September 18th, 2011
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!
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August 6th, 2011
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
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
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?
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June 3rd, 2011
Saved this little guy from a bird today. He looks a bit beaten up and lost an antennae, but he was fine after a bit of water.
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May 27th, 2011
This video was sent to me by TAKA_future on Twitter today. A collaborative project created by Polynoid, this film explores the relationship between predator and prey – a spider and a moth. It’s incredibly beautiful and brutal in equal measures. Definitely worth a look! You can read more about it here.
Loom from Polynoid on Vimeo.
EDIT:
Just found another short film by Polynoid, this time featuring mechanical snails. This one is called ’458nm’. More info about it can be found here
458nm from Polynoid on Vimeo.
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May 26th, 2011
This taxonomy fail was found at a friend’s house. She has a very hyperactive 3 year old, who I usually end up drawing dinosaurs for. On the last visit he showed me his new book on “mini animals”. I usually find taxonomy fails rather funny, but this is annoying since it’s meant to be educating children about insects.
This is a hoverfly, not a bee.
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May 10th, 2011
Also known as the Cockchafer beetle (don’t ask me why!) these guys appear around may, and have a habit of getting stuck in people’s hair. They are fairly common beetles but it’s been a while since I’ve seen one.
Their grubs are really destructive to crops and are classed as pests throughout Europe. Regardless of this, I think they’re pretty cute! Their fan-like antennae (Lamellate) are really pretty and I like the white, diamond-shaped markings down their sides.
This dude flew into my house a few weeks back so I thought I’d post up a few photos. These aren’t great, but I like them all the same.
The next two pictures were taken while I had him in a glass as I was about to release him outside
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