Ag Chris Grinter, ar an 19 Aibreán, 2011
 Foinse: Vicipéid Casadh sé amach go bhfuil Richard Branson smaoineamh nua; a shábháil ar an lemur fáinne-tailed (Lemur catta) le iad a allmhairiú chuig a Oileán Maighdean Briotanach príobháideach. Mar pointí an t-alt amach chaith Branson milliúin punt agus bliana d'iarracht dul ar an oileán i “an t-oileán is neamhdhíobhálaí éiceolaíochta ar domhan”. Ach dealraíonn sé gur chinn an tUasal Branson dearmad a dhéanamh ar eolaíocht chaomhnaithe agus í a athscríobh ar bhealach atá níos neamhdhíobhálaí don PR. I thagann na lemurs ainneoin rabhadh a mheasúnú éiceolaíochta féin mar gheall ar mian leis “…chun gnáthóg dara oileán a chruthú agus tá na coinníollacha ar Moskito foirfe.” B’fhéidir go bhfuil foclóir domhan aisteach ag Branson ina bhfuil sainmhíniú ar an bhfocal foirfe “rud éigin go hiomlán neamhchosúil leis an mbunleagan”.
OK cinnte, ar dtús is smaoineamh breá é an smaoineamh – tá na lemurs i mbaol, cén fáth nach ndéanfaidh tú iarracht an dara tearmann fiáin a thabhairt dóibh? Bhuel, Bhí an Dr James Lazell ón nGníomhaireacht Caomhnaithe 31 taithí na mblianta ar Oileáin na Maighdean agus tá sé sin curtha in iúl aige “Tá lemurs lúfar, deaslámhach, ionsaitheach, ainmhithe omnivorous a d’fhéadfadh tionchar díobhálach a bheith acu ar na héiceolaíochtaí simplí oileánda seo. Itheann siad go hiomlán gach rud - lizards, torthaí, fréamhacha, feithidí, éin’ uibheacha.” Ó ach ná bí buartha, ní féidir aon rud dona tarlú nuair a thugann tú príomhaigh isteach ar oileán (a tugadh isteach príomhaigh scrios Eochair Florida). Tá a fhios ag Branson nach ndéanfaidh na lemurs ach “tóg an gecko corr” (cosúil leis an gecko dwarf endemic annamh Parthenopion Sphaerodactylus), gan trácht ar is dócha nach scaipfidh siad go hoileáin eile ó shin “fuath ag snámh” (fáinne eireaball lemur ag snámh).
Mar sin, cén fáth ansin an fáinne-tailed? Ní toisc go bhfuil sé i mbaol (tá go leor de eile lemurs níos mó i mbaol), ach toisc go bhfuil sé ar an chuid is mó íocónach. Is é sin a thiomáineann go mór mé suas an balla faoin smaoineamh ridiciúil seo. Ní hamháin go bhfuil sé ag tabhairt isteach speiceas ionrach a d’fhéadfadh a bheith naive isteach i ngnáthóg íogair oileáin – ach toisc go bhfuil sé ag scaipeadh teachtaireacht bhréagach caomhnaithe. Cosúil le leanbh mall, tá Branson ag luascadh chuig an eireaball fáinne chun é a shábháil agus an smaoineamh ar fad taobh thiar de chaomhnú in easnamh go hiomlán. Is speiceas suaitheanta é an earrfháinneach, ceann a tharraingíonn aird ar an léirscrios atá ag tarlú i Madagascar. Ainmhí gleoite gleoite amháin a léiríonn gnáthóga uathúla agus ilghnéitheacha a thír dhúchais. Ach ná bíodh aon rud le rá ag Richard Branson faoi. Cén fáth bac a chur ar Madagascar a chosaint nuair is féidir leat swoop isteach agus teach nua a chruthú do phríomhaí breá le gach duine? Phew, géarchéim seachanta. Fidileann Risteard agus Madagascar ar lasadh.
