Today’s moth is an understated brown Crambidae, Loxostege brunneitincta. While this isn’t a particularly captivating moth it does have an interesting story that illustrates the need for scientific collections and museum loans. If you read the label image you will notice the moth was originally collected in 1927 by E. P. Van Duzee in Truckee,…
CNN has now jumped on the bandwagon of FOX-esque bashing of scientific funding. Reporter Erin Burnett “reports” on the federal funding of $5.7 million dollars to help fight the invasive Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Halyomorpha halys). Burnett’s sarcasm is nearly thick enough to break into SNL levels of ridiculousness, but she seems genuine in her distain for…
Apparently something in the Mazda 6 fuel line is warm and inviting for the yellow sac spider, enough so that they are building webs over the vent systems of the 4 cylinder vehicles (and not the 6!). The problem has been deemed a “spider infestation” by the car company, and the clogged vent lines then…
The family Nepticulidae hold some of the smallest moths known, ranging from 3-8mm wing-tip to wing-tip. For a comparison I have imaged two moths above: the largest known – Coscinocera hercules that tips the scales at nearly 9 inches, and one of the smallest (yes that tiny little speck below the Hercules moth) – Ectoedemia rubifoliella, also…
I came across this interesting device and had an instant gut reaction.. “Of course a stupid water bulb doesn’t repel flies, this is a scam!”… deep breath… OK that is terrible skepticism. Actually, it’s cynical and it’s just what skeptics hate being called. It’s also something that happens much too easily – I’m pretty convinced…
And while I catch up you can watch some creepy Isabella Rossellini re-enact the mating strategies of a bedbug. You should also read, if you haven’t caught it already, the excellent bedbug article written by the distinguished (and my former professor) May Berenbaum. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MakIB_IJnu0&feature=search]
Because I would have been subjected to this. Talk about animal cruelty! OK, just kidding, but this story is a bit ridiculous. The article states that the scientists had used the voice of Limbaugh because it was “readily available”, not because they hated him. Well that turns out not to be true, they chose Rush…