Mystery Mid-ġimgħa

Filwaqt I xogħol fuq post aktar sostanzjali, inti tista 'isem dan butterfly – u l-impjant għandu jkun pjuttost faċli wisq. Bonus Extra jekk inti tista raden il-kontea (istat mhux se jkunu wisq impressjonanti) fejn I ħa din photo. Dan kien qabel DSLR, but my old beat up canon point-and-shoot did manage to get some good ones.

Psychics strajk mill-ġdid!

A istorja diqa biss għamlet mod tagħha up minn Belize – l- American Crocodile Education Sanctuary has burned to the ground. Ewwel daqqa t'għajn dan kien biss rapport sfortunata dwar faċilità ta 'riċerka u konservazzjoni li kienu ntilfu fil-nar traġika. Li, madankollu, mhijiex l-istorja kollha. It turns out that a mob of indigenous Mayans flew into a rage and torched the facility. Why? Because a psychic told them the owners had murdered children and fed them to their crocodiles!

It was like something out of a Frankenstein movie,” Cherie Rose said Tuesday. “If we’d been home, they would have killed us. They said they were going to chop us up and feed us to the crocodiles.

National police confirm that the indigenous Maya villagers were acting on the advice of a psychic who said the Roses had something to do with the August 7 disappearance of 9-year-old Benjamin Rash and his 11-year-old sister Onelia.

The question often comes up – “what harm is it really?” – in regards to this sort of anti-scientifc woo. Most of the time, there really isn’t any damage done, except to the pocketbook. Imma, every once in a while, something tragic happens and it all could easily have been avoided with even the tiniest bit of rational thought or discretion. The psychic in town was far and beyond reckless by blaming these gringosand she should suffer the consequences for her actions. She deliberately blamed two innocent people for the death of local children, which quickly resulted in a severe loss of personal property. B'xorti tajba, Cherie and Vince Rose were both away at the time rescuing a crocodilethey may have not escaped the angry mob had they been at home. Examples of this always make me sad, but reignite my passion for debunking these thieves and criminals.

I suggest visiting the ACES website and blog and either donate or write a note of support. If I weren’t a broke scientist myself, I’d offer more assistance for their efforts to rebuild. Issa – who will help educate those villagers before this happens again?!

Monarch dimenzja

Għall-qarrejja regolari tal-blog tiegħi inti tista 'diġà jafu pożizzjoni tiegħi fuq il-monarka, iżda catch up here if you’d like to. Yesterday I came across dan l-artikolu in the LA times – dwar il-kolonji overwintering ta 'renjanti fil-Paċifiku Grove, CA. Hawn, punent tal-qasma kontinentali, there are quite a few monarchs that migrate to coastal California and Baja del Norte instead of traveling into central Mexico. Not all monarchs from California stay in the state, but there are dozens hundreds of known roosting sites (.pdf) up and down our pacific coast.

Pacific Grove has one of the best known localities and has built the local economy around their seasonal migrants (yet no one is deporting these Mexicans). Fil-qosor, the town government hired an arborist to cut back dangerous eucalyptus growth. Why was that necessary? Back in 2004 a limb from a diseased native-pine had fallen and killed an 85-year-old woman while on a walk with her grandchildren. In wake of the million dollar settlement paid to the family of the deceased the town decided to preemptively cut back old tree growth. But now everyone is running around screaming foul, the trees were trimmed wisq much. Iva, the precious homes of the monarchs were disturbed and it has riled the townspeople into a fury. What if the monarch’s don’t return?

Tinkwetax, local filmmaker Bob Pacelli has a solution. Let’s just scatter as many eucalyptus trees as we can find into the grove to attract more butterflies.

In desperation, Pacelli came up with a plan: Find boxed trees — preferably blue gum eucalyptus — around 20 feet high and place them at strategic spots to help shelter the incoming monarchs. But the city has been slow to respond, Pacelli said. One official, Pacelli said, wrongly accused him of stepping on a butterfly, a violation of city code. No charges were filed.

For those paying attention, iva, the city council of Pacific Grove has a law on the books that imposes a fine of $1,000 on anyone who molests a butterfly. Good things monarchs don’t roost in catholic churches.

