Archive for ‘Arthropods and Snails’

February 21st, 2012

New craft projects and some other odds’n'sods

You know you’ve been knitting too much when the sides of your fingers are covered in dry skin! I only began to knit last year, but I’ve been slowing teaching myself more and more techniques. This week I have been trying to get the hang of Intarsia knitting – a technique that allows you to create images using two or more colours. I’ve also been drawing up my own knitting patterns using some really useful online tools.

Now with my powers combined, I am Captain Pla… able to start a larger project I’ve wanted to do for some time: a knitted patchwork. I’m planing for it to feature many of my favourite insects and so I started with a dung beetle, or a Scarab for those that prefer a more flowery name.
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I’m also working through a book my brother gave me for christmas that is full of some rather brilliant dinosaur patterns. Here’s the body of a Diplodocus I’ve started, I’ll post up pictures of the finished piece in a few days.
dino_knitting_feb_2012

Other than becoming a crazy knitting lady, I’ve been planning the tattoo half-sleeve for my right arm, as well as helping Chris work with the wonderfully talented, Alice, on his first tattoo. It’ll be something Shadow of the Colossus related so watch out for future tattoo updates.

Gaming-wise I’ve been a bit distracted by all the crafting but I’ve almost hit 1000G on Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7 and I managed to get my mitts on a copy of Atlus’ rather surreal puzzle game, Catherine. I’m hoping to get stuck into this week, especially after all the drama surrounding it and the general love/hate opinions of people reviewing it.

I’ll finish off this post with a picture of one of my Giant East African Snails (Achatina fulica) which came out of hibernation this weekend. Cute!
snail_feb2012

October 2nd, 2011

Amateur Entomologist’s Society Expo 2011

The Amateur Entomologist’s Society hold a yearly exhibition and trade fair at Kempton Park, Surrey. This year was my first show so I dragged my friend Ben along for the ride. The expo itself was much larger than I expected. Various breeders sold pets, collectors sold specimens, there were books, food plants, jewelry, accessories and educational stands for the likes of Butterfly Conservation, The British Tarantular Society and more. The beautiful ornate specimen cabinets have made me want to start collecting moths but there’s no way I could fit one in my house.

Bugfest 7 was pretty awesome, still can’t believe cockroaches can be described as ‘cute’ though! – Ben

I went with the intention of picking up a few more species of land snail, but there weren’t many on offer – just Giant East African Snails (Achatina fulica) which I already have plenty of and couple of Giant West African Snails (Archachatina marginata), which are too big for my current tank. Luckily there was no shortage of other creatures to tempt me. I was especially interested in the Vinegaroons (Thelyphonida), they’re fancinating arachnids, although I’m certain Chris would have killed me if I brought one home.

In the end I went with a pair of female Leaf Insects nymphs (phyllium giganteum) as I’ve really missed keeping Stick Insects and though they wold make a welcome addition to my collection. Also, since all of their food grows naturally in front of my house, they’re very easy to care for. I also met up with Catherine and her sister who had bought some gorgeous Tiger Hissing Cockroaches and a few varieties of Millipede.

For now I’ll leave you with a short video of the show and a picture of me and one of my new friends.

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September 24th, 2011

Poop Fly Killing Spider

I don’t usually post things like this on my blog, but it entertained me far too much. Jumping spiders are indeed “the shit”.

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Sorry for the naughty language!

September 22nd, 2011

Derp-fly

It’s autumn so the the light from my living room is attracting visitors much faster than the last few months, most of which have been craneflies this week. SO many in fact, that I decided to photograph one.

This is a Tipula Paludosa, it’s the most common of the uK crane-flies. Most people refer to them as Daddy-long-legs although @cliffwaz206 and I have named them ‘Derp-flies‘, since their flight is so clumsy and their legs seem to flail about as they navigate my living space and bump into my TV while I’m trying to play games.

cranefly

Photo taken with my HTC Desire.

September 18th, 2011

A good year for Spiders

The comments on this piece on The Guardian’s Environment section has been entertaining me this evening. But I must admit, the quote from BugLife entertained me more! I really like the attitude they have over there, they’re truly people after my own heart.

According to Alan Stubbs of Buglife, a conservation charity for invertebrates, people should cherish the influx of spiders. “Instead of being squeamish, look at how much they do for us, eating the flies. We are possibly the most arachnophobic country in the world but we have no reason to be. I think people are scared because they run so fast, but they are harmless. My wife and I have names for the ones in our house.

“They don’t do you any harm. Leave them alone and they’ll catch flies and be happy just doing their own thing. If you don’t like looking at them then just have a look at a web with the dew on it and wonder why we bother with the Turner prize when nature can create such a wonderful thing.

Also, a false widow Steatoda nobilis (the UK’s only venomous spider) is currently living outside my front door. It’s beautiful!

falsewidow

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August 6th, 2011

A Ruby Tiger

This beautiful Ruby Tiger moth (Phragmatobia fuliginosa) flew into my living room this evening so I snapped a few photos before releasing it outside. I didn’t manage to get any clear images of the markings that give this moth the “ruby” in it’s common name, but there’s an exceptionally blurred image taken when it was flying.

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June 16th, 2011

Loving Project Noah

A little while ago I posted a about the inspiration I’d been drawing from Project Noah, and after a short lull in interest, I’ve recently been drawn back into this networking site and absolutely loving it! Since getting my rather sexy new HTC Desire HD, I’ve been using Project Noah’s app loads.

I highly recommend the site for people who love wildlife spotting and looking at gorgeous wildlife photos from around the world.

Here’s my profile
noah

And here’s my main reason for this blog post – to brag about my new patch! It’s called ‘Invertebrate Specialist’ and is awarded for 20 invertebrate spottings. Simple things, eh?
specialist