Doigh liom go bhfuil an zú oileáin anchúinse seo ach masquerading mar chaomhnú agus is fíor-spreagadh taobh thiar dó tráchtála. Thar na blianta atá romhainn beidh dornán de “só, tithe carbóin-neodrach tógtha ar an oileán”. Scéim iontach iontach chun tithe a cheannach a chosnóidh na mílte dollar an ceann gan dabht. – agus is féidir leat ligean ort go mothaíonn tú go maith faoin domhan a chosaint agus tú á dhéanamh. Tar éis an tsaoil níl aon fhiadhúlra fuinniúil ar na hOileáin Mhaighdean; Is cinnte go ndéanann nádúr jab uafásach chun billionaires iontach a chruthú. Cad a thagann in aice leis an oileán?
B'fhéidir… ach b'fhéidir… Tá an Dr. Moreau ag bogadh isteach ar dtús.
Ag Chris Grinter, ar an 18 Aibreán, 2011 Tá cúpla seachtain ó shin tugadh cuireadh dom a bheith páirteach i rang feithideolaíocht Berkeley amach i réimse an deireadh seachtaine. Ba é ár gceann scríbe an Blue Darach Cúlchiste feirm; ar cheann de na cúlchistí is nua go dtí an córas Ollscoil California lonnaithe díreach taobh amuigh de San Jose ar Mount Hamilton (léarscáil thíos). Turas ranga comhpháirteach damháin alla agus ciaróg a bhí ann, arna óstáil ag Charles Griswold agus Dave Kavanaugh faoi seach. Agus in ainneoin sioc oíche Shathairn d’éirigh linn roinnt feithidí suimiúla a aimsiú. Tá mo chuid íomhánna feicthe agat cheana féin de na Scaifneach (Carabidae), ach seo sraith níos mó d'íomhánna ó mé féin agus ó chomhghleacaí agus blagaire eile Tamas Szuts.
 Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae?  Pholcidae : is dócha Pholcus sp.  Salticidae: Phidippus sp. Continue reading Blue Oak Ranch Reserve
Ag Chris Grinter, ar an 6ú Aibreán, 2011 OK – le leithscéal a ghabháil cúpla i dtaobh gan íomhánna iomlán * fóill * de na larbhaí i gceist (Beidh mé i gceann cúpla lá!). Thar an deireadh seachtaine a bhí mé amach le grúpa de mhic léinn Berkeley ar Mount Hamilton agus PhD iarrthóir Meghan Culpepper bailíodh roinnt speiceas de Scaphinotus agus larbhaí éigin! So the specimen from Monday was indeed the larvae of a Scaphinotus beetle feasting inside the shell of a native terrestrial snail. This challenge was a hard one since these predatory Scaphinotus larvae are rarely encountered and there are zero images of out there – and none of them feeding. Better luck next time!
For now, here is an undetermined Scaphinotus species. In the coming weeks I will have 4-5 species photographed and identified (by Meghan) – and the larvae will have to be sequenced for species ID. Fanacht tiúnta.
Ag Chris Grinter, on April 4th, 2011 
Came across this guy while out in the field the other day, what’s going on here? Points awarded for Order/Family/Genus – but even experts in this group can’t figure out the species quite yet.
(everyone in the field with me should hold their comments until the guesses come in!)
Ag Chris Grinter, ar an 30 Márta, 2011  Gloine klettii: Grianghraif ag Aibreán Nobile, CAS
I gcás nach bhfuil an chuid is mó chuid cuileoga feithidí a rachaidh mé ró-excited faoi. Mar sin féin, Is iad an teaghlach Acroceridae enigmatic an eisceacht. Feicfidh mé tús a roinnt ar roinnt genera suimiúla ó am go ham – Is é an mhoirfeolaíocht an teaghlaigh amazingly éagsúil. Most of my days are spent at the museum inventorying our massive collection of over 16,000 Acorcerids (aka small-headed flies). That may not sound all too impressive when you compare it to other more abundant families (and it does pale in comparison to the over 17,500,000 other specimens we do have in the museum); but it turns out to represent many, if not most, de go léir known specimens for the entire family. While there are likely large assemblages of these flies in other institutions, the California Academy of Sciences can easily claim the record ever since receiving the collection of Dr. Evert I. Schlinger (who occasionally comes in to work from the museum).
