Би Цхрис Гринтер, on May 30th, 2010 For the rarely reoccurring quiz series, here is a new image. Who is this moth?
Би Цхрис Гринтер, 25. маја, 2010 
За оне Калифорнији читања, посебно оне на југу, пази за ову прелепу паукцицу, Латродецтус геометрицус – браон удовица. Арахнолози у УЦ Риверсиде прате ширење ове инвазивне врсте. Иронично се испостави да не буде толико опасно као наш матерњи Блацк Видов. Поред тога, није из ’около ових овде крајева (треба рећи у свом најбољем јужњачком звуку). Ако нађете примерак, посебно ако нисте у окрузима ЛА/Оранге/СД, требао би контакт тим на УЦР.
Би Цхрис Гринтер, 25. маја, 2010 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 I come across articles like this because I always have hopes for something so ridiculous it has to be discussed. Thankfully CNN is run by teams of drunken marmosets who like to fling crap at us. Before the Skeptical Moth epoch I would share links to cover page stories on the findings of bigfoot, chupacabra and aliens with just a few friends or spread it around facebook. Now I can ridicule CNN on a google archived medium.
I just do not understand the point of this article. John Blake doesn’t discuss an explanation for this phenomenon, offer an opinion, or ask any questions. Сигуран, he asks if God really cares who wins, but that question isn’t any more valid than asking if my dog (also fictional) cares what kind of car I drive (unless of course it is psychic! Озбиљно…people believe this). When I read articles like this I feel as if I am grading papers in a high school english class. There is no journalistic integrity, intelligent opinion or factual basis for the scribbling – there are just pretty pictures and words illustrating them. Setting the whole prayer and faith issue aside; athletes have always been known for their superstitions (another). The “acceptance speech” phenomenon undoubtedly falls under this category. After achieving a statistically small outcome (видети hot hands), they are afraid of forgetting God in fear of magically losing their ability (not necessarily consciously). For some reason Blake restrains this article to only sports – perhaps he is intentionally playing into the massive demographic of American sports loving, bud-light swilling, christians – but clearly this is a reoccurring theme. At any awards ceremony God, Jesus or Allah is usually at the top of the thank-you list. Forget all that hard work and talent you might have, it was something or someone else. Abandoning all rational thought to a mystical being is a dangerous thing. This mindset is the same one that allows addicts to blame anyone but themselves (even if addiction is in part hard-wired), believe in faith healing, start a holy war, or let the Catholic church blame the devil.
CNN is flashing the lights and jingling the keys over the faces of their readers. Usually I leave it up to FOX news to insult my intelligence, but I am glad to know I have a choice in this market.
Би Цхрис Гринтер, 24. маја, 2010 
Једном у животу појаву, a билатерални гинандроморпх. Укратко, грешка током диференцијацију ћелија ствара асиметричне шаре хромозома, што доводи до асиметричног секс изражавања у одраслих инсеката. Ако нисте кликнули на линк изнад, учинити, то је одличан опис са неким страшан фотографијама.
Назад на лептира. Ја сам био на терену у марту ове године нешто изнад средњег рачвању реке америчког у потрази за Ксантхотхрик, са мном је био Брајан Хансен и Боб Патерсон. Боб и ја смо били на задатку, да лоцира даљински парче Цореопсис високо на серпентина земљишта, и да пронађе своју ретку малу мољца. Брајан дошла да уживају у дан и истражите лептира фауне. Док Боб и ја хикед напред нестрпљив да види да ли ће бити повећање дана вредело, Брајан престао да често нето пролазним Лепс. То је било вероватно мање од сат времена из аута, када чујемо форму иза нас на трагу “Хеј момци… Мислим да сам ухватио гинандроморпх!!!” У реду, Био сам скептичан. Боб и ја пришао да видим Бриан држи мало плаве у руци, која непогрешиво, био билатерални гинандроморпх. Био сам одуван. Боб има преко 50 година искуства као страствени лепидоптерист и никада није видео један од ових у дивљини. Да би тај подвиг још импресивније, ова мала Блуе буттерфли је једна од најчешћих инсеката у америчком Западу у пролеће. Данас, су пуддлинг у великом броју дуж стазе, а нисам ни престао да трепне на једном. Брајан само донела је један у милион улов. Можда је проклетство на Јадед лепидоптерист која ће ме спречити што једном у животу открићу; али знам да ће бити у потрази ближе на чак најчешћи лептира као што крила од мене.
