Quiz time! To completely rip off Alex's long-running Taxonomy Fail series, I pose the following question about this otherwise delightful and completely accurate Onion article:

Which spokesarthropod is mislabeled, and what is its true identity?


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I feel a little... ashamed to be posting non-beetles here, but we'll make an exception for these fancy-pants noctuoids. If anyone wants to explain the current, heinously convoluted state of arctiid classification, I am (like the arctiids) all ears.


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Just returned from the Aus Ent Soc meetings in Perth and ten days of fieldwork in beautiful Western Australia, including the Outback at its Outbackiest. It was amazing, here is a handful of photos 'til I can flickr them all up.

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If it's Tuesday, this must be Ant Day!
Firstly, we continue the seemingly interminable portrait series with the dashing and myrmecophilous Roberto Keller, former Cornell labmate and purveyor of the very finest in ant morphology blogging (see previous link). Roberto, let me know if you want something more cartoony; I don't suppose this will scale ( Read more... )

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ENTOMOLOGIST IN A HOTEL ROOM: the eternal dilemma

Should I check for bedbugs?

YES: I know exactly what the signs of bedbugs are.

NO: I know exactly what the signs of bedbugs are, and can thus be 100% certain that bedbugs are present. OH NO THAT IS SO GROSS, OH NO

More captivating conference notes, hooray! If any of you Monsters of Photoshop want to try coloring this business, I heartily invite you to do so. I'll probably do it... eventually? Right now it is time to get out the door and explore Canberra's no-doubt questionable "indie rock" scene. Wish me luck.


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1.) Okay, new favorite word. From Torre-Bueno:

premorse, terminating in an irregular truncate apex as if bitten off (T-B, after Kirby and Spence).
Premorse! I love that! I've definitely seen structures like that in some insects, but more importantly I now have a way to describe things I know I will regret later. "Man, I should stop working and go ( Read more... )

Hey there, internet! Happy Earth Day! I don't know about y'all, but I spent Earth Day recovering from: CAL DAY. As with the last 3 years, I spent it painting insects on the faces of other people's children.
This year I finally got around to drawin' new coloring pages for the insect crafts table as well-- you would think that would beat the cop-out ( Read more... )