On the road again

Over the next week and a half I’ll be driving up to Washington state for the annual Lepidopterists’ Society meeting. It is located in the tourist-trap town of Leavenworth, which is a “Bavarian themed” diorama of postcard and clog shops. While I can never quite understand the appeal of themed towns, it is something . . . → Read More: On the road again

Vox Populi, volume II

And now for the even more infrequently reoccurring series, vox populi! For those without scarring high school memories of latin class (through no fault of my teacher) I’ll bring you up to speed – the title roughly translates to “voice of the people”. Here is another old e-mail that I’ve been saving. It is a . . . → Read More: Vox Populi, volume II

Genius of the Press VIII

Welcome to volume eight of the inconsistently reoccurring series, Genius of the Press. I came across this article recently regarding an endemic Puerto Rican butterfly. Who can tell me exactly why this report is misleading? It may be a little trickier than the standard GOP (I suggest discarding any previously associated acronyms with those letters). . . . → Read More: Genius of the Press VIII

The Moth and Me #12

Welcome to The Moth and Me #12, and my first blog carnival. Despite blogging for a few months I have yet to take a look back and reflect on exactly how I became enamored with lepidoptera in the first place. Remembering a time or location where this happened is impossible, and like . . . → Read More: The Moth and Me #12

Biology of a Ghost

This moth is just about as rare as its paranormal namesake (except that it’s real) – it’s a Gazoryctra sp. in the family Hepialidae. They represent a basal lineage of the Lepidoptera and are commonly known as ghost moths or swift moths. Ghost – because males of some species are known to fly in . . . → Read More: Biology of a Ghost

Genius of the Press VII

Who can see what’s wrong with this article?

Estimates of Global Species Diversity

This recent article in the American Naturalist has taken a second look at some of the famously inflated species estimates, some going high as 100 million (Erwin, 1988). Estimates conducted by the authors indicate that projections above 30 million have probabilities of <0.00001. Their estimated range is more likely to be between 2.5 and . . . → Read More: Estimates of Global Species Diversity

May Butterflies (and a moth)

Just a few images of common California leps, taken along the coast range near Santa Cruz a few weeks ago. Starting to work my way through some photo backlog…

Euphydryas chalcedona

Plebejus acmon

Plebejus acmon

. . . → Read More: May Butterflies (and a moth)

Sunday Quiz

For the rarely reoccurring quiz series, here is a new image. Who is this moth?

Have you seen me?

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 . . . → Read More: Have you seen me?