Acrocerids turn out to be a rather difficult group to study because of how rare they are in nature, their parasitoid biology, and how difficult they can be to catch on the wing. Their large thorax is packed with muscles that rocket the fly through the air – so if you don’t catch them at a flower you’re left longing for a Malaise trap. Ev did tell me one story of learning to catch these on the wing in Costa Rica. You stand downwind from a colleague in the field – as soon as someone hears something zip past, you swing wildly hoping to snare the fly by chance… it does work every once in a while. These flies are also the only known endoparasites of adult spiders (there may be a record of a Tachinid…). The above genus, NeoLasia, is a parasite of Theraphosid tarantulas (something like Aphonopelma). As a larvae the fly works its way up the legs of a spider and burrows into the abdomen where it then settles in next to the book lung and pokes a little breathing hole. Then it waits patiently for the spider to near maturity. With female tarantulas, the fly could be dormant for decades. Eventually something akin to the movie Aliens happens and the larvae feeds on the internal organs of the spider then emerges to pupate. But figuring out whether or not a spider has a parasite is impossible without a dissection – so large collections of live spiders must be maintained to obtain host records. Parasitoid biology is just so cool.
The above specimen (Gloine klettii a new, unnamed, speicis) was collected in 1977 by Schlinger near the town of Alamos, Meicsiceo – on flowers with the likely mimic model, a Chrysomelidae beetle (beetle people, any ideas beyond family?).
Ag Chris Grinter, on March 24th, 2011 Better be careful of what you do while out in the countryside. Farms can be dangerous places, especially if you’re a photographer. Proposed legislation in Florida, titled simply “farms”, is attempting to make photography or drawings in, on or de a farm without explicit written consent a first degree FELONY (suas go dtí 30 years in prison). What could possibly be the justification for this legislation? Journalist Barry Doyle suggests the good Senator is tightly in the pockets of Agribusiness – looking out for those poor farmers who are targeted by animal rights groups or even worse – human rights groups! I tend to concur, this legislation is a disgusting piece of corruption. It gets pretty bad:
(2) A person who photographs, video records, or otherwise produces images or pictorial records, digital or otherwise, at or of a farm or other property where legitimate agriculture operations are being conducted without the written consent of the owner, or an authorized representative of the owner, commits a felony of the first degree…
I strongly encourage any of my Florida readers to write to Senator Norman and express your absolute disgust in his legislation.
14031 N. Dale Mabry Blvd.
Tampa, FL 33618
(813) 265-6260
Senate VOIP: 41200
I also encourage everyone else everywhere else to write to your US representative and exclaim your outrage over this possible violation of first amendment rights (only a proposed violation at this moment).
And just for good measure, here is a bad cellphone picture I took while in Oregon with lots of farms.
Ag Chris Grinter, 22 Márta, 2011 De ghnáth tháinig mé trasna earraí feithideolaíocht Uafásach go leor go rialta a shábháil mé riaráiste do shraith anseo. Nach bhfuil sé seo an cás thar na seachtainí anuas, Nach bhfuil mé teacht ar fud an sraith gnáth crud meáin uafásach. B'fhéidir liom a fháil díreach tar jaded agus stop ag breathnú chomh cúramach – but this week I even came across a moth related correction from the Maui News. They fixed their error, but must have deleted the original article…
And for this week I found this article with the image below. Should be pretty easy to spot the weirdness (siad do at least manage to point out that the moth is ní the LBAM (light brown apple moth)).
