Sexless Insects

Since most of you may not know, I work at The Butterfly Farm. This is a 10,000 sq. ft. enclosed tropical garden PARADISE for many species of neo-tropical butterflies. The location in St. Thomas is just over a year old but we have already had a great impact on the community and have helped to start local butterfly breeding programs at various schools and educate people on backyard butterfly gardening. This will explain why I am such an avid reader of Q's Corner, Bug Girl's Blog, and My Wildlife Sanctuary. You three give me hope for butterflies the world over... and your pictures, oh my!

So since so many of you love butterflies so much, I am going to give you a very brief rundown on our caterpillar friends and why they are important even though many think they are a nuisance.... Bug Girl, you are the expert so feel free to correct me.

Parthenos sylvia, Common: Sylvia or Clipper


I have no caterpillar pictures today, as I am horrid at taking them, but I am posting some of my friends from the farm.



Caterpillar Facts:

First off, we sciencey types refer to them in this stage as "larva." I always tell people it is because caterpillar has too many letters to type!

1. Caterpillars (on average, mind you) have eight pairs of fleshy appendages that most consider legs. Really only the first 3 pairs are legs. We are trying to convince ourselves that they are insects and insects have 6 legs, like butterflies do. The other legs are "prolegs."
   
2. Caterpillars have 6 pairs of very pathetically weak eyes (ocelli) right around their mouth so all they can see is the food in front of them. This is good since they are voracious eaters. Compare this to the butterfly again and notice butterflies have 2 very complex compound eyes on either side of their head.
3. Since all they do is eat for 2 weeks, they are sexless (hence the title of this post). No need for males and females if you aren't mating!
   
4. Caterpillars can consume 20 times their weight in food a day. That is approximately half a ton for an average 7 year old.
   
5. Since they eat so much, they also "poop" a lot. We call this frass. Frass is good for your garden! It's free fertilizer. Believe you me, any of you with monarchs around know, monarchs make A LOT of frass.
   
6. Caterpillars grow approximately 2,700 times their original size in their average lifespan of 2 weeks. If we had a newborn eight pound baby that ate as much as a caterpillar, that baby would be over 20,000 pounds at the end of 2 weeks. That is 10 tons of baby fat!
   
7. MOST IMPORTANT THING TO KNOW!!!!! Caterpillars all turn into butterflies or moths. I know this seems obvious, but it bugs me (no pun intended) when people come in and tell me they hate caterpillars and kill them all the time but then the next breath mention how they don't see as many butterflies as they used to.... gee, really?!?!
   

The fact is, caterpillars will destroy certain plants, to an extent. We know what these plants are, so do yourself a favor and plant an area that is butterfly friendly... sacrificial plants, if you will. I don't mean a butterfly bush here guys. I mean host plants. You find a caterpillar on your dill, you move it to the dill in the butterfly safe zone. They can't hurt you and they will stay there since there is food. This will lead to more butterflies in your area because you will not only have flowers for them to get their alcohol (more on that later), but host plants to lay their eggs on. This, in turn helps to pollinate your garden and others the world over, increasing the overall genetic diversity of plants, making them stronger.

Butterflies are super-pollinators. Without them, we would starve to death.



















Idea leuconoe, A rare butterfly in the wild, breeds well in captivity
Common: Paper Kite, Tree Nymph, Rice Paper Butterfly







P. sylvia and I. leuconoe by M. Moya is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

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News Snippets: Grapes, Ginger, Beetles and Butterflies

Three snippets that I found interesting today follow: two are about food and one about butterflies. The second one also has to do with beetles. Woo, invertebrates! Could my day get any better?

• Grapes made the news again. Well, actually, resveratrol did. I have posted about this interesting compound a few times on Potspoon! and I am still waiting on the reveratrol beer. Well, besides the fact that this compound is good for its anti-aging properties, it also appears to display anti-obesity and anti-insulin resistance. You can read the article here. 