Дакле, као што можете видети лептир је тачно пола мушко и женско пола (десна страна је женско). Ако погледате веома пажљиво можете видети чак савршен вертикалну линију Укрштајући тело ако инсект (изгледа као Пхотосхоп едит готово), гинандроморпхисм после свега се изражава кроз цело тело, па чак и гениталије су згрчено у чудне облике.
Примерак је у Брајана Хансена личне колекције, и можете наћи слике хостоване на Буттерфлиес оф Америца Сајт.
Би Цхрис Гринтер, 23. маја, 2010 
Природно, it was named Phallus drewsii. This comes form the list of the top 10 species named у 2009, поштовати од Аризона Стате Университи (не врло добар списак ако 7 од мојих нових врста које нису биле тамо…). While I tend to avoid phallic and O’Keeffesque botany, this one I couldn’t resist because it was named after someone from my own institution. Доктор. Robert Drewes now has a small phallic fungi named after him (with permission). Taxonomy humor at work.
Би Цхрис Гринтер, on May 18th, 2010 
Has just been posted over at Бубе у грму. 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.
Би Цхрис Гринтер, on May 18th, 2010 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 countries to conduct research in, and now we are all reminded of its continuing history of violence. Often it is within the remote and wild portions of a developing country that harbors both stunning biodiversity and militant dissidents. While in Ecuador my group kept an eye out for Columbian FARC rebels who may have strayed across the border; thankfully it was only a minute possibility they would be there in the first place, and nothing was seen. I think some of my most harrowing field work has been along the US-Mexican boarder states and in Mexico itself. Drug runners would rather shoot you before asking you to move out of their way, and roaming banditos were responsible for a murder of a colleagues friend in Oaxaca years ago. Not surprisingly, the lure of untapped biodiversity keeps pulling us in. Stay safe in the field!
Би Цхрис Гринтер, on May 5th, 2010 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:
Continue reading Gone Collecting
Би Цхрис Гринтер, on May 5th, 2010  It’s good to throw a changeup every one in a while, and this week here is an article that is actually GOOD. Да, 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 job (hey… I knew that title sounded familiar… it’s a book by May Berenbaum) and they actually seem to get it. There are some great quotes from Dr. Neal Evenhuis (pictured) and Shepherd Myers; go read about the Bishop Museum’s collections and the awesomeness of being an entomologist on one of the most beautiful places in the world. Заправо, Neal, need a curatorial assistant?
Би Цхрис Гринтер, on May 4th, 2010
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 (или $75 for the e-book, but I hate e-books). It’s a remarkable tome and the first of its kind for the western states. Not only is it a spectacular reference, but it sets the bar for all insect books. Не, not every moth in the west is in there (that would break my desk and wallet at over 6,000 врста), but almost one of every genus and common or remarkable species has a photograph, life history and distribution. Most importantly it covers microlepidoptera. I grew up on the eastern counterpart, Moths of Eastern North America by Covell. I had two copies, one for the field and one for my desk – and had to replace the field copy at least once. То је била велика књига, али Пауел и Оплер су покренути кругова око њега.
Друга добра вест је да сада можете приступити све 1,228 мотх илустрације и одговарајуће податке онлине фор бесплатно. Иди на ЦалПхотос и тражити Повелл, или кликните овде. Лепо део о ово је нешто мањи мицролеп фотографија у књизи су доступне у високој резолуцији за бољу идентификацију. Лепа додатак референци и лакше него слање свима ЦД.
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