For those Californians reading, especially those in the south, keep an eye out for this beautiful little spider, Latrodectus geometricus – the brown widow. Arachnologists at UC Riverside are monitoring the spread of this invasive species. Ironically it turns out to not be as dangerous as our native black widow. Nonetheless, it is not from…
With Korea teetering on the edge of a hot war, an ecological disaster of unprecedented proportion and civil unrest in Jamaica (someone harshed their mellow) – just to name a few of todays headlines from other sources – CNN takes the time to fluff up its front page. I usually get a little excited when…
A once in a lifetime occurrence, a bilateral gynandromorph. In short, a glitch during cell differentiation creates asymmetrical chromosome patterns, which leads to asymmetrical sex expression in the adult insect. If you haven’t clicked the link above, do so, it’s an excellent description with some awesome photos. Back to the butterfly. I was in the…
Naturally, it was named Phallus drewsii. This comes form the list of the top 10 species named in 2009, complied by Arizona State University (not a very good list if 7 of my new species weren’t on there…). While I tend to avoid phallic and O’Keeffesque botany, this one I couldn’t resist because it was…
Has just been posted over at Beetles in the Bush. Go over and explore the latest moth carnival, a gathering of blogs that have featured moths in one way or another over the last month or so.
News in from India, a butterfly photographer has been kidnapped. A local park official who was visiting the north eastern province Arunachal Pradesh was taken at night by a gang of armed youth-rebels. Efforts to find him have been hampered by the weather and remote terrain. India has recently become one of the most difficult…
Over a long weekend I’ll be out in the field. Stay tuned for incredible stories (no hype here…). While I’m away enjoy the following from other excellent bloggers: Ted MacRae demonstrates the proper field attire. Just about how I’ll look for the next few days. Explore the Queensland Rainforest with David Rentz. Identify this moth…
It’s good to throw a changeup every one in a while, and this week here is an article that is actually GOOD. Yes, you read it here first, a positive article about entomology collections. We all need a breather after that Fox news fiasco with the Michigan State collection. The Honolulu Magazine does a really great…
For those who are not aware, a new book hit the market at the end of last year. “The Moths of Western North America“, Powell and Opler. At only $95 it’s worth every cent (or $75 for the e-book, but I hate e-books). It’s a remarkable tome and the first of its kind for the…
From a peppermint Pericopinae. I recorded this video on-site in northern Costa Rica a few years ago. When I reached down to pick up this moth, it was hard to avoid noticing the behavior. The moth, Chetone angulosa (Erebidae: Pericopina) ((used to be Arctiidae)), has a common defensive mechanism for this group – they excrete…