Fig 1. Yum

•  In an article published in Insect Conservation and Diversity, good news was found for the UK's incredible stag beetle and good news come in the form of a root. Ginger is useful in the kitchen, sure, but it is also useful as bait to lure stag beetles. Researchers have also devised a method using tiny microphones to hear larvae underground. This all helps determine numbers of the rare beetle and can aid in its conservation. You can read more on ScienceDaily as well.

Fig. 2 Not the right species of butterfly, but a butterfly nonetheless

• Squinting bush brown butterflies, Bicyclus anynana, seem to have a bit of role reversal in mating behaviors. This confusion only seems to occur when changes of weather happen. When it's cool, females act as the aggressors and flash their wing patterns. In this species the males and females have the same eye spots, but the UV patterns change dependent on temperature. In warm moist conditions, the males have more flashy designs while the females are dull, but when the temperature drops, new males and females are opposite. It's the females that are flashier and spend time displaying. You can read more here.

 Hope you all are having an awesome Monday!

Photos: Grapes from Google Creative Commons search and butterfly from Paraflyer's photostream. Both lisenced through Creative Commons.

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About St. Thomas

In case you haven't figured it out, I live in St. Thomas, VI. We are a part of the United States just located in the Caribbean. The Caribbean (for all us science types) is a tectonic plate all its own and the collision and interaction of this little plate with other larger ones is how the Antilles were formed. Because our islands with the rest of the ones in the Caribbean form a chain that acts as a barrier for the fierce Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea is calm and tranquil pretty much consistently.

View from Annaburg Plantation, St. John. Copyright 2007 M. Moya

Pretty, I know. It's not just the scenery that is nice, or the trade winds that keep the temperature mild. Below the surface is a bunch of really beautiful reef. The reefs in the Caribbean are predominately 70 different species of reef building coral, a ton of sponges, crustaceans (think crab and shrimp), mollusks (think escargot and clams)and various other invertebrates. They are also home to hundreds upon hundreds of species of fish, turtles, and other chordates (more on that some other time).

Reef, Gorgonian, and Bait Fish Highway. Lerkenlund, St. Thomas. Copyright 2006 M. Moya.

On land we have some interesting critters as well. About 2,000 species of bug and insects (that includes really pretty butterflies and amazing rhinoceros beetles) also call St. Thomas home as do numerous other types of animals like wild donkeys, deer, boar (although not so much on St. Thomas as St. John now-a-days), iguana, birds a plenty, bats, mongoose, snakes, chickens (they deserve a separate listing than birds) and lots of other fauna.

Iguana in Papaya Tree. Bonne Resolution, St. Thomas. Copyright 2006 M. Moya.

With all this we are still having our problems. Due to over development (living here seems to be prime real estate), our native plants are disappearing and animal habitat is all but gone in places. The snakes are all but gone, we are having a heck of a time breeding the local butterflies as most of the host plants are being removed, the parrots aren't coming back like they should... the list goes on. With all the beautiful scenery and natural environments, it's a shame we can't focus our tourism around this a bit more. Granted there are lots of dive spots, but what of our mangroves and tropical dry forest? What of the gallery forests in out "guts" (guts are temporary waterfalls where freshwater drains off the bedrock)? I think people would want to see this. Maybe it's just me.

Me and my doggy on the beach at Lerkenlund. Copyright 2006 M. Moya.

I enjoy finding the few place left here that haven't been developed, where the runoff from the building hasn't destroyed the reefs, the parrots still sing, and the mangroves are uninterrupted. I love it here, and I think everyone who comes here on vacation should support eco-tourism and the University, so our local government can see what people really enjoy is the pristine.

All Photos by Marizela Moya are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

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Have No Fear

According to a paper released in February, a team of Dutch researchers have found a way to reduce the fear response. Using propranolol, the researchers were able to weaken the fear memory in human test subjects. They started by giving all of the test subjects a similar fear using images of spiders with an associated pain. When the image of the spider associated with pain stimulus was show, the subjects acted in "fear." The subjects were then treated with either the propranolol or a placebo and the ones with the placebo still reacted in fear. The ones given the propranolol did not startle.

