All New, Attack Moths!

By Chris Grinter, on July 5th, 2011%

It seems like there is a preponderance of urban legends that involve insects crawling into our faces while we sleep. The most famous myth is something along the lines of “you eat 8 spiders a year while sleeping“. Actually when you google that the number ranges from 4 to 8… up to . . . → Read More: All New, Attack Moths!

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The Arachnologists have landed

By Chris Grinter, on May 9th, 2011%

OK, not an insect…

 

For the next three weeks my colleagues from the Arachnology lab at the California Academy of Sciences are in the Philippines! (no, not jealous at all…) The trip is part of the CAS Hearst expedition, a massive effort spanning all of our research departments to survey . . . → Read More: The Arachnologists have landed

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Blue Oak Ranch Reserve

By Chris Grinter, on April 18th, 2011%

A few weeks ago I was invited to join a Berkeley entomology class out in the field for the weekend. Our destination was the Blue Oak Ranch Reserve; one of the newest reserves to the University of California system located just outside of San Jose on Mount Hamilton (map below). It was a . . . → Read More: Blue Oak Ranch Reserve

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Flies can be (really) cool

By Chris Grinter, on March 30th, 2011%

Lasia klettii: Photos by April Nobile, CAS

For the most part flies are not an insect I get overly excited about. However, the enigmatic family Acroceridae are the exception. I’ll start sharing some interesting genera from time to time – the morphology of the family is amazingly diverse. Most of my days . . . → Read More: Flies can be (really) cool

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Nature bites back

By Chris Grinter, on March 3rd, 2011%

Apparently something in the Mazda 6 fuel line is warm and inviting for the yellow sac spider, enough so that they are building webs over the vent systems of the 4 cylinder vehicles (and not the 6!). The problem has been deemed a “spider infestation” by the car company, and . . . → Read More: Nature bites back

One comment - (Comments are closed)   Entomology   , , ,  

Happy Halloween!

By Chris Grinter, on November 1st, 2010%

Might be a day late, but still worth a try. Boo!

Aphonopelma species from Western Texas.

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A Sierran Spider

By Chris Grinter, on September 14th, 2010%

A weekend without moths can lead a lepidopterist to do crazy things. Crazy enough to photograph a spider. Over the weekend I was accompanied to the eastern Sierra by fellow insect blogger, coworker and arachnologist, Tamas Szuts. I was on the quest for more specimens of a new Hepialidae of which you may be familiar . . . → Read More: A Sierran Spider

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Have you seen me?

By Chris Grinter, on May 25th, 2010%

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?

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