Still going strong! (If I counted properly, this is the 25th edition of Expiscor). Bringing you weird and wonderful discoveries each week. Thanks to everyone who continues to provide great content AND reads this link-fest.
Here are some things I stumbled across this week:
- Bites from black widows.. a worthy read on the topic. Note these important sentences: “But despite their fearsome reputation, black widows are surprisingly shy and retiring. Over the course of your life, you have probably walked past hundreds of black widows without even realizing it“
- Many Entomologists are Arachnophobic. (yes, two more legs can make a big difference)
- For the Arachnophobic entomologists: here’s a field guide for you (thanks Bug Girl for tweeting this!!)
- Why don’t spiders stick to their webs? Here’s a video that gives you the answer….
- Jumping spider poster! Jumping spider poster! Jump for joy!
- Some jumping spiders are amazing mimics of ants. Some jumping spiders snatch food from the mandibles of ants.
- Right, so now you are ready for a jumping spider photograph, courtesy of Tom Houslay (thanks, Tom, for permission to post it here!)
Phidippus regius having lunch, by T. Housley
- Tast-testing with your study organisms. “Not all aphids taste the same”. How about that!
- You can also let your study organisms bite or sting you. Sheesh!
- Pest resistance to Bt corn - a paper out of Africa.
- Want another beautiful insect, here’s a photo of Megalopyge opercularis [YES, THIS IS A CATERPILLAR!] courtesy of Matt Bertone. Um, despite its cute, furry and cuddly appearance, don’t play with it, please. (thanks Matt, for allowing me to post your image here)
- Sick pets make us think about why we empathize with animals. Malcolm Campbell wrote an excellent post on the topic. And he even quotes E.T. in the blog post (I remember that movie well…)
- How birds got their wings. Great story from McGill researchers!
- Another reason I love McGill University - my employer.
- Montreal’s Ecosystems at your service… an official launch happening this week!
- What scientists should talk about: their personal stories.
- On the topic of personal stories, a very lovely post over at the boreal beetle: “My Voyage(er)”
- Attention grad students: Get those papers out during your PhD - it’s the number 1 factor determining 10-year publication rate.
- A “refreshingly simple” guide for twitter. Aimed at teachers, but relevant to many…
- More on twitter - here’s how to cite a tweet in an academic paper.
- Tweet of the week to… Amy Brown - I like this idea!
- Follow the money: what really matters when choosing a journal. Excellent post over at Dynamic Ecology.
- Sigh. Woman stabs roommate for refusing to stop listening to the Eagles.
- Peripheral vision is weird. Don’t believe me? Go here.
- For some laughs, and for cats, check this out.
- To finish, so proud of my son, aspiring guitarist. Here he is, rockin’ out (with one of his friends on drums, and his guitar instructor on bass):
Arthropod Ecology 