I think it is okay to have a healthy fear of things. I love the ocean and all sports associated. I still have a healthy fear. It is powerful and I must maintain a certain level of awareness at all times. However, this is not something that is an overpowering fear. I know there are certain people with very different and extreme phobias. This can hinder various activities in their lives. This could work great for numbing those types of extreme responses from people.

Now a confession:
I fear bugs. A lot. Odd since I love practically any other type of invertebrate like centipedes, worms, spiders, etc... but there is something about 6 legs and 2 compound eyes that really freak me out. That is why I study them. It is an irrational fear. I know this. I was terrified of the butterflies when I started at the farm. Really. Who is scared of butterflies? I was. Forcing myself to work with insects has really put an end to my phobia. I love bugs of any kind now! A lot! Ok, except for roaches... I still have an issue with them.

What's your phobia?

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Potspoon! Making an Emerging Cage

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This is a quasi-instructional video teaching you how to make a simple "pupa box" using a shoebox, paper towels, glue, and pupae of course! In this episode I am hanging glorious monarch butterfly chrysalis. Make your own and save some butterflies!

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Misinforming the Masses

Not that I do an excellent job with my posts or anything, but my local newspaper is a Pulitzer Prize winning paper, so I expect better from them. I was doing laundry and picked up an old paper at the laundromat. The article I started reading was about sea turtles in the Virgin Islands. I understand that it is written for the common "non-science-geek" person to understand, but just because they aren't scientists doesn't mean you omit information! There was one instance where they mentioned that the green turtle hangs out in seaweed. Ok. Sounds nice. But if the point of the article is to educate people, tell them the truth. They don't hang out in seaweed, they hang out in "turtle grass" ...a grass! Sure I could get even more technical and mention that in specific it is Thallassium species that they prefer, but it is NOT just seaweed. Argh. This is just one example of many that really upset me. I think I got upset because I had just mentioned to my husband earlier in the week that the Daily News really needed a science writer. This proves my point.

To make matters worse, there was an article done about my job, but they couldn't even quote us right. It mentions that Carmen said that about 10-20 local butterflies emerge from their coocoons from our breeding program a day. Cocoons?!?!?!? Carmen or ANYONE who works there would NEVER say cocoons unless we were talking about the few moth species we have here. We say chrysalis or pupae. Did Carmen maybe have a slip of the tounge? No way. This is a woman who wanted to scratch out the word cocoon from a book in our gift shop for kids. It was Diego and the Blue Morpho or something and shows kids that the morpho has a cocoon. NOT A COCOON.

I am sorry Daily News, but if you are going to try to teach your readers about science, how about you find a REAL science writer!

ARGH AGAIN!

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I've been tagged.... NOOOOO!!!

Okay well, it's not that bad, but since I did this one recently I am only posting a link back to the answers I put. Jennifer at Little Green Secrets got me this time. I also agree with Jennifer in the aspect of I need to run away faster from these things, but I needed to post something. See, that wasn't as painful as it could have been... Off to work I go. I will say hi to the lovely butterflies for you all!

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A Slight Altercation

Work was a bit interesting yesterday. I work someplace people from all walks of life visit. If you don't remember, I work at a butterfly enclosure. It is no surprise that I have people call me a liar, a genius, a Satanist, an entertainer, and more. Why all the weird and differing responses? Well, some people do not like what I have to say. My tours tend to be a bit more sciencey than most of the other tours. I don't mean to do this, it is just a part of who I am. Most of the people I tour (a solid 98% I'm sure) applaud, tell me I did great, or tip. The other 2%?

Well, they like to argue. Interrupt. Ask religious questions. Try to stump me. These are people who think science is the downfall of civilization and really only came in to see some butterflies. Most butterfly enclosures have a few signs up, but not guided tours explaining the life cycle and other science things. You can tell the type from a mile away. They pretend they don't want to do your tour, then saunter in when explaining the ooze at the bottom of the chrysalis and start to rail you.

Yesterday, it happened to one of my co-workers instead. This co-worker is not usually one to give too much science info. Well, a certain tourist really laid into him. Proceeded to ask us (me and manager lady) questions in the gift shop after the tour to see if co-worker guy and our stories matched up. I had to try to explain the common ancestor theory used in cladistics and the like to this guy. He kept saying things like, "well, it still just a theory." Of course, I cannot keep my mouth shut and had to explain to him that everything we do in science is just a theory because the basis of the scientific method is to falsify ourselves.