Ag Chris Grinter, ar 18 Márta, 2011 
B'fhéidir gurb é an áit ach amháin sa domhan nuair is féidir leat teacht ar bíosún Meiriceánach (vs. bíosún) seasamh in aice le trá in aice le crann pailme. Bhí an seachtain ar Santa Catalina amháin iontach, agus in ainneoin an earraigh fionnuar le cúpla frosts neamhshaosúrach, Cuireadh roinnt mhaith bhailiú dhéanamh. Níl anseo ach cúpla íomhá ghreannmhar agus tabharfaidh tú rud amháin faoi deara láithreach: gan páirceanna bláthanna fiáine! Mar a casadh sé amach, beagnach céad bliain de gabhar, d'fhág féarach agus cactus den chuid is mó ar an oileán de bharr féarach muc agus bíosún. Ag pointe amháin bhí deireadh 1000 bíosún agus tréada gabhar gan áireamh; is iontach an rud é gur mhair aon rud beo! Inniu, Buíochas le Dia níl ach beagán ~200 bíosún fágtha atá ar rialú breithe fiú (rinne tú buille faoi thuairim é, ní féidir leat na rudaí diabhal ó dhaoine a lámhach “grá” leo – díreach cosúil leis an eucalyptus dúr ní féidir leat a ghearradh anuas). I 1924 tugadh bíosún beag cloisteála anonn chun an scannán a lámhach An Meiriceánach caillte na himeartha. Ar ndóigh, chuaigh an tionscadal thar bhuiséad, gearradh an radharc agus ligeadh na hainmhithe scaoilte in áit íoc as iad a thabhairt ar ais abhaile. 80 blianta ina dhiaidh sin agus tá oileán fágtha agat nach féidir leat troid ach leis “chaomhnú” agus ní ar ais. Is é an rud brónach nach bhfuil aon leid againn cad a bhíodh ar an oileán. Tá sé hipitéiseach fiú go bhfuil an sionnach oileán endemic (a chonaiceamar 6!) a tugadh anonn ag daoine dúchasacha cúpla míle bliain ó shin ó na hoileáin chomharsanachta. Is dóigh liom go bhfuil sé inár nádúr praiseach a dhéanamh lenár dtimpeallacht.
Mar a bhí mé ag grianghraif an méid thuas, shiúil an beithíoch seo suas i mo dhiaidh. Ní raibh sé ag rith, Bhí mé!
Ag Chris Grinter, 8 Márta, 2011 [cetsEmbedGmap src = http://maps.google.com/maps?Ll = 33.393039, -118.416824&SPN = 0.359452,0.715485&t = h&z = 11 width = 600 airde = 330 marginwidth = 0 marginheight = 0 frameborder = 0 scrollaigh = uathoibríoch]
Maidin amárach Tá mé amach ar feadh 10 day collecting trip down to Oileán Catalina. Bainim ádh go leor chun cuireadh a bheith páirteach Dr. Jerry Powell de UC Berkeley ar shuirbhé moth, agus beidh sé seo mo chéad uair le haon cheann de na hoileáin. The Channel Islands are known for their high levels of endemism, and none is more famous than the Channel Island Fox. There are also a handful of endemic butterflies and moths that I’ll be hoping to find, but at the very least I know it’s wildflower season and I’ve got my camera primed.
I will likely have little or no access to the internet while staying on the island, so hang tight for a week. Had I planned ahead I would have scheduled posts or a guest author! Please do stay tuned for some of my first images of the 2011 field season.
Ag Chris Grinter, ar an 3ú Márta, 2011 
Apparently something in the Mazda 6 fuel line is warm and inviting for the yellow sac spider, go leor ionas go bhfuil siad webs a thógáil thar na córais vent na 4 feithiclí sorcóir (agus nach bhfuil an 6!). Tá an fhadhb measadh a “spider inmhíolú” Rinne an comhlacht carranna, and the clogged vent lines then can lead to a cracked gas tank and the possibility of a fire.
“A certain type of spider may weave a web in the evaporative canister vent line and this may cause a restriction of the line”
So far only 20 cases are confirmed, but this problem is prolific enough that it has lead to a recall of over 52,000 sedans! I think it’s high time the major car companies hire entomology consultants – tar éis gach rud, my retainer would be a lot less than the cost of that recall…
I consulted with our resident team of arachnologists here at the CAS, and the above image does appear to be a sac spider. It’s too hard to tell from the image, but it’s probably not an egregious taxonomic failure.
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Amhras
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