The following is a guest post by Simon Fraser University student Bekka Brodie. Bekka studies blow fly ecology and blogs at www.bekkabrodie.com. The Romanian tarantula, Lycosa singoriensis (Lexmann 1770), is actually not a tarantula at all! It’s a wolf spider! In Romania, and in most parts of Europe, the members of the family Lycosidae are commonly called tarantulas. […]
I know this isn’t entomological in the strict sense, but isn’t it just grand when you come upon an arthropod as splendid as this freshly-moulted Phidippus johnsoni? What a beautiful spider! I found this last evening in Mt. Tolmie Park in Victoria, BC, and you can be sure where beauties like this are turning up, […]
The following is a guest post by Memorial University student Andrew Chaulk. Andrew is looking into mosquito ecology an biodiversity . He recently attended a short course offered by the University of Florida’s FMEL in Vero Beach. Just off a main road running through a small town in Florida, a small group of enthusiastic […]
The following post is by Ben Friedson, an student of Biology at George Washington University Termites are often thought to infest only tropical or temperate areas. In fact, they thrive in most parts of southern Canada, especially along the coasts. They are commonly found in large cities like Toronto or Ottawa. The most common […]
Who wouldn’t want to get to know the Strepsiptera? These animals are extremely odd, being obligate endoparasites of other insects, with a free-flying male and an eyeless, wingless female that never leaves the abdomen of her host. Different families of these parasites infect different hosts, ranging from silverfish and cockroaches to solitary and social wasps, […]
Catherine Scott and I continue on our Honduran odyssey, finally making it out into the field to begin our work on Red-throated Caracaras. We are working in a medium-elevation pine forest, consisting of mainly Pinus oocarpa and a couple oak species. This makes the surroundings seem very much like the foothills of the Rockies, except […]
While out visiting our friend Rafael’s ranchito yesterday, we were surrounded by a herd of curious cattle. These were a mix of both Brahmas and Holsteins, with some crosses as well. One animal in particular caught my eye; it appeared to have bot emergence holes on its sides. I asked Rafael what these were, and […]
I am sure many folks out there know what it is like to rent their very first apartment, only to find that the place has a major infestation of some noxious pest. Well, fellow ESC member Catherine Scott and I have just rented our first apartment in Gualaco, Honduras, and boy does it ever have […]
This season is full of green and red decorations, and exhortations about family, so I thought I would share this lovely family portrait of some 1st instar stink bugs exemplifying the togetherness of the holiday season. I found this family group in Fort Pierce, Florida on the underside of a Brazilian Peppertree leaf. Schinus terebinthefolius […]
By Sean McCann, ESC/SEC blog coordinator and PhD student at Simon Fraser University —— It seems that a popular pastime for Canadian entomologists in winter is to reminisce about warmer times and abundant insects. Edmonton bug photographer Adrian Thysse just posted a video of his National Moth Week experience at Devonian Gardens in Edmonton over […]