We are constantly trying to prove ourselves wrong! Glad I got that off my chest...

Ok. My heart was pounding and I could feel the anxiety kicking in, big time. This is usually when things get really heated, after all. Not the first time I had to explain to someone that science is not evil. Not the first time I pointed out that science gave you polyester blend so you can keep buying cheap clothes at Conglomo-Mart. Or that science is what gives you the ability to watch TV, take a cruise, use a cell phone, walk comfortably in sneakers, sleep on a great mattress and more. I kept smiling. I regurgitated tons of info from evolutionary biology and genetics in a way everyone could understand... and he said "ok!"

I almost fainted.

This never happens. My arguments are getting stronger. He actually said I made sense. I really almost fainted. My manager was so happy she had a pseudo-biologist on board yesterday because she was ready to just write it off as another "that's just your opinion, sir" moment. She said I handled it well. I don't usually get told I "handle things well." Quite the opposite, in fact. She actually was glad I was there because she learned things!

I am pleased.

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Saving Pupa

Today was a quiet day at work, but after work was fantastic. I went to my favorite beach, Brewers Bay, out by the university and came across something very exciting... I was looking at all the lovely monarch caterpillars munching on milkweed and lo and behold, PUPAE. Pupa is a fancy way of saying the third stage of an insects life. In the butterfly life-cycle, this is known as the chrysalis. It is a cocoon for moths... well there are a few exceptions, but I digress. These were lovely monarch chrysalises. Being the butterfly defender that I am, I had to take them to save them from unknown fate. We are actively breeding butterflies in St. Thomas, so we try to save the pupae (plural for pupa) in case they fall off the plant, get eaten, etc. Aren't they lovely? See the beautiful gold crown? That's why they are called monarchs! I got quite the haul. Did you see how many were on one leaf? So now I will mount them since they need to hang and keep them till they emerge and release them. I am so excited!

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Island Ecology: St. Christopher and Nevis

Ah, I'm back and the trip was delicious.

To prepare you for some of the oodles of info in future posts, I am going to give you a teensy bit of background info on the history, land, and ecology of St. Kitts and Nevis. Don't be scared. I promise it will only take a second. I gotta leave some of it for future posts!

The island of St. Kitts was originally named Liamuiga by the Kalingo peoples that inhabited the island before the colonization of the West Indies. Liamuiga is now the name of the tallest volcano on the island. It stands at 3,792 feet (1,156 m). There are four volcanic peaks on the island but none have been "active" since the late 1600's or possibly one in the mid 1800's, but these reports have been unverified.

Liamuiga literally translates to "fertile land," which St. Kitts definitely is. The peak was originally referred to as Mount Misery. The peak was renamed in 1983 after St. Kitts gained independence as an homage to the islands original inhabitants. Because of all the volcanic soil, St. Kitts used to be an agriculture island. There is still evidence of this in fenced off fields that now lay fallow with overgrown sugarcane. About 15 years ago, however, St. Christoper and Nevis decided to focus on an economy based on tourism. I refer to this as "Making a Deal with the Devil 101." Ridiculously, even though St. Kitts was one of the largest sugar producers until just over a decade ago, it now imports its sugar.

The island is dotted with a multitude of ruins from the plantation days of sugar and other crops. Crumbling mills are found in people's backyards, on the side of the road, in school yards, and on hill sides throughout the island. Makes the few we have in the Virgin Islands seem piddly in comparison. The land is very windswept and dry on the eastern side as intense trade winds from across the Atlantic blow constantly. The sides of the volcanoes are covered in dense tropical rain forest. The tops of the volcanoes are virtually always covered in cloud and do contain cloud forest.

All of this, combined with lack of any natural predators made this a perfect home for the imported Vervet monkeys on island. I only saw one species of Anolis lizard while I was there and a few species of birds and butterflies. There are also salt post with their own plethora of wild life, albeit mostly tiny!