Continue reading Monarch Madness

Genius tal-Istampa XI

This genius of the press is extra special, not for its difficulty, but for its redundancy. I found the same story carried on two separate sources, with different imagesand both equally incorrect! I can imagine that it won’t take long for someone to point out exactly what’s wrong with these stories (hint, hemm 2 things).

Here is the first from the Mirror.co.ukGiant rare moth found in Devon”.

And the second from the Daily Mail onlineRare Luna moth found on Devon…”

Stajt kien ftit wara…

U filwaqt li jien jlaħħqu inti tista watch xi-jattwaw mill-ġdid l-istrateġiji creepy Isabella Rossellini tgħammir ta 'bedbug. Għandek taqra wkoll, jekk inti ma jkunux maqbuda diġà, l- artikolu bedbug eċċellenti miktub mill-distinti (u professur ex tiegħi) Mejju Berenbaum.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MakIB_IJnu0&feature=search]

Skeptics fil-Frieħ

Tonight, if you’re in San Francisco, you should make your way to Showdogs bar (near the SoMa) for skeptics in the pub with the honorable James Randi! I’ll be in attendance, along with a few fellow entomologist friends. Try this facebook linkbut if that fails, the event starts at 9pm.

If you’re not in SF, enjoy some Randi videos instead!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9w7jHYriFo]

Xejra Ġdida inkwetanti?

Pictured is a black-veined white (Aporia crataegi ssp), and it is currently being returned to the Korean Institute of Biological Resources. Loans get returned, as they should be, every dayand can even number in the thousands of specimens. I myself have a few hundred moths out on loan from a handful of museums that are pending research. As soon as I finish my work (or request an extension), the specimens are promptly returned accompanying my paper. Unfortunately it is not a rare occurrence where loans have gone out, and remained out without permission, for decades. At least in one case to my knowledge (names and institutions redacted) the loaned specimens were out so long they created a small international incident. Foreign ambassadors had to formally request the specimens, which had to be presented in person by our ambassador to their country.

This butterfly, madankollu, I don’t believe was part of a loan. So why is it going back to Korea?

Continue reading A Disturbing New Trend?

Genius of the Press X

Din hija biss wisq faċli. Il-billboard jinsab fuq I-35 fin-nofsinhar ta 'Burleson, Texas.

Ma nafx il-provenjenza vera ta 'din l-immaġni, imma wasal tiegħi minn Omar Bocanegra permezz ta’ Mike Quinn fuq il-lista-serv ta’ Texas Lepidoptera.

Monsters Muppet

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 time. The abrupt departure from standard mammalian body architecture makes insects prime candidates for other-worldly aliens. Insects must have been used as a guide for movies like District 9, Starship Troopers, Alien, Galaxy Questjust to name a few recent ones. I am sure that other, more well-accredited, sci-fi geeks out there can think of even better examples. Along the same lines I recall these images I snapped of a Cerambycidae beetle belowMoneilema gigas. This was in the earliest days of my new camera so I can’t look back on them as perfect shots.

Continue reading Muppet Monsters

Porn Butterfly

Hawnhekk huwa maskili topping għoljiet Zeliacon Papilio, jew swallowtail Anisi. Dan farfett hija mifruxa fl-istati tal-Paċifiku tal-Punent u huwa probabbilment ħafna aktar komuni milli kienet darba. Wara l-introduzzjoni ta 'bużbież (Vulgare Foeniculum), u ħarba sussegwenti mill-ortikultura, il swallowtail anisi ħa istiva bħala farfett California komuni. Forsi qabel dan l-impjant għadda lil dak roadsides tagħna l- zelicaon jistgħu jkunu ġew ristretti għall-għoljiet Sierra, issa inti tista 'ssib madwar ġonna fil kollha tal-Kalifornja. Għalkemm, affarijiet jidhru li irriversjar ruħhom CA nofsinhar fejn dan farfett jisparixxu minn żoni urbani. Introduzzjoni reċenti ta 'l-kamla żingara għall-oqsma Ventura / LA bdiet reġimi insettiċidi bexx – biex ma nsemmux l-dehra ta 'Tachinidae parasitiku invażivi li tant iħobb leps akbar. Fuq il-kosta tal-lvant din fly parasitiku u bexx tqil tkun extirpated l kamla Imperial (Eacles imperjalista) minn ħafna mill-firxa dan l, u jħalli dan fil-periklu fil-maġġoranza ta 'New England.

Continue reading Butterfly Porn