Chris Grinter, 8. septembra, 2010 Zatiaľ čo pracujem na výraznejší príspevok, môžete pomenovať motýľ – a rastlín by malo byť celkom jednoduché aj. Extra bonus, ak môžete hádať kraj (Štát nebude príliš pôsobivé) v ktorej som získala túto fotografiu. To bolo pre-DSLR, but my old beat up canon point-and-shoot did manage to get some good ones.
Chris Grinter, 7. septembra, 2010 
Smutný príbeh práve urobil jeho cestu až z Belize – the American Crocodile Education Sanctuary has burned to the ground. Na prvý pohľad to bola len nešťastná správa o výskume a ochrany zariadenia, ktorá bola stratená v tragickom požiari. Že, však, nie je celý príbeh. 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. Ale, 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 gringos – and 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. Thankfully, Cherie and Vince Rose were both away at the time rescuing a crocodile – they 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. Teraz – who will help educate those villagers before this happens again?!
Chris Grinter, 6. žiaru, 2010 Pre pravidelné čitateľov môjho blogu ste už možno viete, môj postoj k monarchovi, ale catch up here if you’d like to. Yesterday I came across this article in the LA times – týkajúce sa prezimovanie kolónie monarchov v Pacific Grove, CA. Tu, západne od kontinentálneho predelu, 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). Stručne povedané, the town government hired an arborist to cut back dangerous eucalyptus growth. Why was that necessary? Späť na 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 tiež much. Áno, 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?
Don’t worry, 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, áno, 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
Chris Grinter, 27. augusta, 2010 Tento geniálny tlače je navyše špeciálny, nie pre svoju obtiažnosť, ale jeho redundancia. Našiel som rovnaký príbeh niesol na dvoch rôznych zdrojov, s rôznymi obrázkami – a obaja rovnako nesprávne! Dokážem si predstaviť, že to nebude trvať dlho, niekto poukázať na to, čo presne je to s tými príbehy zle (náznak, existujú 2 things).
Here is the first from the Mirror.co.uk “Giant rare moth found in Devon”.
And the second from the Daily Mail online ” Rare Luna moth found on Devon…”
Chris Grinter, 24. augusta, 2010 A keď som sa dohnať môžete sledovať niektoré strašidelný Isabella Rossellini re-nariadiť styčnej stratégie na ploštice. Mali by ste si tiež prečítať, ak ste ho chytil už, the excellent bedbug article written by the distinguished (a môj bývalý profesor) May Berenbaum.
[youtube = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MakIB_IJnu0&feature=search]
Chris Grinter, on August 14th, 2010 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 link – but 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]
Chris Grinter, 10. augusta, 2010 
Na snímke je čierna, biela plesní (Mlynárik ovocný SSP), and it is currently being returned to the Korean Institute of Biological Resources. Úvery dostať sa vrátil, ako by mali byť, každý deň – a môže dokonca aj číslo v tisícoch exemplárov. 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, však, I don’t believe was part of a loan. So why is it going back to Korea?
Continue reading A Disturbing New Trend?
Chris Grinter, na 9.srpna, 2010 This one is just tiež easy. Billboard je na I-35, južne od Burleson, Texas.
Neviem, skutočný pôvod tohto obrázku, ale to prišlo moja cesta od Omara Bocanegra cez Mike Quinn na Texas motýľov zozname-serv.
Chris Grinter, dňa 8. augusta, 2010 
natrafil som na (nie na stmbleupon) tieto farebné obrázky SEM na Telegrafická webová stránka dnes. Obzvlášť sa mi páči tento obrázok larvy Calliphoridae (Protophormia sp.) to vyzerá skôr ako zo sci-fi filmu s hodnotením C než z prírody. Pripomína mi to príšernú postavu zo Star Wars aj Mupeta zároveň. Náhly odklon od štandardnej architektúry tela cicavcov robí z hmyzu hlavných kandidátov na mimozemšťanov z iného sveta. Hmyz musel byť použitý ako sprievodca pre filmy ako District 9, Starship Troopers, Votrelec, Galaxy Quest… aby sme vymenovali len niektoré nedávne. Som si istý, že iné, lepšie akreditované, sci-fi nadšenci vedia vymyslieť ešte lepšie príklady. V rovnakom duchu si spomínam na tieto obrázky, ktoré som zachytil chrobáka Cerambycidae nižšie – Moneilem gigas. Bolo to v prvých dňoch môjho nového fotoaparátu, takže sa na ne nemôžem pozerať ako na dokonalé zábery.
Continue reading Muppet Monsters
Chris Grinter, on August 6th, 2010 
Here is a hill-topping male Papilio zeliacon, or Anise swallowtail. This butterfly is widespread in the western Pacific states and is probably much more common than it once was. After the introduction of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), and subsequent escape from horticulture, the anise swallowtail took hold as a common California butterfly. Perhaps before this plant overtook our roadsides the zelicaon may have been restricted to the Sierra foothills, now you can find it across gardens in all of California. Hoci, things seem to be reversing themselves in southern CA where this butterfly is disappearing from urban areas. Recent introduction of the gypsy moth to the Ventura/LA areas has initiated insecticide spraying regimes – not to mention the appearance of an invasive parasitic Tachinidae that loves larger leps. Out on the east coast this parasitic fly and heavy spraying has extirpated the Imperial moth (Eacles imperialis) from much of it’s range, leaving it endangered in most of New England.
Continue reading Butterfly Porn
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Skepticizmus
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Entomológia 
Motýle, Zachovanie, Invazívne druhy, Lepidoptera, Monarchs 