I hope this gets you all acquainted and salivating for more information!

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Snake Charmer

See the girl to the right of the guy with the green holding the head of a gigantic snake? That's me.

I'm sure you all have figured that out, but I was like a kid in a candy store. The girl next to me hated snakes. I was not even listening to the guy and was sad I had to give it up at the end... even though it weighed a LOT and wouldn't keep still.

Why the little details about my trip to the Miami Metro Zoo? Well, it made me realize that I still really want to have my dream job or something close to it. I want to make wildlife films. I want to teach people about animals. I want to run around in the jungle/dessert/mountains/etc. chasing animals down. If nothing else, I would be happy with the guy in the green's job. Will this happen anytime soon? Probably not. I am not yet a biologist.

You need that fancy piece of paper. Sure I am really good at the science jabber, I have forgotten more about science than most people know, and I have this really bizarre ability to write a kick butt scientific paper, but that does not make me a scientist yet.

I suppose this goes back to my Debate! about standardized education. Maybe it goes deeper to the fact that I am completely unfocused at times. All I know is, this is me. Should be me. Will be me. Maybe I sound arrogant, but the truth of it is I am not. I always doubt myself. I know I get this stuff, so why can't I just finish? Is it important that I do?

I still get to teach people about animals and do educational tours, so why the need to do it at someplace bigger? I love my job. It may not be the grand scale that I hoped for as a little girl, but my dream still came true. Now I just have to finish school. Who knows? Maybe I have a special calling as a snake charmer! Honestly though, it just takes me writing it out like this to put it into perspective.

I may not be working at the American Museum of Natural History, but I still do have my dream job! I get to teach and play with animals. What more could I ask for?

Well, I guess I could finish Western Adventure part 3... or my butterfly video... but in the end, this isn't bad at all. I bet that guy would be happier with my job! Who wouldn't want to play in a big beautiful tropical garden filled with butterflies and get to live in paradise at the same time?

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Update on My Guest: Omar

The only reason I am going to update as much as possible is because I don't know if/when the power will go out so everyone I know in real life and on the blogosphere can know what's up. It's official. Omar is a hurricane and it is headed this way. The projected path moved more east so it is right over us! We are now under tropical storm warning and hurricane watch. Tomorrow I have to go to the Butterfly Farm and capture butterflies to move them into the lab. It's very quiet right now. Eerily so.

Here is the latest projection according to NOAA. Oh nos! As I was typing, NOAA updated again and we are under hurricane warning now! This is exciting! Well, as exciting as the threat of impending doom (yes, that was an Invader Zim reference) can be. As a science geek, I relish the after hurricane biodiversity research I can do, but I worry about not being able to shower. Hehe. It's late. I am babbling.

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Moth Evolution We Can See

Butterflies and moths are harmless animals, right? I mean, until today, even I thought they were. They only drink nectar or fruit and fly around getting drunk. They don't have anything that can hurt you. Well, this was until I read a Halloween post on Wildlife Promise, a blog run by the National Wildlife Federation. On this post I saw something AMAZING. The following video is from the National Geographic website.

You can find out more here. Scary, huh? This really freaked me out a bit. Happy little moths are evolving a thirst for BLOOD?!?!?! eek! Nature is amazing.They have been dubbed vampire moths. I am just happy that, as of yet, they are found only in Russia near the China border. I can't wait to see what we find out about these guys.

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Monday Blues 8

Today I feel a bit inspired by SeaLaura's post. I want a beach day. Funny considering I live on an island, but alas... Mimi has been a busy body recently with many things work related. It's ok, the butterflies have not decided to revolt as of yet!

This picture was taken at the Baths in Virgin Gorda. The boulders on shore are fantastic and make a ton of really cool windows and "caves" to hang out in and climb about. I, too, want to go sailing. Alas, no time yet. I am off to do more stuff until I need sleep again. Ay me!

Remember, you can participate in Monday Blues as well! Just leave a comment with a link to your "Monday Blues" post or just the picture. Happy New Week!

