Секси, Секи пивских флаша

The 2011 Ig Nobel ceremony took place yesterday at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The award is sponsored by Improbable Research, an organization that gathers fascinating, непаран, и отворено урнебесне истраживачки радови који тријумф идеја да није све је наука досадна. Among this year’s distinguished recipients was fellow entomologist and blogger David Rentz, who received the . . . → Прочитајте више: Секси, Секи пивских флаша

Net-Winged Beetle

These large and interesting Lycidae beetles (Lycus fernandezi) were abundant in south eastern Arizona a few weeks ago. Constantly flying between flowers and moist sand they were making for easy photography targets. I thought to myselfhere is a great opportunity to catch a beetle taking off!”.

Wait for it

Lycus fernandezi (Lycidae)

. . . → Прочитајте више: Net-Winged Beetle

Take that, vertebrates!

I’ve known for a while that beetles and other inverts occasionally have vertebrates on their menu, but I didn’t really know how large of an animal they could subdue! Even when the odd mantis grabs a hummingbird the size difference is not as substantial as is shown below. This impressive video was . . . → Прочитајте више: Take that, vertebrates!

Блуе Оак Ранцх Ресерве

Пре неколико недеља сам био позван да се придружи Беркли ентомологије класу на терену за викенд. Наше одредиште је Плава Оак Ранцх Ресерве; један од најновијих резерви на Универзитету у Калифорнији система који се налазе недалеко од Сан Јосе на планини Хамилтон (мап испод). То је био . . . → Прочитајте више: Блуе Оак Ранцх Ресерве

Mystery Revelaed

У реду – a few apologies for not having full images *yet* of the larvae in question (I will in a few days!). Over the weekend I was out with a group of Berkeley students on Mount Hamilton and PhD candidate Meghan Culpepper collected a few species of Scaphinotus and a some larvae! So the specimen . . . → Прочитајте више: Mystery Revelaed

Muppet Monsters

I stumbled upon (not on stumbleupon) these colored SEM images on the Telegraph webpage today. I especially love this image of a Calliphoridae larva (Protophormia sp.) that seems more out of a C-rated science fiction movie than nature. It reminds me of both a freakish Star Wars character and a Muppet at the same . . . → Прочитајте више: Muppet Monsters

Thankfully, I’m not a beetle

Because I would have been subjected to this. Talk about animal cruelty! У реду, just kidding, but this story is a bit ridiculous. The article states that the scientists had used the voice of Limbaugh because it wasreadily available”, not because they hated him. Well that turns out not to be true, they chose Rush . . . → Прочитајте више: Thankfully, I’m not a beetle