society > Marine Life > Marine Vertebrates > Dolphins (Toothed Whales) > Taxonomy > Family Delphinidae > Genus Feresa.
Available @ https://marinebio.org/species/pygmy-killer-whales/feresa-attenuata/

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Available @ http://www.cascadiaresearch.org/hawaiian-cetacean-studies/pygmy-killer-whales-hawaii

Starjnski, Tabitha. 2013. "Feresa attenuata Pygmy Killer Whale" (On-line). Animal Diversity Web. Ann Arbor MI: University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, .
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