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Monarch Medicine

Fantastic article on ScienceDaily about monarchs medicating their offspring. You all know how much I love butterflies. Pretty amazing that the host plants the larvae eat can actually reduce parasitic infection. Go inverts!

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Hurry Up to Wait...

The butterflies are safe. The shutters are in place. The potted plants are in. Now... we wait. As you can see from the image above, all of the different models put this lovely gentleman right over St. Thomas. Now it is just a matter of when. According to NOAA, the storm should reach late tonight or early tomorrow morning. WAPA will be cutting our power when wind speeds pick up. This is to avoid live wires in the road. How am I supposed to entertain myself in this dark house?!?!? Just kidding. Maybe it will give me a chance to clean up some more... or sleep. Yup. Sleep wins.

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Debate! Creationism in Classrooms

Do you believe that creationism should be taught in school science classes? Do you think evolution should be taught in classes? Is there a compromise that can be reached?

I, personally, have my own way of looking at things and teaching things. What most people think of as evolution is quite wrong. Darwin never said we came from monkeys. He just stated that we all came from a similar prehistoric ancestor. Knowing what I know about how caterpillars break down and butterflies rebuild themselves a la primordial soup just, in my mind, verifies that. Does that mean creationism isn't real? No. Creationism isn't really something you can prove or disprove. It just means evolution is real and can be proven. Science is about proving things not just believing in them. It is about working with tangible data and information and replicating results. I believe in various things but science is not where I talk about those... They are separate to me.

What do you think and why?

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Green Roof

Recently, I noticed a few more articles than normal about green roofs. An article put out yesterday in the Vancouver Courier talks about a group that is raising awareness for green roofs. In ScienceDaily yesterday, there was an article about a study done at Michigan States University's Department of Horticulture. The study showed the success rate of succulents grown based on the growing mediums depth. With all this talk going on about green roofs, I figured the least I could do would be to explain the concept in case you haven't heard about them yet.

Green Roofs have been a popular idea in Europe for a while, but it is an idea that is really starting to take off in America as well. According to the article published in ScienceDaily, green roofs increased in installation by 30% between 2006 and 2007.

While rooftop gardens are something most are familiar with, this is a little less intensive. Most of the plants planted on green roofs are succulents or evergreens so there is less care required. than with a traditional garden. The plants aren't potted, they are actually a layered roofing material. Really impressive stuff! Typically, it is a waterproofing layer, drainage layer (like rocks), growing medium layer (like peat and manure) , and plants. The picture above is the roof of a parking structure at the Marriott Hotel in Vancouver, BC.

I'm sure you may be wondering why anyone would go through the trouble. Well, there are many benefits to green roofing. First off, they last longer than traditional roofs. There are no shingles or tiles to replace or much of a need for gutter care. This brings us to the benefit of decreasing storm drainage water, lessening the impact of runoff in sewage and drainage systems. Green roofs also help insulate the building, significantly decreasing cooling costs in summer. In large cities, green roofs help reduce urban heat island effect and improve air quality. Chicago City Hall was one of the first green roofs installed just to study the effects on urban heat. Some of the added benefits to a green roof are protecting the roof structure itself from damage due to extreme weather fluctuations, reduce glare in cities, attract more birds and butterflies to an area, and the added benefit of creating an oasis from urban canyons. It also just looks really cool. Many of the houses in the Faroe Islands have grass roofs and this adds to the charm and beauty of the area.

You can find out more about green roofs at Greenroofs.com and How Stuff Works.

Photo is from pnwra's photostream on Flickr and is licensed under Creative Commons.


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Overcoming My Mind

We all have our ups and downs. It is an inevitable part of being human (or any animal really, I KNOW Floyd is moody). Sometimes the ups don't last as long as we would like and it seems at times that the downs last forever. It's hard to do, but remembering the good is even more important during the downs than we realize. For some of us, however, the ups and downs spin out of control. They are not just situational highs and lows, they are emotional highs and lows so extreme we cannot control them. At all. I know many people think: 'they are YOUR emotions, how could you not control them?' but we can't at all.

The point I am trying to get to is a topic that is near and dear to me. This is a topic that requires me to admit something about my self I have only ever even mentioned (sort of) once on this blog before. I am bipolar. It's true. I have medical records dating back more than 13 years and covering various professionals that all agree. I'm stuck. There is no way around it. Well, there is LOTS of medication, but lithium almost killed my kidneys.

Why, all of a sudden, am I telling you this? Mostly, it is a way for me to teach something else science related while breaking down certain stigmas attached to this topic. Partially, it is to give myself a pep talk and to let me know that it is okay and not my fault. Weird, I know.

First and foremost, a definition:

According to One Look, bipolar means having two poles, like Earth. Throw on the word "disorder" to that (I really hate that word) and you get

▸ noun: a mental disorder characterized by episodes of mania and depression

Now what this means is I am mental and manic and depressed. Okay, not QUITE that mean, but really it just means I go from high to low in periods. Seasonally and daily in my case. Instead of a perfect seasonal sine wave going down for fall and spring and up for summer and winter, the overall trend is up and down but with little "mini" ups and downs in between. To illustrate this, I, well, made an illustration (hehe).

fig. 1 episodes

Sounds like fun, right? Well my husband says it keeps things interesting, like sleeping with a different woman everynight! *sheesh* As you can see, he is actually very supportive and through the years, I have developed a sense of humor about this.

What causes this?

I don't really want to rewrite everything I see today so you get a quote from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI for short):

While the exact cause of bipolar disorder is not known, most scientists believe that bipolar disorder is likely caused by multiple factors that interact with each other to produce a chemical imbalance affecting certain parts of the brain. Bipolar disorder often runs in families, and studies suggest a genetic component to the illness. A stressful environment or negative life events may interact with an underlying genetic or biological vulnerability to produce the disorder. There are other possible "triggers" of bipolar episodes: the treatment of depression with an antidepressant medication may trigger a switch into mania, sleep deprivation may trigger mania, or hypothyroidism may produce depression or mood instability. It is important to note that bipolar episodes can and often do occur without any obvious trigger.

This, in a nutshell, states that we really have NO CLUE! Somewhere, though, I have faulty wiring. How to fix faulty wiring? Well, we don't have little nanobot electricians (yet) but we can load up on chemicals.

How does it affect a person's life?

Severely.
I don't mean to sound morose, but it affects everything... especially school. Some days I am super gung-ho and can't wait to learn and research and learn and talk talk talk. These are usually my manias. This is great except my papers sound like my thought process: a tornado flinging thoughts at you. Other days I can't even get myself to think about doing my homework or even getting out of bed. At times I go to school just to argue with people. Other times I am there, but my notes are more sketchbook pages.
The worst part is I know the stuff but since I don't go to a Big State U, I can't just rely on my test scores to float me. Homework = FAIL. The advantage is I am a discussion based learner so the small classes accomodate that. That is why I am still an undergrad at my age with an okay grade point average even though I am super passionate about science. I can't stay focused and I can't really learn the way I KNOW I can. This could be due to a really horrible standardized education system, but that is a topic for one of my soon-to-return Debate!s.

Back to the topic, bipolar disorder can so severely affect people, they can be considered disabled. I, however, am stubborn, and even though my case is severe I force myself to be a "normal" functioning member of society. It may lead to me having odd jobs (painting ornaments, working with butterflies, barking) and having a hard time with authority at times, but I make it work. I know what my triggers are and I have an amazing support network (the hubs and my best friend/mother). There may be many people you know who are bipolar as well and you may not notice or simply think they are nutty and silly.
A book I read when I was younger made me realize I was not alone. It's called An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness and it was the first time I saw on paper what I had been trying to describe all along. I read it when I was about 14 years old and is one of the books that has deeply impacted me over the years. I began to talk more freely about my condition and found other people who thought they were alone as well. Until you know what you have, you feel as if everyone and everything is going crazy and you can't grasp why what you are doing and feeling is wrong. When you know, you can (occasionally) step back and say, "it's okay, it's just a swing." It is a bit hard to overcome, but I am driven and know that even if it takes me 10 years to finish my degree (I hope not) I will do it because this is what I love and I am not going to let my malfunctioning neuropathways stop me!

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